M.A.R.E. - Week 18 (The End)

And that's a wrap.

I signed in and signed out for the last time this past Wednesday. I thought about taking my name tag with me, but as long as it stays in the drawer, I can always go back. And even had I taken the name tag, I am pretty sure they could make me new one.

I put my name tag back in the drawer.

My last day at MARE turned out to be pretty anticlimactic. I was only on the board to be a horse handler for one lesson. I never really understood the criteria for how each volunteer is assigned to do which job, but it never mattered to me. I was just as happy digging a ditch as I was serving as a side walker. Whenever I haven't been assigned to a lesson, I always asked else what needed doing. Last week, the sand bags needed to be replaced after the most recent hay delivery.

Cricket the unflappable Haflinger.

During the one lesson I did help with, the hay truck showed up and unloaded a squeeze of hay. I've never been at MARE on hay delivery day, so I kept an eye on the truck as I led Cricket. There was a lot of beeping and grinding noises as the truck unloaded the hay and the Program Director, who was giving the lesson I was in, asked me to be extra aware of the truck as I led Cricket around the arena. The kiddo who was riding isn't able to communicate in a traditional way, so safety is of the utmost importance with those kiddos in particular.

Sand bags - aka blocks of cement.

Cricket was her usual, dependable self so the lesson wrapped up without an issue. When my lesson ended, I handed Cricket off for her next lesson, and then I asked what else needed to be done. Trainer 1 asked if I would replace the sand bags that had been moved in order to get the truck into the hay barn. When asked to do a job, I can never do it half way, so instead of replacing the sand bags immediately, I swept out the dirt and musty hay that had been under the bags. Once the entire area was swept clean, I replaced the sand bags. Like most barn jobs, it was dirty and made me sweat which meant I was happy to do it!

Haven

Once I had swept out the hay barn and replaced the sand bags, I headed back to the main barn and helped with feeding the horses. I paused outside each stall and gave each horse a wave. After saying my goodbyes to Trainer 1 and 2, I put my name tag in the drawer and walked out to my truck. It's a good thing we're headed to Europe in a couple of days because I am pretty sure I am going to miss my Wednesdays at MARE.

Volunteering is definitely good for the soul, but I am ready to move on to something else.