U MAD BRO?
Heh, I’ve been wanting to label a post with that for a while! At least this time it will make more sense: MAD is the Caltech Y’s annual Make a Difference Day. We organize up to 20 different off campus volunteer projects for 200 volunteers. Usually these projects are tutoring, environmental restoration, working with animal shelters and serving at local homeless shelters. Last year, I led a group to help out at the Red Cross. We cleaned their cars and got to take a ride in one of them! The vehicles, of course, is equipped with much more than a normal car because the Red Cross provides emergency first aid and disaster relief services. This year, I led a group to help out at MACH1, “Move a Child Higher”. This group gives horseback riding lessons to disabled children. One of the regular volunteers there that we met actually used to receive lessons because of his autism. The horses are all very gentle, especially around the children. The organization was founded by a woman who suffered from polio herself, but was able to ride competitively nonetheless. She said that her goal in founding MACH1 was to give every child a “chance to dance” and that learning to ride a horse gave her the courage to overcome her polio. We deweeded, swept and raked the grounds for them, and also got to groom one of the horses, Heidi! Heidi is a Norwegian Fjord, and has a really beautiful cropped black and white mane. Her coat is a sandy tan color and she was very patient with us. We also met the other horses as well as a donkey. After getting freshly groomed, the donkey decided to roll around in the dirt XD As usual, I took a lot of pictures ^^
After feeding this horse with lots of carrots, Wrigley started nibbling on our jackets and sleeves for more.
I don’t know if you can see it in this picture, but Heidi’s mane is trimmed very short and has a beautiful black and white pattern.
The donkey is being led back to his stall by one of the staff, and in the background, Will O, another pony, is getting his injured foot treated.
Enough horsing around for today! Best, Caroline
