Author Archives: ridefireflyfarm

About ridefireflyfarm

We are a boarding and training facility a short bike ride away from MSU. We are on Hagadorn Road. We only accept riders who use helmets and prefer boarders interested in natural horsemanship. We also provide trick-training for horses and horse lessons.

Guest Post: Patient Relaxation, LLC

Posted on April 18, 2018 by ridefireflyfarm

This guest post appears and was originally published at: https://www.patientrelaxation.com/single-post/2018/04/17/Favorites-Sarah-Fowler-Horsewoman-Teacher-My-Little-Pony-Collector

Author: Kate Prouty, Licensed Massage Therapist 526 South Creyts Road, Lansing

Favorites: Sarah Fowler, Horsewoman, Teacher, My Little Pony Collector

April 17, 2018

Kate

Just off of Jolly Road, just barely in Mason, is a magical spot. The first time I visited, I could barely believe it was so near a highway, a university, and the big, stressful world.

Firefly Farm, presided over by the magnificent Sarah Fowler.

A woman of unexpected talents and mighty depths, she’s a slight blonde with excellent biceps, several horses, a little pony named Cupcake, a couple of smart dogs, chickens, ducks, cats, bunnies, and I think I spotted a couple turkeys. Each is named, each is loved.

There’s a near-constant stream of “minions” who work for her, doing chores around the farm in exchange for lessons and riding privileges. But these aren’t ordinary horseback riding lessons. They are centered around getting people to pay attention to the way a horse thinks and feels and acts. To respect the … humanity? … of the horse.

It’s a lesson in connection, in relationship, in patience.

It’s also terrifically fun. One of the first times I got to meet her horses, a boy horse (please remember I grew up in the suburbs of Chicago, with no horses. The terms I use are the ones in my mind, and possibly not precisely correct. Forgive me) had just learned to unzip and zip zippers with his mouth. I was wearing a long winter coat, and he kept bumping my chest with his nose, and Sarah laughed. “Oh, he’s trying to get to your zipper.” She held out her glove (that had a zipper on the back) to him, and he delicately grasped the tab on the zipper and ZZZZIP, ZIIIP, ZIIIP, ZIIP. He zipped and unzipped with obvious pleasure and, I think, pride. “He’s like a toddler. They learn a new trick and they want to do it all day long.”

She runs lessons all year round, and in the summer and a few other times of the year, she has horse camps and horse courses for kids. She welcomes children of all levels of experience to work with the horses, get to know them, and to ride. They build their own obstacle courses, learn how to put on all the saddle-type things (remember, I’m not a horse person), and how to brush and generally make life wonderful for the horses. And apparently they decorate them!

But the most lovely thing is that her farm, her horses, her teaching, they are only one facet of her sparkling self. Do yourself a favor and meander over there sometime. You’ll like her.

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“I Went to Get Hay and a Pony.”

Posted on April 4, 2018 by ridefireflyfarm

(The Husband comes down to the barn looking for me.)
The Husband: “Where have you been? I got a little worried when I came home. Both you and Princess Winnifred (my truck) were gone.”
Me: “Falcon (my dear friend) and I went to go get hay and a pony.”
The Husband: “Fantastic! How much was it per bale? Wait a minute—did you say you also got a pony?!”
Me: “Yup.”
The Husband: “Where?!”
Me: “He’s here in the aisle, why?”
The Husband: “I want to meet him! I got a pony!”

My friend Stephanie’s son, Hani, and I used to play-fight over Flower.

“My pony!” I’d say.

“MY pony!” he’d say.

We had such fun. Back and forth, forth and back. Then, the unthinkable happened and I had to make a decision every horse owner dreads.

Flower’s gone. The hurt we feel is only because all the love we have for Flower has nowhere to go.

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Hani’s birthday is today. He asked me if I could get him a horse to jump out of a cake. He said he’d eat the frosting even after it touched a horse.

I can’t give him a cake like that. It’s just not realistic. It’s shedding season so there would be horsehair everywhere. I also don’t have an oven that big. Then there’s “which horse would be fine in the oven at 375F for 30-40 minutes?” When I asked my herd, I didn’t have a single taker. They all rode off into the sunset.

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So I can’t get Hani a horse that jumps out of a cake.

But I did buy a pony and I named him Cupcake.

Happy Birthday, Hani. You are loved. Happy Gotcha day, Cupcake. You will be more loved than you ever dreamed.

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The Disappearing Bun

Posted on February 7, 2018 by ridefireflyfarm

The cage meowed.

“That’s quite a trick,” I said. “Bunnies don’t meow. When did you learn how to talk fluent cat, you little magician?”

No little grey and white bunny appeared.

“Sir Hops A Lot Freight Train The First?” I asked. “Bunny boy? Where are you?”

I gasped as Rue kitty sped from the open enclosure. The whole front of the cage was open, and there was no bunny.

“BUN!” I yelled. “Sir Hops A Lot–where are you?”

No blood. No tracks. No bun.

No Bun.

I wandered, searching for paw prints in the snow. No tracks.

But also–no blood.

“Where’s my little boy?” I thought. “I need a magic wand to make him reappear.”

I left the cage door open as I went in to lunch.

I ate, relaxed, and then came out to the barn in the evening.

Sir Hops A Lot Freight Train The First huddled in his enclosure in his nest.

“Did you hop away from home?” I asked him. “Where have you been, you goofball?! You gave me a heart attack.”

He twitched his nose, but otherwise, stayed curled in a little bunny-ball. I imagine he replied, “I apologize. I heard ‘Abracadabra’ and was called to appear from a Magician’s hat–but otherwise, I promise that I came right back.”

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Horse Courses

Posted on December 16, 2017 by ridefireflyfarm

Horse Courses:

*Horse Course(s) MUST be pre-registered and pre-paid in order to guarantee that the student will have a horse to ride or use and that we have enough seats for auditors.

*Cost: $50 for Students to use a barn horse when participating in each individual horse course. Every course requires a separate fee and you must secure the horse you wish to use. First come, first served with horses.

*$10 to audit (Audit: sit and watch in a chair on the side)

January 3, 2-4pm –Horse Course: Jumping – Students will be riding the entire time (we mount up at 2pm–the horses are pre-tacked) and riders will be given tips about proper form over jumps and will be jumping items no higher than a hay bale.

January 4, 2-4pm-Horse Course: Horse Handling/Showmanship – Students will be learning how to properly handle horses from the ground, including pivots, backing up, complete stops, squaring up all hooves, balancing the horses, jogging in tempo, making your horse appealing/eye catching, showing that you’re capable of more than riding a horse.

Payment: Check or Cash – $50

OR pay immediately ($55 because of fees) with PayPal here:

Horse Course

You can pay for one of the January 2018 horse courses here. Please specify which course you would like and which horse you want to use. Some horses may already be taken--please call or email to guarantee your horse. Unfortunately, PayPal removes some of the money from this transaction so I have to pass the fee onto you.

$55.00

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Gift Certificates

Posted on December 10, 2017 by ridefireflyfarm

Gift Certificates Available for Holiday Gifts:

*A Certificate–set of four lessons for $100*

*A single lesson Certificate for $30*

Will be sent to you through the mail if you send a check to Firefly Farm, LLC.

Firefly Farm, LLC

3180 Hagadorn Road

Mason, MI 48854

Brenlie and Twist

Sarah, Thunder, Brenlie

Sidney and Mariah

Brenlie and Thunder

Jorja and Melody

Jorja and Thunder

Twist and Bella

Mustang Camp 1

Honey and Zoe

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How’s this sales pitch to drum up business?

Posted on September 19, 2017 by ridefireflyfarm

Horse lessons on fall evenings at Firefly Farm come with background music, graciously {and unknowingly) provided by the Okemos High School marching band.

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Building our Cross Country Course

Posted on August 22, 2017 by ridefireflyfarm

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Parade, Camp, and MSU

Posted on August 22, 2017 by ridefireflyfarm

We began the summer with Mason’s Independence Day Parade. Bella and I rode Twist and Melody.

Melody all braided up

Parade walkers

Twist and Bella

Melody

Mustang Camp 1 was amazing.

Mustang Camp 1

Spreading hay

Honey and Zoe

Jorja and Thunder

Zoe and Honey

Brenlie and Thunder

Jorja and Melody

Mariah feeding

Aubry and Ranger

Flower, Faith, and Eowyn

Ponies!

Garden fertilizer

Aubry and Ranger

Mariah dusting

Melody, Zoe, and Honey

Brenlie, Sarah, and Twist

Sidney and Mariah

Ranger and Aubry

Preparing for feetsies

Sidney and Mariah

Jorja, Brenlie, and chickens

Melody, Sarah, and Jorja

Sarah, Thunder, Brenlie

Bareback

Bareback–no net

Hugelgarden

Atlas, Mariah, and Brenlie

Melody and Jorja

Sarah, Mariah, and Sidney

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During Mustang Camp 1, we did Mounted Archery with Falcon, an insured and accredited Archery Instructor.

Riding bareback–jumping

Sid and Mariah

Ponies

Bareback

Twist, Brenlie, Jorja

Me, Melody, and Jorja

We had our camp show, too.

Jorja and Melody

Jorja pedestal dismount

Jorja and Melody

Aubry and Jorja with attitude

Bareback; no net

Patriot and Atlas

Twist, Mariah, and Jorja

Riding bareback

Skyway as viewed from Lee

Applejack went to MSU with a bad case of Colitis.

He’s much better now.

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Random Changes at Firefly Farm

Posted on July 23, 2017 by ridefireflyfarm

We have a cool new sign on the gate thanks to a random Etsy search.

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We’ve completely renovated the tack room’s feed area. We’ve also renamed our pastures in honor of places at Camp Anna Behrens, my old Girl Scout Camp.

I’m adding a backsplash to the bathroom sink, had a boarder kindly sort and label as well as rubber band all of the boots in our boot library, and was given a drawing by a three year old featuring me, “Miss Sarra Teach.”

Bubbles the Border Collie Puppy is now six months old. She loves Sir Hops A Lot Freight Train.

We also had the front grass paved to make more parking.

How many Four Leaf Clovers can YOU see in the photo? We have them all over Firefly Farm.

We’ve added horses to Firefly Farm’s boarder roster. Our new horses are Faith, the Fleabitten grey; as well as Eowyn, the Gold Champagne Palomino.

We had four fledgling Barn Sparrows in our aisle bird nest. They have (in the three days since this picture) grown up and flown away.

While the tractor was in for repair, Flower helped me to move some compost and manure around. She seemed pleased to be useful.

I bought a new two-wheeled garden cart for farm use, and it’s the perfect size for a hay bale. Everyone prefers this to a wheel barrow.

I sent the second Tintype to Sunny Poffenbarger along with a pressed four-leaf clover, and she was so delighted that she sent me a gift. I’m lucky to have the Universe send so many amazing people my way.

We also now have electrified chicken fence. Hooray! Those pesky foxes, coyotes, mink, raccoons, and opossums will have to go elsewhere for their meals.

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Victorian Days in Grand Ledge

Posted on May 9, 2017 by ridefireflyfarm

Last Saturday, we had an adventure at the Island in Grand Ledge. I was asked to perform with my side saddle, in costume.

I can do that.

We brought Bubbles, Lance, Flower the Alternative Fact Teacup Friesian*, Sir Hops a Lot Freight Train, Silky Cocoa Cream McGuire, Nugget, Perkins, Pillywiggin, Daisy, Dandelion, and Melody. Our Minions were Sonora, Rose, and their mom, Corey; Emma, Allie, Jasmine, Mariah, and Mariah’s mom Sarah.

*This breed is a figment of my imagination–it doesn’t exist; hence, it’s an “alternative fact” breed. If you would, however, like to join the breed, the membership costs are very affordable–it’free.

The bridge I crossed with the trailer was teeny tiny so I’ve shared a photo of me inching across.

A gentleman was taking Tintypes, an old type of photo, and I had two taken. One will be going to Sunny Poffenbarger in North Carolina to thank her for selling me her heirloom Victorian outfit.

The lovely hat is from Mary K. Hodges-Nees. If you’d like to look into buying one of her creations, I can put you into contact with her. Her hats are exquisite.