I truly enjoyed my experiences that were associated with the Practicum portion of Earth, Life, and Time. For my project, I volunteered at Days End Farm Horse Rescue where I worked with the staff to care for and treat abused and neglected horses. This farm is a non-profit organization that works to rehabilitate horses that have been rescued from poor living conditions. I knew about the site because I live only a couple of miles from it, so I drive by the farm almost every day. My site supervisor was very easy to find and talk to; I merely stopped by the farm one day and presented my desire to volunteer there, as well as my Learning Contract, and I was all set. I have wanted to work at Days End Farm for years, but prior to this, I had never been able to find the time to work there for a consistent number of hours. However, when I was presented with this project, Days End was the first place I thought of and I was pushed to find and make time to spend at the site. I am so glad that I did because I loved working with the horses and I learned a lot of valuable information through the service I performed.
While working at Days End Farm, I carried out general care-taking tasks, such as mucking out stalls, feeding, watering, and grooming horses, etc. I was also responsible for assembling the various daily feed mixtures that each horse required, as well as adding different amounts of medications, such as daily de-wormers, and supplements to the feeds for some of the animals. I assisted the staff members in cleaning and wrapping the leg of a horse who had suffered from a puncture wound. Additionally, I prepared and administered oral medications to a horse for several days until she no longer needed it. Thus, I learned a great deal about the nature and amount of care that horses require, as well as a few medical techniques, which I am sure will be useful in the future as I pursue my goal of becoming a veterinarian.
Not only did I learn a lot about general horse care and treatment, I also feel as though I benefitted from the overall experience. Many of the horses are very friendly and fun to be around, which is remarkable when you consider the terrible conditions that they have had to endure throughout their lives prior to being rescued. I loved feeling like I was forming a bond with a horse who needed love and attention, and I loved being able to provide that attention. I am still unable to understand how people can treat animals with such cruelty and carelessness when many of them are so easy to love. While I hope that I made an impact on the farm and the animals by offering my care and assistance, I know that I was impacted by the horses whose loving personalities have persevered through varying degrees of abuse and neglect.
Working at Days End Farm was certainly the best part of the Practicum, but I also enjoyed putting together my poster for the Academic Showcase. I have never created a professional-looking poster similar to this one before, so I learned a lot about the necessary techniques to do so. The meetings with Dr. Holtz and Dr. Merck were incredibly helpful because I did not feel overwhelmed when I was constructing the poster. It was even fun to see my finished product printed out alongside my classmates’ posters because most of them were quite creative and well done.
While I did miss the weekly colloquiums with Dr. Holtz and Dr. Merck, I still really enjoyed my experience in the Practicum. The project I performed was informative, fulfilling, and fun, and I plan on interning at Days End Farm Horse Rescue in the future, or at the very least volunteering there again. I have also happily decided that I want to adopt a horse from the farm at some point in the future when I am able to afford to do so. It is upsetting that this was my last semester in Earth, Life, and Time and I am going to miss it a lot, but the class definitely ended on a great note.
Check out the website for my service site!