This Halloween season, you can get frightened for a good cause at the Walkabout Farm Therapeutic Riding Association in Minden.
The registered charitable organization is hosting the second annual “Warped Woods Halloween Show” on Saturday (October 25), where a natural trail will come to life with the undead for a family-friendly and autism-aware fundraiser.
“We’re very happy that we have this spooky trail that’s accessible and that we have actors that are well prepared to make sure everybody has a positive experience,” says Walkabout Farm executive director Jennifer Semach.
After two decades as a riding instructor, Semach founded Walkabout Farm 10 years ago to provide free equine-assisted therapy and services for families who have loved ones with exceptional needs. Her interest was piqued when she saw the “void” in services for her son with special needs and after seeing how positively horses affected her own mental health throughout her lifetime.
“When my son was born and I was looking for opportunities for him, I decided to create my own space and help other families that might be looking for alternative therapies — not necessarily clinical therapies,” she says. “We are working hand-in-hand with occupational therapists and mental health professionals to make sure we can be a full-service organization.”
Though originally intended to revolve around therapeutic riding, Walkabout Farm has evolved to support a range of programs including visits to long-term care facilities, respite care, and one-on-one programming for youth with special needs. Families come from as far away as Montréal for programming at the farm, and Semach now supports other like-minded organizations to craft their own programs.
Semach explains how participants can benefit from receiving programming in the farm’s natural setting.
“The clinical stuff is very overwhelming, but when they have a natural and a horse-based program that is very therapeutic, they don’t often realize they’re actually getting some therapy while they’re at the farm,” she says.
Walkabout Farm also acts as a sanctuary, often taking in horses who are rescues or who have retired from competitive careers in racing or jumping.
“It’s giving them a second career to follow into, giving them an opportunity to live beyond their ‘usefulness’ as a money-making horse or performance horse,” Semach says. “Being able to provide those opportunities for horses is just so meaningful to me.”
One such horse was Chewbacca, who was rescued from a meat processing plant by Semach and brought to the farm. Chewbacca became the ambassador of the farm before passing away suddenly in 2022.
“He had a lot of challenges psychologically,” she recalls. “He’d been very badly abused, but then it turned around so that he became a wonderful horse, being very aware of children with autism and being drawn to them and providing comfort and security. He was remarkable.”
Since the programming runs entirely on community donations, Walkabout Farm hosts regular fundraisers that also show off the natural beauty of the farm. That will be the case during the Warped Woods Halloween Show when the property will be transformed into a haunted forest.
Between 1 and 5 p.m. on Saturday, October 25, visitors can walk the roughly half-a-kilometre trail while volunteers — including many program participants — will jump out from behind the trees and the natural caves dressed in their best zombie and ghoul costumes.
“We’ll definitely have some jump scares and we’ll definitely have some gore and all the ghoulish things,” Semach says. “It’s a lot of fun for everybody, including the volunteers who are providing the entertainment.”
Young children or those who are on the autism spectrum who don’t want to be scared can carry a skull lantern that will signal to volunteers to disengage and just act as a “scary presence” in the woods. To take away overstimulation, the decorations — all of which are loaned by friends and neighbours — do not include foggers, audio output, or flashing lights.
“We base the scare factor on each family, so we do an intake before they go into the woods so we can communicate with the team,” Semach explains. “We can up the ante and make it scarier for those who are brave, and then we can make it autistic aware and take away the overstimulation. We’re very sensitive to sensory needs.”
The trail is easily accessible, but for those who require additional assistance, Walkabout Farm will also be offering side-by-side rides.
“Inclusion is so important to our mission,” says Semach. “We want to make sure that everyone has the opportunity to enjoy this fun event.”
Entry to the trail requires a minimum donation of $10, which goes directly towards buying bales of hay for the winter, the cost of which has increased to $12 due to droughts.
To address the increased cost of hay, Walkabout Farm launched the “Operation Hay Storm” campaign earlier this this fall with the goal of raising enough to purchase the 700 bales that will be needed to support the horses throughout the winter.
“Hopefully hay prices come down and we will be putting (funds from next year’s Halloween event) towards programming,” says Semach. “That money will go towards supporting our program participants so that they don’t have to ever pay for our services. It’s really important that we are able to offer what we do at no additional cost to families.”
To learn more and to donate to Walkabout Farm, visit www.walkaboutfarmtra.com.
