Abby Nadeau
Community Editor

Growing up, most little girls only dream about having their own horse.

Some are lucky enough to have parents who have the time and money to not only purchase the horse, but to board it and feed it.

For the rest, trips to area horse farms and a few horse back riding trips around the state have to satisfy the child’s wishes.

But now a Wyoming horse farm has found a way to make both parents and children happy.

A horse lease

Sammy Matuke has always wanted her own horse.

“I’ve wanted one since I was born,” she said.

Sammy, a 12-year-old girl from Linwood, and her mother Gayle are customers at NV Farms in Wyoming where they are leasing a foal.

Yes, they are leasing a horse.

Gayle had simply driven by one day and had seen a sign to lease a horse.

“We stopped in one day and spent about six hours just walking through and visiting all the horses,” Gayle said.

They soon made the decision to lease a horse from Lowell and Trudy Friday, owners of the farm.

Lowell said he was trying to downsize his horse herd and he had the idea to lease the horses to people with the intent for the customer to eventually purchase the horse.

“Everyone liked the idea so we went for it,” Lowell said.

Now Lowell, who has been raising horses for over 30 years, leases horses for approximately $1000 a year. The horses stay at the farm, but families can visit the horse and ride it almost whenever they want.

Sammy leased an unborn horse and was with the mom the night before it was born. Lowell called Sammy when “Mystified by Night” was giving birth and she was there within two hours of it being born.

On Memorial Day last May, Mystified by Night gave birth to “Miracle,” a name Sammy picked for the horse.

Huge

Responsibility

Even though the horse is not kept at Sammy’s home in Linwood, she still has a responsibility to the horse.

Clients who choose to lease a foal have several things to teach the horse while they are leasing it.

But even before starting to teach the foal, Sammy was required to get to know Mystified by Night better.

She said that Miracle’s mom was very protective and wouldn’t let her near Miracle. Therefore Sammy also had to show Mystified by Night that she wasn’t there to take Miracle away or harm her.

Before Miracle was born, Sammy helped take care of Mystified by Night by brushing her and just letting the horse get to know her better.

As Miracle grows Sammy’s responsibilities will grow. Right now, Sammy is teaching Miracle how to “lead.”

Sammy has enlisted the help of her mother and sister Lexi, 11, to help care for Miracle. Gayle often brings cream to patch up scratches that Miracle might have, while Lexi just likes to pet her.

Once Miracle is cleaned up, the Matukes will tour all the barns at NV Farms and visit the rest of the horses.

Many times the threesome will take a huge clump of hay out to the horse pasture and allow the horses to surround them as they eat the hay.

“Isn’t this just heaven?” Gayle asks. “It’s just a piece of heaven.”

For more information about NV Farms or to learn more about leasing a horse from the Fridays contact 763-434-4496 and ask for Trudy or Lowell.

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