On Sunday, December 3, Nazareth “neigh”borhood’s Equi-librium farm and their herd of therapy horses held their first Twelve Neighs of Christmas community event.
In light of the rain, over 300 guests in high, holiday spirits moseyed in from the mud and the muck to partake in the fun-filled festivities inside Equi-librium’s riding arena and barns.
Children rushed and raced to partake in the games and crafts as their laughter filled the arena with joy and excitement.
The event was free to the public, but tickets and wristbands could be purchased for activities and attractions inspired by “The Twelve Days of Christmas,” which included 12 drummers drumming face painting, 11 pipers piping Christmas cookie decorating, 10 lords a-leaping hobby horse obstacle course, nine ladies dancing dance party with miniature horses, eight maids a-milking hot cocoa bar, seven swans a-swimming duck game with prizes, six geese a-laying holiday crafts, five golden rings ring toss with prizes, four calling birds duck feeding, three French hens Christmas carriage photos, two turtle doves photos with mini horses, and a partridge in a pear tree horseshoe and snowflake ornament crafts.
Thanks to the community, Equi-librium was able to give free wristbands to children from The Children’s Home of Easton, Boys & Girls Club of Bethlehem, and the Pediatric Cancer Foundation of the Lehigh Valley.
During the festive frenzy, children of all ages from one to 92 enjoyed visits from Santa, Mrs. Claus and the Grinch while meandering through Santa’s Workshop craft and vendor marketplace, which included vendors such as décor made by Brett and Kim, Karen Graffman’s handmade stockings, bath-related products by Kristen Merket and Isabell Frederick from Issava, Zachary’s hand-painted holiday ornaments, Karin’s Pottery, and more.
Even Mrs. Claus had her own North Pole station where children could fill out their letters to Santa and drop them in the big guy’s mailbox.
In her letter, little Melina—who could give sweet Cindy-Lou Who a run for her money—asked Santa for candy canes, a pink scooter and a trampoline, while her oldest brother Gabriel asked for the Charizard Pokémon box, Dino Smashers and a hoverboard that lights up and plays music, and her big brother Mateo asked for a Smasher Dino Egg, a Gigantamax Pikachu and Vmax Charizard, a black light-up scooter and wood to build a treehouse with “Daddy and Gabriel.”
Guests could also make their way to the stables where Star the miniature horse greeted everyone at the door in his reindeer costume, and Chef, Eddie, April, Guinness, Jackie, Timber, Sassy, Ricky, Sam, Rosie, Libby, Faith, Lito, George, Sonny, and Buford demanded lunch as they ate up all of the attention from guests from the privacy of their own stalls throughout the day.
All-in-all it was quite the exciting day for both the children and the horses.
Equi-librium is a nonprofit organization and their mission is to provide healing through horses by implementing equine-assisted services to help individuals with physical, developmental, behavioral, and psychological challenges and their programs are led by Professional Association of Therapeutic Horsemanship-certified instructors along with physical and occupational therapists, educators and mental health professionals.
For more information about their organization, programs, volunteering, horse sponsorships and donations, visit their website at www.equi-librium.org.
