Farms Do No Harm: Volume III – Dream Come True Farm

Thirteen years ago, Maria Campo and Lauren Baxter joined the Spring City scenery on Ridge Road, leaving Staten Island behind as it lost its rural relevance to land development.

Before moving, Baxter rode one of the last horses to set hooves across the island's pavement, with the more agriculturally appreciative sweeps of Bucks County bringing the two into Pennsylvania where by 2002, they began offering counseling services followed by horseback riding therapy at their current Chester County location.

Campo and Baxter traveled to New Hope, Pa. as tourists years before, which led them to explore the different feel of this state and its more obvious value seen in keeping nature close to daily living.

Today, Campo is a certified social worker and has counseling sessions with a handful of clients ranging from small children to the elderly population.

She and Baxter take turns but also work together in bringing their clients out into the stables to help care for their horses, later learning to ride them out in the pastures behind the 19th century farmhouse and separate counseling setup on the property.

Campo often brings animals into her sessions, including a 12-year-old miniature poodle therapy dog named Taffy.

A special needs fox terrier named Cowgirl also trots around the farm, with clients almost seeming to feel more comfortable knowing she too has her own struggles but prances about joyfully despite it all.

When young children visit for counseling, often nervous and scared, being in a new place, the brightly fluttering birds in two large cages near the main sitting area of the office usually distract their attention for the better, and they feel more at ease, Campo said.

Outside, while many of the clients gravitate to horses, some find themselves enamored with the chickens. A few sheep make their home at the farm, too.

"In 1984, it was a new concept to combine social work with animals and nature," Campo elaborated, referencing the decade when she began studying and serving in her field. "The idea wasn’t mainstream back then."

Witnessing speedier and more smoothly approached success of clients in their counseling and therapy is something Campo and Baxter glean not just from the work with the horses but with any components where animals are brought into the picture, close to the clients.

"It integrates the physical, mental and emotional health of the person because you have to connect with the animal; the movement of riding provokes the body to move in ways we wouldn’t normally get with ordinary exercise," Baxter said in detailing some of the benefits of horseback riding therapy.

"Movement is magical—the mix causes therapy to move along quicker," Campo said, "and people’s resistance goes down."

"It almost balances the imbalance that life throws at you," Baxter said in explaining why she thinks it’s so valuable for people to hone a close and constant connection with animals. "It increases self-esteem, teaches control of yourself and the horse and boosts happiness."

Baxter also practices reiki, a form of hand movement-oriented energy work which better distributes the electricity within the body, promoting healing. She does this with clients and all of the animals she and Campo spend hours taking care of on the farm each day.

In the barn which dates back to the 1830s, several horses and ponies rest in their stables when they’re not in working mode. The chickens like to scuttle under the stable doors to flurry their little legs around in the hay with the therapy horses—Raina, Amber, Heather, Cara, Maria, Violet and Milo.

"I always loved riding with them," Campo said about her own zeal for time spent with horses in her younger days. "I think it was also my therapy, and we were sort of farm girls at heart."

Campo mentioned that where some kids are considered to have attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, children don’t necessarily respond well to just words and commands to do with their behavior, but when they’re introduced to a horse and given lessons with a physical action, the instruction clicks for them because it’s not like a lecture.

"I feel good about putting an anchor in the ground here," Baxter said about being a part of the Spring City community.

Campo and Baxter are in the process of relocating to what is known as Pleasantview Farm in Douglassville but will be keeping Dream Come True Farm under the wings of their care and well-earned sentiments.

To find out more, visit Baxter’s website, Cowgirl’s Reiki Ranch, or call 610-495-6026.