In an innovative program was introduced at the Wallace River Carriage Club in Cumberland County that introduced youth to horsemanship and carriage driving.

The Ponies & Pals matched youth to a skilled mentor with a pony and driving equipment. Youth received instruction in safe grooming practices, haltering, leading and tying their pony and other training that prepared them for carriage driving, with emphasis on safety around the animals at all times.

Building off the success of Ponies & Pals, the club is launching an Equisenior program designed to enrich the lives of seniors in the community with the aid of horses. Gillian Allan, an Equestrian Canada licensed coach and certified driving instructor, is running the program out of the Wallace River Equestrian Centre.

“We figure we can have a group of about 10 seniors at a time,” said Allan. “And it’ll be tailored to the energy level that seniors may or may not have. It can’t be a full day because that’s really exhausting, so the plan is to maybe have a weekly program just as a place to come and socialize with horses.

“For some, just brushing a horse gives them a great deal of pleasure. Others might like to do more and others might want to learn to drive, and we’re open to any of that. We’re hoping for one mentor for every two seniors, and we’re looking at other programs across Canada to see what those are, and we’re going to invite a focus group to come in and tell us what they want, rather than do what I think they want.”

Allan and her husband established the Wallace River Equestrian Centre 14 years ago on 80 acres of farmland in Middleboro, divided into 40 acres of open field and 40 acres of woodlot. The fields are fenced off and the woods have trails for walking and driving. A large arena designed for driving is used for training and hosting events. They also built a guest house for family, friends or people who want to come in for a weekend of training. Allan hosted a three-day clinic on Victoria Day weekend and brought in an international coach.

“It was a ‘build it and they will come’ type of thing,” said Allan. “It’s a really nice, comfy area to be in. We have a few boarders and I raise Haflinger horses here.”

Fundraising efforts by the club have supported the U.S. Para Driving Team (Canada does not have a team), bursaries have been made available to support carriage drivers in their learning journey and the club is a sponsor of The Atlantic Canada Equine Symposium. More than $3,000 was raised by club participants in the Harness the Joy, Carriage Driving for Feed Nova Scotia campaign.   

Education is key for the club, and they recently introduced GITty, a 90-foot long model displaying the equine gastro-intestinal tract (GIT) used for education in colic prevention and awareness. 

Allan says the goals of the Equisenior program (they’re still workshopping the name) will differ somewhat from Ponies & Pals. 

“If they get more learning in the process, we’re certainly happy with that, but it’s more for their mental health, being physically fit and helping them age gracefully,” said Allan. “We range from age 60 to about 85 in our core group and it’s wonderful. We have people with physical disabilities, who use canes to get around, but they still come and want to be involved with horses, so we thought we might as well make this a formal program, and people are excited.”