My son Max is 8 years old. On Monday he started his first job. This is not unusual in our family. I started working when I was 7. In neither case were we forced to go out and make money. It was our own decisions to do what we do.
Max didn’t start out expecting to work; he wanted to ride horses. When he was 3 years old his aunt gave him a book about them; every page was about a different one. We had to read the book over and over to him and in no time he knew all about 50 different horses including his favorites: Belgians, Shires, and Clydesdales.
When I was 7 I got my first job…working on a horse farm. Every morning I was up early cleaning out the stalls, feeding and walking the horses. My pay was room and board and an occasional ride. When Max started reading about horses he wanted to meet them. He would be in heaven if he also got the chance to ride one so we started looking for festivals that had pony rides. He was ecstatic just sitting on them and he wanted more and more.
About this time I discovered that the farm I had worked on was now running therapeutic programs so I looked into getting him riding lessons. They were willing to teach him but since he was only 3 he needed to have a disability or disorder to be accepted. This was not going to be a problem; he had already been diagnosed with sensory integration disorder. For the next 8 weeks he went twice a week to learn how to ride.
Then one day as he was having his lesson he saw another horse suddenly rear up and cause the rider to fall to the ground. She didn’t get hurt but she was shaken badly. This was enough to change Max’s mind. He was now very afraid of horses and didn’t want to go near them.
Over the next few years he slowly came around. He has been riding horses, ponies, camels, and elephants at fairs and circuses. I’ve also talked to him about how I’d love to see him work on a farm like I did. So the thought was in his mind even as he was diagnosed with adhd, pdd/nos, odd, and bipolar disorder. Whew!
We have been working with the Department of Mental Health in our area to set up programs for him and they recently informed us they have a summer program at a therapeutic farm not far from us. We mentioned it to Max and he was ecstatic. Yes, he wants to do it!
Now for the month of August he is expected to be at work at 9 a.m. but he has convinced me to get him there by 8:15 so that he can help set up for the day. This means mucking out all the stalls, and feeding and saddling the horses. After that he rides, walks the horses, and brushes them down. Like it was for me, the riding is his payment. He loves it, and so do I. He would move to the farm to be there night and day if he could. I’m glad to see it; therapeutic farms have proven to be successful helping kids with disabilities and disorders.
So I get up in time to drive him off into the country; the farm is in the middle of a large forest. I pull in to the parking lot and we pile his gear on top of one of the picnic tables. Then we wait until one of the farm hands or coaches comes to fetch him. They have learned to expect him early and tell me they enjoy having him help them prepare for the day.
Today he had a massive headache and we had to pick him up at noon. He cried all the way home. We knew it must have been painful because he never cries. But he was also crying because his day was cut short. I wonder if that means that I will have to get him there even earlier on Monday.
Max has a particular pony that he is in charge of. He doesn’t like to be away from him and feels he is not taking care of him if he isn’t there. So today has been hard for him being at home.
If he continues to love horses like this he will thrive at the farm. Who knows where he will go with this.
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