Hardy Elementary School students attending Harriet Tubman’s Love Fellowship Community Learning Center this summer are learning math, language arts and how to ride horses in Middle Valley.
“When the kids come, you see their excitement,” said Learn 2 Ride owner Harry Hixson. “It keeps me fresh and passionate for teaching.”
Harriet Tubman’s Love Fellowship Community Learning Center students that attend Hardy Elementary School take a trip to Learn 2 Ride, a ranch in Middle Valley that teaches horseback riding lessons. In back are Steven Cochrum, left, and Learn 2 Ride owner Harry Hixson.Winding through 35 acres of trails, Hixson teaches horseback riders to stay in rhythm through the woods, hills and across North Chickamauga Creek on the ranch.
“They teach the students to be kind to the horses,” said Dr. Joyce Hardaway, executive director of the grant for Love Fellowship Community Learning Center. “Many of the children had never seen a horse until today. At first the children were afraid to ride, but now they are lining up to ride the horses.”
Hardaway said learning to ride horses is part of the enrichment learning of the Love Fellowship Community Learning Center.
“When you deal with children in urban areas, they don’t get to ride horses,” said Hardaway. “So, we try to give them something they would not normally get to do. There are no horses in Harriet Tubman. In fact there are not many pets at all. The children get to see chickens on the ranch too, so it is kind of like a farm.”
Learn 2 Ride instructor Marybeth Okes taught the students proper seating safety.
“We teach the kids about rhythm,” said Okes. “We want them to sit up straight, stay centered in the saddle, keep their shoulders back, keep weight in the stirrups, heels down and toes up. I ride five days a week. The more you come the better rider you will be.”