Woerth It Hollow By Marcella Peyre-Ferry Staff Writer In learning how to help others, you can also help yourself. At Woerth it Hollow, Sara Hodgkiss is sharing her farming background and her love of horses with fellow veterans to help them overcome the stress they still carry from their time in service. Located at 269 Cooper Drive, Kirkwood,
Hodgkiss operates the non-profit organization out of the family farm where she grew up. Six horses are the primary staff for the program where veterans and individuals with disabilities can come to learn horse care, riding, animal management, environmental practices and all the factors that go along with farm life. Woerth It Hollow is not a therapeutic riding program, and Hodgkiss makes it clear that she is not a therapist. She is a veteran herself who has experienced the challenges of PTSD and returning to civilian life. She is now using her family farm as a base to operate. “The main focus has always been the veterans,” Hodgkiss said.
From time to time the program also includes horses that have issues. While they are learning horsemanship skills, participants are also helping rehabilitate the horses so that they may eventually be re-homed. Classes or volunteer activities are held two to three nights per week. “There’s so much positive going on, I can’t put into words all the great things that are happening,” Hodgkiss said. As students progress, they may begin riding, but Hodgkiss feels that the groundwork done with the horses is more important that time in the saddle. “No one gets to ride right off the bat. They have to put in the work—they have to
Zach Farmer, Director of Operations, Sara Hodgkiss, Founder and Day Iseminger, Board Member. Photo by Jim Coarse, Moonloop Photography
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Spring/Summer 2022 | Volume 48
