Iowa City Press-Citizen, July, 1990
Club members learn about life from working horses
By Monica Mendoza
At a split in a narrow gravel road, a slab of wood is tacked to a post in the ground: "Winds Reach," it says.
Down the road huge trees guard the farm en-trance. Inside special attention is given to the chores at hand.
Some people brush horses, some walk horses, some give riding lessons and some clean stables. It's the hum of a work-ing farm at 7 in the morning. Winds Reach Farm, owned and managed by Betsy Coester, is the home of the Rapid Creek Pony Club.
Dressed in tall riding boots, breeches and helmets, members of the club start with an easy trot around the course in single file. Coester follows the group out to the course in a golf cart.
After one trip around the course, the riders circle Coester and talk about what was good and what was bad.
"I want to teach them how to express and evaluate everything they do," Coester says. "It doesn't do any good for me to tell them what they're doing, they have to know for them-selves."
At Winds Reach Farm, chil-dren learn about life, Nancy Gunderson, who lives and works at the farm, says.
Gunderson says the club members are taught horse-manship, stable management, care and first aid. "The pony club is a cycle of learning and teaching," she says. "The older ones teach the younger ones."
The farm has 140 acres with more than 72 obstacles through-out the wooded area. Coester owns 72 horses. She says the horses that the children ride are sport horses bred or bought to perform. Her daugh-ter, Susan Coester, works and trains the horses until a club member can work comfortably with the horse.
Most of the work on the farm is done by the club members. They maintain the shed area where saddles and bridles are kept. They clean the horses and feed them.
Gunderson says these daily chores are good lessons they can take with them throughout life. They learn about hard work, how to manage time and how to prepare budgets. Kathryn Rarick, 18, says she began as a working student. "I used to work on the farm in return for riding lessons," Rar-ick says. "I started out cleaning stalls and then I moved up to riding horses for Betsy. I could have never taken years of les-sons if I wasn't a working stu-dent." Rarick now acts as Coester's chief assistant teacher. She is one step away from the highest chief assistant teacher. She is one step from the highest level of achievement in the na-tional pony club rating. She is eligible to test for that rating until she is 21.
The pony club is part of a national organization that started in England in 1929. Coester, who was an Olympic rider and hunter jumper from MD, began the Rapid Creek club 31 years ago. Students have come from as far as the Virgin Islands to study with her. The club has grown from five to 25 members.
Shelly and Shana Gunderson, 14-year-old twins, ride and work for Coester. They each ride seven horses a day during the summer months.
"We ride the green horses and get them used to being around people," Shelly says.
The twins begin chasing horses up from the pasture at a quarter to 6 in the morning. They practice with a group of six and spend time teaching. Both girls, who have been rid-ing for almost four years, are at the C level in Pony Club. The highest level is A and is usually achieved by the age of 18, Coester says.
Mrs. Gunderson says, "The horses have taught (my daughters) a great deal of responsibility."