Lights On offers students hands on horse time

Two days a week students of the Thermopolis Middle School have had the opportunity to get up close and personal with a horse. Many of the students have never been around a horse let alone ride one.

The Lights On program, with the support of Nate and Macile Brown of Horse Works Ranch, have given the students such an opportunity.

The students learn from the ground up, starting with respect for the horse to saddling up and riding. Stressing safety and to be cognizant of everything that is going on around them to prevent putting themselves into a bad situation. Fourteen students are split up between seven different horses, having a chance to put on their own saddle and bridle. They slowly lose their fear and gain a whole new respect for the horse.

The event will conclude with a two-hour trail ride in the Grass Creek region and at the end of the trial the kids will celebrate by cooking some hotdogs on a campfire.