Idlehurst

10/10/2026

Today was suppose to kick off our pony ride series but the weather had other plans! Pony rides today are cancelled but we will still plan on having pony rides October 24, November 7 and November 14.

If you want to pre-registered you can do so here: https://www.cognitoforms.com/Idlehurst2/PonyRideSaturdayEarlyRegistration

10/10/2026

The worst part - what a cry for mom sounds like. We will be with him and honey in the barn tonight

10/10/2026

Today was a big day for Ridge. And judging by these pictures, he’d like to file a formal complaint with HR.

Born April 3, our little guy is officially six months old, which means today was weaning day.

Ridge was NOT enthusiastic about this particular milestone. In fact, he was so opposed to entering his stall that we ended up having to back him in.

His attitude improved considerably when he discovered there was food involved. Apparently, emotional distress is no match for a full feed bucket.

But these pictures pretty much sum up his feelings about the whole ordeal.

The first one says, “I don’t understand why this is happening to me.”

The second says, “I’d like to speak to whoever is in charge.”

And honestly, that little face is enough to break your heart. I know it broke mine.

Snickers, on the other hand?

I’ve NEVER seen that mare load onto a trailer so willingly in my life.

She’s headed off for a 30-day refresher with a trainer, and I genuinely don’t think I’ve ever seen a horse so happy to go back to work.

Ridge was having an existential crisis. Snickers was practically throwing her suitcase in the trailer.

Six months of motherhood, and apparently she was ready to clock out.

Thankfully, Ridge isn’t navigating this new chapter completely alone. Honey is staying in the barn to keep him company, so he has a familiar face nearby while he adjusts to life without Mom.

Weaning is one of those necessary milestones that doesn’t necessarily make it easy on the humans either. It’s hard to believe that the tiny foal we welcomed into the world on April 3 is already old enough to start this next chapter.

For now, Ridge has plenty of food, a comfortable stall, and Honey nearby.

Snickers has a 30-day getaway. Who would you rather be?

10/07/2026

A little farm. A lot of heart. And a community we’re so thankful for.

Last year, you helped Idlehurst win **Best Family Farm** in Kidding Around Greenville’s Best of the Upstate competition. It was an incredible honor—and this year, you’ve given us even more to celebrate!

Idlehurst is in the running for:
Best Family Farm
Best Homeschool Resource
Best Field Trip
Best Small Business
Best Nonprofit — Idlehurst Foundation

To our parents, visitors, volunteers, supporters, and everyone who has told a friend about Idlehurst: thank you. Every recommendation, visit, and word of encouragement has helped this place grow into something we once only dreamed about.

We’d love your vote! Vote online for all five categories here:
https://kiddingaroundgreenville.com/kaboom #//

Two categories also have quick text voting:
📱 Text IDLE to 864-865-8910 for Best Family Farm
📱 Text HURST to 864-865-8910 for Best Homeschool Resource

You can vote every day through October 20—and yes, you can vote BOTH online and by text! A little extra love for Idlehurst. 😉

Thank you for helping more families discover the learning, connection, and joy waiting here at Idlehurst. 💚

10/01/2026

Our observation hive officially made its way to the farm, and I’m not sure who was more excited… the kids or me.

Okay. It was me. I am absolutely fascinated!!!!!!!!!

But watching the kids experience this up close has been incredible. Instead of looking at a picture of a honeybee colony in a book, they can stand inches away and watch an entire tiny society at work.

And right now, there is a lot happening.

The bees are learning their new surroundings, leaving the hive to explore, finding resources, and returning to share information with the colony. One of the coolest things we get to watch is their waggle dance, a movement honeybees use to communicate information about the direction and distance of good food sources.

Basically, our bees are heading out into the world, coming home, and giving everyone else directions.

“Okay girls, flowers this way. Here’s the mileage. Don’t get lost.”

The observation hive gives our students a front-row seat to see things we could teach for weeks on paper: communication, pollination, food systems, life cycles, social structures, environmental science and agriculture, all unfolding behind the glass.

And the questions have already started.

Where is the queen? What are they building? Why is that bee doing that? Where are they going? How do they know how to come home?

THAT is my favorite kind of learning. The kind where curiosity takes over and suddenly nobody realizes they’re having a science lesson.

Welcome to Idlehurst!

And for the record, I could stand here and watch them for an unreasonable amount of time. In fact it's 7:18 and I'm still here 😏 I fear the observation hive was technically purchased for the children, but we all know how this is going to go.

09/29/2026

THE RESUMÉS ARE BACK.

It’s been a while since we’ve received an application here at Idlehurst. We’d hoped the extended silence meant the applicant pool was improving.

It was Gus.

Gus has submitted what may be the least compelling résumé we’ve received to date, which is particularly impressive considering Trevor once listed stealing pencils as a marketable skill.

He identifies professionally as a Creative • Free Thinker • Horse, is pursuing a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Equine Expression, and apparently considers “Social Awareness: Emerging” a skill worth putting on a résumé.

We strongly encourage you to read the rest for yourself.
But buried at the very bottom is perhaps the most irritatingly accurate thing Gus has ever said: Riding: Extremely good.

Because for all the elevator music happening between those ears, you put a saddle on Gus and he clocks in. He’s steady, smart, takes care of his rider, and gets the job done.

He may not always read the room but he can absolutely read a rider.

Please enjoy Gus’s application. We will not be contacting his references.

P.S. Trouble has asked HR to block his email address.

09/28/2026

THE COST OF KEEPING IT | PART THREE

When I started writing about The Cost of Keeping It, I knew the title would sound like I was talking about money.

And sure, there’s plenty of that. Ask me about a four-figure vet bill sometime. 😂

But the more I’ve thought about this series, the more I’ve realized that some of the biggest costs of keeping animals will never show up on an invoice.

Our veterinarian has shown up for us on emergency weekends.

She’s answered calls when something couldn’t wait until Monday.

She’s walked into our barn when we were scared, exhausted and looking at an animal we love, hoping she could see something we couldn’t.

And she usually can.

That’s what we’re paying for.

Not just the time she’s standing in our barn.

Years of education.

Experience.

Judgment.

The ability to know when something is okay and when it absolutely isn’t.

I don’t resent those bills.

She deserves every penny.

But there’s another cost in those moments that isn’t ours.

It’s hers.

Because our veterinarian is also a mom.

When she answers our emergency call on a weekend, that’s time that came from somewhere.

Maybe it was dinner.

Maybe it was a Saturday with her family.

Maybe it was rest after an already long week.

Maybe it was simply an hour when nobody needed anything from her.

There isn’t a line on our invoice for that.

But it cost something.

And that’s something animal owners need to remember.

Veterinary medicine has faced a very real mental health crisis, including su***de within the profession.

That deserves more than a passing acknowledgement.

Because respecting the people who care for our animals cannot only mean appreciating them when we need them.

It also means respecting them when we don’t.

Respecting office hours.

Understanding what is truly an emergency.

Not expecting access to someone’s personal time simply because we have their phone number.

Understanding that a veterinarian can care deeply about our animals and still need to go home.

In fact, I want ours to.

I want her to finish here and go be a mom.

I want her to eat dinner with her family.

I want her to have weekends that belong to her.

I want her to take vacations without feeling guilty about the animals she isn’t there to treat.

Because our animals ultimately belong to us.

When her truck leaves the driveway, the responsibility doesn’t leave with her.

We give the medicine.

We set the alarms.

We check again at midnight.

We watch.

We worry.

We change plans.

We stay.

And there is usually a little boy somewhere nearby watching all of this.

Wyatt is learning that caring for animals means knowing when you need someone who knows more than you do.

He’s learning that expertise has value.

He’s learning to respect the people who teach us, help us and care for the animals we love.

But I hope he’s learning something else, too.

Caring for animals shouldn’t require us to stop caring for people.

Not our veterinarians.

Not our employees.

Not our families.

Not ourselves.

Maybe that’s what I’m beginning to understand about The Cost of Keeping It.

Some costs are easy to count.

Feed.

Hay.

Fencing.

Farrier bills.

Veterinary bills.

Payroll.

But sometimes the most expensive things never appear on a receipt.

A veterinarian’s Saturday.

A farmer’s vacation.

A mom missing an afternoon with her little boy.

A little boy learning that sometimes we can’t go because something here depends on us.

A family saying, “I’ll stay,” so someone else can go home.

The Cost of Keeping It.

Not every cost comes with a bill. But every bill we pay should be worth the cost.

Country Creatures Veterinary Care

09/27/2026

THE COST OF KEEPING IT | PART TWO

Yesterday I told you about some of the things farm life asks of Wyatt. But that isn't the whole story. You should see what it has given him.

Today, Wyatt and I worked together to set up his show pens for the season. And this kid was excited.

Excited to get dressed. Excited to get outside. Excited to work. Not because I told him he had to. Because these are his chickens. He loves them and has plans for them.

He has questions written in his head for his mentor, Ellen Lowery McCrary and Mrs Heidi this week because there are things he doesn't know yet and he wants to learn. His hatch with his Golden Neck d'Uccles was hard this year. It didn't go the way he hoped, and he was genuinely sad about it.

That's another part of raising animals that I don't think you can teach from a book. Sometimes you do everything you know to do and it still doesn't work.

You can be disappointed. You can be sad. And then you learn. Today, watching him prepare those pens, I kept thinking about what I wrote yesterday.

Sometimes I worry about what this life costs Wyatt. Today reminded me what it's giving him.

Because Wyatt doesn't just like animals, he loves them and is learning to know them.

He knows that fresh water isn't optional because you're tired.

He knows animals communicate without words, and caring for them means paying attention. He knows that when something doesn't look right, you stop and look closer.

He knows there will always be more to learn, and that asking someone more experienced isn't failure. It's part of becoming good at something. He knows that loving an animal isn't the same thing as caring for one. Love is the easy part. Care is getting dressed and going outside when you'd rather stay in.

That's the part I never want to lose in talking about the cost of this life.

Yesterday, I talked about the little boy who sometimes asks if we can go somewhere and understands when I have to say, "Not today. The animals need us." Today I celebrate the boy who understands why and takes life with a smile.

Also, Gus put in his resume today🤦🏼‍♀️, hr is reviewing and we will have updates tomorrow 😬

09/27/2026

THE COST OF KEEPING IT | PART ONE

I love this picture and it makes me a little sad.

Wyatt went apple picking without me.Not because I didn’t want to go but because the farm needed someone to stay. Just like he goes to the beach with gra and grandpa but the farm needs stay and require a keeper.

Sometimes Wyatt will ask me if we can go somewhere, and I have to tell him, “Not today, buddy. We have animals to take care of.”

And the part that gets me isn’t that he doesn’t understand. It’s that he does.

He knows animals have to be fed. Water has to be checked. Someone may need medicine. Chores don’t disappear because we’d rather be somewhere else.

So sometimes the little boy who wanted to go somewhere changes his clothes, pulls on his boots and helps me do the very chores that are keeping us home.

And as his mom, that can tear me in two. I’m so incredibly proud of the boy this life is shaping but sometimes I wish he didn’t always have to understand.

Ryan grew up this way. I didn’t.

I grew up knowing that sometimes you could just go. And now I’m watching our son grow up with his dad’s understanding that caring for living things sometimes means staying.

I wouldn’t trade Wyatt’s childhood for mine. But sometimes I wish I could give him pieces of both.

I want him to have the roots Ryan had. And some of the wings I had.

Maybe that’s one of the strange things about motherhood.

Sometimes the very thing you’re proud to see growing in your child is also the thing that makes your heart hurt a little.

Because responsibility is a beautiful thing to teach a child.

But every once in a while, I wish I could just say:

“Yep. Let’s go.”

Some things cost us. Some things shape us. Sometimes they’re the same things.

09/24/2026

Do you own a business or know someone who owns a business that is passionate about giving back to the community? Idlehurst Foundation is looking for sponsors for it's annual Sensory Santa Event!

Please share this post!

🎅 Help us make Sensory Santa possible this Christmas!

Last year, more than 100 families with children with special needs joined us for Sensory Santa. Each family had private time with Santa, professional photos, a gift, an ornament to make, hot chocolate, and a pony ride. Watching families enjoy those moments together is something we’ll never forget. ❤️

We’re preparing to welcome families back on November 21, December 5, and December 12, and we need sponsors to help bring it all to life! Sponsorship opportunities include Presenting, Santa, Gift, Craft, and Hot Chocolate Sponsors.

Idlehurst Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit therapeutic riding center. Your support helps us create a special holiday experience for families while supporting our therapeutic riding programs throughout the year.

✨ Interested in sponsoring? Fill out the Sponsorship form here or reach out to us directly https://www.cognitoforms.com/IdlehurstFoundation1/SensorySantaSponsorshipForm

🎄 Interested in attending? Register here: https://www.cognitoforms.com/IdlehurstFoundation1/IdlehurstFoundation2026SensorySanta

Please share this post with a business or friend who might want to be part of the magic!