Howell Living Farm to Offer Horseback Rides in Exchange for Farm Chores

Children can mount Howell Living History Farm’s big workhorses for pony rides this Saturday.

Riders will sit atop fully harnessed, three-quarter ton workhorses on Saturday, March 14, 11 a.m.-3 p.m.

Farmers say it will be a welcome relief for the horses, who are usually asked to pulling the plows and wagons used to run the 130-acre “living history” farm.

Children will only get a ride after doing their chores, as the program’s intent is to give children a test of what early 20th-century farm life was all about.

Chores include: helping farmers sweep out horse stalls, cleaning harnesses, filling water troughs and making repairs to pasture fences.

Rides will be offered on a first-come, first-served basis. Riders must be between the ages of 5 and 12 years old, without exception.

A craft program will also be offered to children between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. Crafts take 20 minutes to complete. Groups (eight or more) must pre-register for the craft.

Howell Farm is maintained and operated by the Mercer County Park Commission.

It is located on Valley Road, just off Route 29, two miles south of Lambertville. (GPS directions: 70 Woodens Lane, Lambertville, NJ 08530.)

Visiting hours are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Tuesday through Saturday. Parking and admission are free.

For more information about the farm, call 609-737-3299 or visit www.mercercountyparks.org or www.howellfarm.org.

The attached image was posted on www.howellfarm.org.