Horses, carolers spread joy at Loon Lake
At Loon Lake, a local horse farm combined the majesty of horses, the enthusiasm of young riders and Christmas caroling to create pure joy.
On Saturday, Legacy Farm and Stable saddled up their young students and paraded through the tiny town in south Stevens County and left nothing but smiles in their wake.
“It’s a lot of fun and allows us to spread a little joy while giving our riders a fun time decorating the horses,” said Joyce Morgan, owner and instructor at Legacy Farm and Stable.
The caroling has become a tradition for the small business that offers riding lessons, training, clinics and camps to its horse-loving clientele. Morgan guessed they have been caroling for about eight years and it has “grown into quite an endeavor.”
The event is a daylong affair that starts early in the morning with the riders arriving at the farm to prepare the horses, which includes decorating the animals. There are several students from the Spokane area who make the trip north.
“It makes for a long day, but the students really look forward to it,” said Dawn Gronlund, who has been with Legacy for about five years, recently became an investor and is heading up the construction of a new arena on the property. “The activities get a little stagnant during the winter,” she said. “This is a great way to break up the winter.”
According to its website, Legacy is “dedicated to the promotion of good horse management, classical dressage training, eventing and show jumping.” Gronlund said the programs teach “courageousness and kindness,” and working with horses is a “very maturing experience.”
The caroling is usually a part of a year-end party that includes an awards show. Because of COVID-19, some of the festivities were scaled back. The songfest was not.
Once the horses were decorated, the caroling journey began. The farm is located on Highway 292, just west of the town center. This year, 15 horses and 24 students participated in the ride that takes about two and a half hours and includes a posse of cars driven by parents.
Gronlund said they followed the railroad tracks to town and crossed the highway before the caroling began. The parade ran past “downtown,” past the historic schoolhouse and Loon Lake Elementary and past the homes to the north. It looped back across the highway and into the Morgan Park neighborhood.
The effort did not include a lot of pre-event publicity, but students took turns knocking on doors just ahead of the horses to alert residents they were about to be serenaded. Gronlund said in past years they have had to deal with harsh weather conditions, but Saturday’s ride was ideal. She did admit the group could use some help with singing.
“You can’t carry sheet music while you’re riding,” said Gronlund. Sometimes the kids don’t know all the words, and at times the students were singing two different songs.
None of that mattered. On Saturday, the enthusiasm of the young riders lit up an entire town.
Joe Palmquist can be reached at (509) 459-5503 or joep@spokesman.com