Holly Farm

I’m sad to share that this weekend, we said goodbye to Hazel, a very loved, long-time resident of our Little Farm.

Hazel was a 15-year-old Nigora goat, famously seen on her rooftop looking out at the parking lot and other parts of the farm. For most students, Hazel (and her owner, Jackie) have been a part of their farm experience for as long as they’ve been here. Her breed typically lives only about 10 years, so she has far surpassed her expected lifespan in both body and spirit! Unfortunately, Hazel’s quality of life diminished significantly over the last year, and we made the difficult decision to send her off on a good note after a very happy summer of grazing and sunbathing.

Hazel taught us all a lot about finding the best itchy spots, never settling for anything but the most delicious food, and training the next generation of kids (both 2- and 4-legged)… she was a force of nature and adored by so many. She leaves a distinctly Hazel-shaped hole in our hearts 🫶🐐

This October, we're so excited to host Tom Kelner (Kelner Horsemanship) - Working Equitation expert and International Horseback Archery Judge - for a clinic at the farm! The clinic will focus on Ease of Handling, the second phase of Working Equitation, which tests the rider's partnership with their horse through a series of practical obstacles and is scored based on fluidity of ex*****on.

The riding spots have been filled, but the clinic is open to auditors. The auditing fee is $25/day (cash, check, or venmo), and no pre-registration is required. Please dress according to the weather, and we encourage you to bring your own chair.

Huge thank you to Chrissie Chang for making this happen. Hope to see you there!

A very difficult update on behalf of Rey, our property manager of 10+ years, and his family.
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Overnight on Friday, Rey's middle child Sebastian (affectionately known as Sebas) was in a devastating car accident that shattered both his legs and landed him in Harborview. He has already been through two emergency surgeries, and has more to come. He is currently sedated and intubated, and will likely remain so for several more days. There are a lot of unknowns at this time.

🫶 Ways to Help
For anyone at the farm between now and Tuesday, I will have a card for Rey and his family if you would like to sign. Additionally, we have started a GoFundMe to hopefully put a dent in the incredible expenses coming their way, from medical bills, to missed work for Sebas and both his parents, to renovations for aftercare, and more. This will be a very long road, and any support is deeply appreciated. https://www.gofundme.com/f/support-sebastian-and-his-family

🚜 Background
For those who haven’t had the pleasure of working with Rey personally, I’ll share a little context. Rey started working here at the farm more than 10 years ago, and has poured his heart into this place. He is often the first one here in the morning and does all the hardest jobs, usually with a smile and a joke - whether it’s fixing a fence, digging a ditch, unclogging a toilet, or taking on a wasp’s nest. He’s built his life around this job, literally moving his family to a house around the corner for the easiest possible commute. I can’t count the number of times he’s rescued us in an emergency without hesitation.

He’s also a devoted parent, and his children have grown up around the farm. Sebas has spent many hours working here, both for odd jobs and volunteering with his dad (he’s a practiced blackberry whacker and tansy puller). Through his high school years, it wasn’t uncommon to walk around the corner and see him handing Rey a tool. Most recently, he's been hard at work putting these skills to use as a mechanic, where he was thriving.
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For all the times that Rey has stepped up to support us, this is a critical moment for him and his family. I’ll be sending updates via the GoFundMe page, for those following along ❤️‍🩹

Donate to Support Sebastian and His Family on the Road to Recovery, organized by Maggie Miller Overnight on Friday, Sebastian (son of Rey and Laura) was invol… Maggie Miller needs your support for Support Sebastian and His Family on the Road to Recovery

Summer Camp season incoming 🔥

We can’t wait to hang out with you all summer! Camps kick off next Monday 🤸‍♂️

Merlin left today for a mini-adventure! Back up to Aunt Jhesika for a little 3 week boot camp, then home again in late June.

This is in preparation for a much bigger adventure though… because in August, he’ll move with long-time student and staff member Maddy, as she goes to college! Maddy and Merlin will be headed to the University of Montana Western to study Natural Horsemanship. This is the product of years of hard work and studying by Maddy, and it’s an amazing privilege that Merlin gets to join her in this next phase of learning.

I have been asked over and over whether I’ll miss him. The answer is, oh my gosh of course yes ❤️ Merlin has been perhaps my greatest teacher in the past 5 years, and he’s the most special guy in the world. But missing him doesn’t mean sad - the overwhelming feeling is optimism and excitement. For a homegrown guy who’s the trainers horse (always the last one to get attention), what he needs most now is life experience and time, two things he and Maddy will get together. I couldn’t be more grateful, and of course, he can come home anytime 🫶

So once he’s back, we’ll soak up all the Merlin and Maddy time we can get before they head off… if you want to keep up with their adventures, you can follow along ➡️ .merlin.and.montana

Another Memorial Day Spring Cleaning down! 💪 It really means the world to me that people turn up for these events - you sweat, you get dirty, and you put in a lot of elbow grease. Running this farm can be hard, and having the community pitch in to get a head start on the season makes a huge difference. I am so immensely grateful to the 30 odd people who showed up and got to work on a whole slew of projects this year, including:
- Tansy removal
- Blackberry chopping
- Memorial garden planting and weeding
- Sprinkler repairs
- Stall mat leveling
- Art + storage room reorganization
- Camp room prep
- Wasp nest removal
…and more!!

Swipe for some pics from the day (we didn’t even capture our indoor work teams) and some after photos of our memorial garden and storage spaces.

Thank you everyone for helping keep this tradition alive 🙏

Scenes from the sunshine ☀️

Such a honor to have Lhanze come down to guide many of us (horses and humans) over our first lil jumps!

We had horses of all types - from drafts to mustangs to gypsies to warmbloods - and Lhanze was so positive and supportive of each horse + rider pair. Everyone came out with lots of homework and a whole new world of things to play with. I wasn’t able to get videos of everyone, but all nine riders had an amazing time. We can’t wait to drag Lhanze back down here soon!

We still have spots available for our Spring Break Farm Camp on April 10th! If your kiddo has off, send them to our farm to hang out with Hazel the goat, Cocoa the guinea pig, and more friendly animals.

We also have a few spots left for our Riders Workshop (for current riding students only) on April 6th. The theme is Hit The Trails!

These will be our last One Day Camps for the school year. It’s been awesome to see so many kids come out to spend their days off of school with us 😊

Took advantage of the lengthening days with a Boarder Night to kick off March! It’s fun to have an excuse to pull out all the obstacles and give our horses some new things to play with. We had a mix of boarders, lessors, and staff and it was fun to chat and hopefully facilitate some new and renewed friendship.

Jessie was my date for the evening - I’m working to help patch some holes in her confidence and it was cute to see her so calm and curious.

The moon was pretty spectacular too 🌕 (though I didn’t get a picture)…