April 13, 2007

On Friday the 13th, I probably had one of my most productive visits to Kopper Top as of yet. Kaitin and I drove out there around two in the afternoon expecting to find very little to do since, because of our schedules, we had missed a morning lesson for a group of adults suffering from autism. Just as we arrived they were winding up with the lesson and the riders were leaving and the other volunteers were sitting on a log bench relaxing after their long morning. We sat down near them and personally, I started to regret even coming out because I thought that the most we could do is practice Parelli methods, and while that is interesting, I really wanted to help out in a more affective way. After about half an hour I asked Sara what we could do to help out and she let us know that it was about time to feed a few of the horses that were a bit too thin. So we proceeded to fill ten bowls with a specific mixture, and get ready to feed the ten selected horses and the whole process took about an hour or so. Then I helped Sara feed the chickens, roosters, and the peacock as well as collect any eggs we found. This was the first time I actually got up close and personal with the birds of Kopper Top and to say the least, it’s something I’m not eager to do again. Next, we went into the shack to feed the ferrets and the rabbits and we delayed a bit in there, and spent about 30 minutes giving personal attention to the soft and furry animals and unlike the birds, I am most eager to play with them as soon as possible, and ferrets are possibly one of the cutest, most overlooked animals ever! Finally, we finished up our day by helping out with Ryan’s lesson and it was seriously one of the most rewarding experiences since this was my first time assisting with a lesson and seeing the smile on his face finally showed me what an incredible impact Kopper Top has on the kids who go to visit. This was definitely, hands down my favorite visit to the Kopper Top farm.