Field of Dreams Equine Education Center is one of the coolest places I’ve heard about lately. I found out about the farm from Kate over at A Kate Offering, a local blogger whose boys had a magical time finger painting horses, riding ponies, and brushing fine equine coats. Seriously, I smiled and gasped with joy when I read her post: A perfect party. I absolutely needed more information because my girl loves horses – as most girls do – and what a special treat to hang out with horses up close and personal!
I spoke with the owners of the farm and received terrific information on hosting a birthday party, what is included, cost, etc. They also work with Girl Scouts, 4-H, host summer camp, and offer riding lessons.
…straight from the horse’s mouth:
Birthday parties at Field of Dreams are a 2 hour real farm experience. We begin with a 30 minute safety/general information session. We then follow with our sticker game where the kids use stickers to label the body parts of a live horse (the ears and lips are usually the favorite stickers!). This is a great photo opportunity, as the horse is covered in stickers from nose to tail! After the sticker game, we do our handler-led-rides. If the weather cooperates, we do these rides on our trails along the creek. If the weather is sub-par, we have the luxury of utilizing one of our two arenas, one indoor, and one outdoor. The outdoor arena has a bleacher area for observation, and the indoor arena has a second story viewing room (classroom). After rides, we usually then will break for “party” time either in our picnic area down by the trails, or in our indoor classroom. Hosts are welcome to bring decorations (no balloons around the horses, please!), cake, ice cream (we have a fridge/freezer), food, gifts, etc. If time allows after the “party” time, we bring the group back together with the horses and do a grooming exercise where we teach about the different grooming tools and let the kids get their hands all over the horses. This is usually a very full two hour event.
Costs for parties are based on groups of 10 kids.
1-10 kids utilizes one horse and one staff member $190
11-20 kids (2 horses/staff) $240
21-30 kids (3 horses/staff) $300
If hosts choose, they may add additional activities to the party. We can add a bonfire for roasting hot dogs/marshmallows/etc for $30, or a horse painting activity (finger painting a real horse then bathing the horse to remove the paint) for $30. Both of these add-ons are usually a huge hit! On rare occasions, parents have even opted to utilize our indoor movie screen for a late-night horse flick. The cost for movies is around $100 (can be more if our equipment is needed).
Also, and this is just amazing in my book…
We also have our sister organization, our non-profit, Dreams on Horseback. We run educational programs for at-risk and disabled youth in the Greater Columbus area. We also provide special needs programs, Dare to Dream and Strides for Pride for kids on the Autism Spectrum and with other developmental disabilities. In addition, Field of Dreams Stables is an alternative school for the Gahanna Jefferson Public School system, providing daily school programming for high school students at risk of not graduating. Most recently, we have partnered with The Ohio State University in launching a 12 week Alzheimer’s research program utilizing Field of Dreams’ horses, staff, and our facility.
Field of Dreams Equine Education Center
1416 Reynoldsburg-New Albany Road
Blacklick, OH 43004
614-846-9500
http://fieldofdreamsequine.com/
Home page photograph courtesy of Kate Djupe of TheKate Photography.
I am so happy that you took this idea and ran with it because I had no idea just how much they did beyond the party we attended. I love this. I do. (I think she mentioned moms groups would get a
discount – so make sure to ask for your next outing)
Thank you for being so awesome!