updated June 4, 2020
Hinchinbrook Farm is always looking for new volunteers who like to work with children, with horses or both! We also have some places for people who would like to work on therapeutic riding skills with adults who have mental or physical challenges. Here are some of the current 40 volunteers who call us their Tribe.
Brianne Boudreau has been a regular volunteer since early 2016. She helps with lessons, is a regular at the Horse Boy play dates and will do any of the chores that pile up quickly with 12 critters at the farm. Brianne is a student at Parkview and a favorite mentor to all the horse boy families. Extra bonus: She rides like a dream!
Pauline Cameron grew up in Halifax and recently moved to Riverport district, where she spends her time teaching English as a second language and writing music for fun. She has worked alongside children and youth for over ten years, and has had an outsider’s curiosity about horses for longer, so the volunteer opportunity at Hinchinbrook Farm felt perfectly timed with her arrival in the area. Previous volunteer experiences include Halifax Public Libraries (English Language Learning), the SPCA (Christmas treat sales) and community radio. Pauline became a volunteer in November 2019.
Stephanie Chipman is a mom with two awesome daughters and who works hard for the Bridgewater Elementary school; but since 2016 Stephanie has found Tuesday mornings to help riders and to do chores at the Farm as well as helping at some playdates. Stephanie signs up to help out at special events too and is a great resource for parents when she shares her insights and solutions. Stephanie owns “Quietude Polly” whois sister to our Delilah. Stephanie is a member of “Bluenosers Who Care”, a local group that provided funding of the 2017 summer camp.
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Carolyn Collicutt, the Past President of the Hinchinbrook Farm Society, is a mom who served on the Board from 2011 to 2019. She came to HF in 2008 through First Steps Intervention and is a founding member of the Society (in 2010). She has created a resource list for special needs families and arranges special visits by local resources such as the RCMP, Search and Rescue Canine and EHS ambulances at play dates. Carolyn is also a leader with the local Sea Cadets and the Scouts.
Jaime Collicutt started at Hinchinbrook Farm as a rider when she was just eight years old, and we were just starting up. Jaime still rides but also volunteers at Horse Boy Play Dates and events. Jaime graduated from Parkview and has been a sea cadet for several years. She is now our paid summer student camp assistant. Her organizing skills are very welcome in a tack room that gets tossed after just one lesson!
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Gordon Cook has finished serving our country in the most prestigious form, and now he enjoys calling Nova Scotia his home. Gordon has prior experiences of mucking doots, grooming and lunging horses in his past, however, now he finds himself learning the ropes of therapeutic horseback riding as well. Gordon enjoys Dandy’s grumpy moods and the stubbornness both he and Jazzmin hold while he lunges them. Gordon promptly fixes fences and gates, leads the horses during therapeutic lessons and enjoys sneaking Dandy onto the front lawn where he can enjoy some grass – only without equipment and during their leisure time though!
Megan Daniels-Garber is a new mom and an aspiring therapeutic riding instructor and has been volunteering with Hinchinbrook Farm since 2014. Megan has travelled to Horse Boy Central in Elgin Texas. She was raised around and with horses and still competes while working as a care assistant. Megan’s goal is to work in therapeutic riding. She is an amazing asset to all the volunteers. She is always ready to share her horse knowledge.
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Peter de Vries lends his time and energy both on the Board of Directors and at the lessons and events. Peter travels from Liverpool where he has settled in to retirement from a career in medical writing. This makes Peter a great resource for information too. Peter has taken on some poster making and event photographer work for the farm. He comes faithfully to Tuesday lessons and fills in for other volunteers when needed. He has also been known to do a few chores around the Farm.
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Cheryl Dyer hails from Cape Breton Island and began volunteering at the farm in 2018. Returning to Maders Cove after living overseas for many years she felt a need to help out in her community and Hinchinbrook Farm was just the right fit. A farmer at heart, she loves helping out in the barn mucking out stalls and taking care of the horses and is happy to pitch in when needed with lessons and Horse Boy play dates.
David Friendly joined Hinchinbrook Farm Society as the grant writer and fund raiser in 2013. He took over as our Webmaster in April 2014. After a career in the oil industry as a safety and emergency response professional, David and his wife relocated to Lunenburg to take in the quality of life the area offered to retired people looking to stay active. David has volunteered over recent years with the Lunenburg Folk Harbour Society and the Lunenburg Doc Fest. He is a former trumpet player and currently band leader for the Mahone Bay Legion Swing Band and plays flugelhorn in the Chester Brass Band. David has been Technical Director for the South Shore Players and Producer for several productions. He also created the slide show used in the Summer Troupe production of Glimpses and produced the official DVD of the show in 2017. In addition to our web site, David manages the sites for the Mahone Bay Legion Swing Band and The Bluenose Opera House Syndicated Radio Show. A former hobby was leading groups to Ecuador and the Galápagos Islands. It had a brief re-emergence in 2012 when he took a group of 15, mostly from Lunenburg County, on their ‘trip of a lifetime’ for their own private tour of Ecuador and chartered yacht excursion in the Galápagos. While living in Calgary, David made a point of taking a 3-day horse trip into the Rockies at least once a year. He likes the fact that, at Hinchinbrook, he will be able to keep a link with these gentle creatures.
Sebastian Haumering began volunteering at Hinchinbrook Farm as a Grade 9 student at Bluenose Academy in September 2017. He will be completing his high school education at Parkview Education Centre in Bridgewater. Sebastian is a skier, mountain biker and junior firefighter with the Lunenburg Fire Department. He is planning on becoming a paramedic and work for life-flight air ambulance.
Nick Hume is a former rider who is now old enough o volunteer.
Marilyn Jones is an enthusiastic student of all things to do with horses as she is drawn to Hinchinbrook farm due to her interest in the help that therapeutic riding lessons provide for special needs families. Marilyn has kept her lifelong love of horses a secret, regardless that one prior personality test revealed that she should become a farmer. Although Marilyn does not always love the goats, Rosie and Sissy, Dandy holds a special place in her heart and Delilah’s beauty will never cease to inspire her to continue to explore her love for these beautiful 1200-pound friends.
Jutta Juraschek. Fairy tales caught me a couple of years ago, and during my trainings I learned how they take us into a mystical world that our conscious mind might call naive yarn. Its symbolism, however, has profound meaning to our subconscious mind. They are symbols that we encounter in myths and sagas as well as our dreams. They are even anchored in our DNA. Fairy tales are wise, profound and can heal by touching the child within us. They are immortal. The Smithsonian University of Charlottesville, USA, found out that some of our fairy tales date back as far as 5000 years.
Kéla Laroque joined the Board of Directors in 2018 and immediately volunteered to take over as Treasurer. Kéla was a volunteer from 2013-2015 then took time away to study and get her MPT at Dalhousie U. Now she is a very busy Physical Therapist in Bridgewater. Kéla helps with horses, children and activities at Horse Boy Playdates and at special events. She is also known by the tribe for her homemade baking. Kéla is a life long equestrian and hopes to start training in Hippotherapy.
Sarah McCarthy is a psychology student at St. Mary’s University with the hopes of becoming a clinical social worker. Her mother Kathryn told Sarah about Hinchinbrook Farm, and she has been a steady volunteer since the summer of 2018. Sarah was certified at the Movement Course 1 & 2 in July of that year. Sarah is a budding horsewoman and picking up routines because she has volunteered 3 full days a week all summer long. She will continue learning about the Horse Boy Method throughout her formal education with the dream of incorporating the two and becoming an Equine-Assisted Therapist.
Patricia McGill is the Program Director at Hinchinbrook Farm, but works many hours as a volunteer to ensure that the whole facility functions well. She was originally certified under the Canadian Therapeutic Riding Association (CanTRA) and worked to help them develop some of their processes and standards. She also worked with Horse Boy World™ in the United States as they developed their unique equine therapy methods and brought their approach, as well as their new “Movement Method” program to Nova Scotia. She is currently a member of the Professional Association of Therapeutic Horsemanship International (PATH International). Patty has also accumulated a huge knowledge, through her experiences and research, into many mental health issues, especially in children, such as ASD.
Hunter Parks: Hi my name is Hunter, I am a student at Bluenose Academy and enjoy dance, music and volunteering. I started riding at Hinchinbrook in 2015 and started volunteering in 2018. I am looking forward to doing more volunteering at HFS!
Devon Reeves is a former rider who is now old enough to volunteer.
Carol Rolfe-Higney is a mother to 2 boys, one grandson and 1 stepson. In June 2018 she retired from 36 years of nursing and became President of Hinchinbrook in 2019. She and husband Mark live in a cottage on Indian Lake. Her goal is finding that healthy balance between volunteering and caring for herself, her family and her aging parents. Working with youth and being around animals have always been a major part of her life. She is grateful to have the opportunity to provide support at the farm and to receive so much back from the gifts that children and animals often provide. This picture captured one of her happy moments with Mark and her late horse, Babe.
was a very young volunteer from when she first came to Hinchinbrook Farm with her brother in August 2007 and every August since. She lives in Connecticut. Lauren is a natural equestrian and kept “horsing around” in the States, building her abilities with horses to an unofficial grand prix level in 2014 at 14 years of age. Lauren has a younger brother with ASD and wants to use horses and nature in therapy for kids in her future career plans. She traveled to Horse Boy Texas to train with Rupert Isaacson and volunteer at their Horse Boy Camp in 2014. She is everywhere for every child all the time when volunteering at the Farm.
Kerenza Verburg is a Medical Sciences student at Dalhousie University. She is also a part-time dance instructor, and of course a volunteer at Hinchinbrook Farm. She started volunteering at Hinchinbrook Farm in the spring of 2019, and fell in love with the place (and critters) right away. Kerenza is a very active person who loves to be busy, which is certainly no problem at the farm!Kerenza grew up in Europe, where she learned to ride; and ever since she moved to Canada, she’s wanted to get back into horse riding. Hinchinbrook farm provides her with that opportunity, and also combines her love for animals and passion for working with children and youth perfectly!
Kara Wilson Kara Wilson has been a veterinarian at South Shore Veterinary Services since July 2018. A lifelong equestrian, she grew up always in the barn with her horse Kolumb (pictured). They competed together for many years in dressage and eventing. Prior to veterinary school Kara taught lessons and summer camps to young equestrians and trained students for their Equine Canada rider levels. She went on to complete an undergraduate degree at Dalhousie University and then qualified for her Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree at the Atlantic Veterinary College in PEI. After graduation she completed an extra year of training at the Vermont Large Animal Clinic to specialize in equine medicine. She currently sits on the Hinchinbrook Farm Society Board of Directors as the secretary and is happy to be providing veterinary care for all the furry creatures at Hinchinbrook Farm.
Gillian Wu volunteers Thursdays, May through October while staying at her Liverpool home. She winters at her other home in Toronto. Gillian is a retired dean and researcher, and is a wealth of information (so every one asks Gil). Coming since mid 2015 to the farm she takes care of the horses and facility, helps riders, works at special events and at group visits. Before coming to Hinchinbrook Farm, Gillian was not a horse person but she is quickly chalking up experience.