After over a month of grappling with an outbreak of Equine Herpes Virus, Wellspring Farm at Bellevue State Park is now fully operational after completing its government-mandated quarantine period.
The farm opened its doors on Thursday for horses to reunite with their riders and opened to the community Monday morning.
Wellspring has been under quarantine since mid-March, when a highly contagious strain of EHV-1 infected over a dozen horses, which ended up taking the life of a farm-favorite, Peppermint. When the virus was in full swing, horses had to be distanced from each other and the farm had to rely on only “essential personnel”, leaving only 12 employees to care for the 61 horses on the farm.
The farm completed its required two week fever-free streak and is ready to bounce back from the tumultuous month.
“The horses are so happy to see their people and the people are equally happy to see them,” said Wellspring owner Tiffany Wallace. “There’s been a lot of hugs going on here.”
New directions for Wellspring Farm
Wallace took over the farm’s operations in the beginning of the new year, and registered her new business under the name “Be Well @ Wellspring Farm.”
“Where I’m taking this business is more than just teaching people how to ride,” Wallace said. “I want to make it a wellness center for mental health.”
She plans on adding programs that focus on the therapeutic nature of horses and reconnecting with nature as well as hosting other community-accessible events on the farm like yoga classes.
Wellspring’s summer lesson program is already nearly full and they will be hosting pony rides at Bellevue Park’s summer concert series on Sundays, for $5 per ride. The concert schedule has not been released yet, but usually begins around mid-August.
Other opportunities to participate with the farm include a student working program where people aged 14 and up work at the farm to ride, and volunteers are needed for adaptive riding lessons.
If there’s anything Wallace has learned from the forced shutdown of her new business, it’s that you’re not always in control of what obstacles will present themselves, or when.
Over $27,000 was raised from a Gofundme page seeking support to help feed and care for the horses during the quarantine.
“This has been something that I couldn’t have anticipated, but good things come from low times,” Wallace said. “I have to think that there was some sort of purpose for this to happen.”
Wellspring Farm is located at Bellevue State Park on Carr Road in Bellevue. For more information about their programming, you can check out their new website or send an email to bewellwellspring@gmail.com.
Contact Molly McVety at mmcvety@delawareonline.com. Follow her on Twitter @mollymcvety.
