Mary Wainwright enjoys her horses, Sammy, the palomino she’s lying on, and Clyde, her Clydesdale, in a field at her Boondocks Farm in Canton. Wainwright is a licensed clinical social worker and runs an equine therapy business on the property as well as a wedding and event center with her husband. Submitted photo
Mary Wainwright, a licensed clinical social worker, and her husband, Jody Brown, built their barn and farm in Canton four years ago with the idea that it would be a place where they would have their home and she could work as a therapist specializing in equine therapy.
Now Wainwright does her equine therapy with small groups of special needs middle school students from a western Maine school.
The couple also run a wedding and event center at their Boondocks Farm, and they’ve added on a catering and bar service with Boondocks Farm Backwoods Affair, LLC.
Have horses always been a part of your life? When did you first know that they would be involved in your career path? My journey began in 2016 with a bumper sticker, a line of traffic and a long slow ride home. The vehicle in front of me had a sticker in the back window that simply read “PATH International,” accompanied by the image of a horse and rider. At the time I remember thinking, “Hmmm, I wonder what that is?” Eventually making it to my destination, the question quickly left my thoughts. A week or so later, I was sitting at my desk at work and the name popped in my head. To satisfy my curiosity, I did a Google search. Little did I know at the time, those few strokes of the keys would lead me down a rabbit hole.
Like most little girls, I grew up with a fascination with horses and animals in general. I was fortunate enough to be raised in an environment where I was able to fulfill the dream of having a horse, but by my teen years, my passions shifted and horses went to the wayside.
When I was more settled in my late 20s, I decided I wanted to get back into the farm life. I bought a horse, Jax, a very handsome paint horse with a quirky personality. He was 2 at the time. When he was 3, I sent him away for training. Shortly thereafter his return I learned I was expecting my son and my priorities shifted once again. It was at that time that I made the painstaking decision to sell my beloved horse and go to graduate school and so began my career path in mental health.
What type of training and education does one need to become a therapist specializing in equine therapy? In order to provide equine therapy, one must hold a professional mental health license. I am an LCSW. I chose to seek additional training in an effort to advance my knowledge, skills and establish a level of professionalism. PATH International certifies professionals according to a set of field-tested standards to ensure the highest levels of safety, ethics and effectiveness in the industry. Certification candidates must complete relevant education and pass both written and practical exams to become certified to deliver equine-assisted services.
As part of the practicum, I was required to complete an internship under a PATH International-accredited facility, which led me to Healing Through Horses in New Gloucester. When I originally set out on this journey, I had no intention of creating my own program. I was hoping to work under an existing program. The people at Healing Through Horses were incredible, from the story behind the program to the people who were a part of it. I was drawn to their mission and values and made lifelong connections.
Once I completed the program and achieved my certification, I continued to volunteer as time allowed, but my son was still young at the time and the commute became tedious. Then one day, by random happenstance, I dialed the wrong number and when the answering machine message came on, I recognized the name and the voice. It was the woman I had sold my horse to five years prior. I quickly hung up and a wave of sadness swept over me. I always regretted selling Jax. I knew it was the right decision at the time, but the feelings of regret always lingered.
Later that night, my phone rang. It was the woman I had sold Jax too. She recognized my number on her caller ID. Unbeknown to me, she had put Jax up for sale and thought I was calling about him. Once again, by pure circumstance, things came around full circle. Jax was back home, and I set out on a new journey to establish my own program.
Why and how are horses beneficial to students’ mental health therapy? Equine Assisted Therapy is an evidence-based practice and there are countless ways in which working with horses is beneficial to our mental health. It can help build confidence and self-esteem, enhance mindfulness and awareness, create better understanding of establishing and enforcing boundaries, as well as building connections and trust. Simply put, it nurtures our minds, hearts, and souls.
Mary Wainwright and her husband, Jody Brown, built their farm, Boondocks Farm, beginning in 2019. Wainwright, a licensed clinical social worker, runs her equine therapy business in the barn and she and Brown also have their wedding and event center there. This photo, taken in the summer of 2023, includes their greenhouse, added on this year. Submitted photo
What does an equine therapy session for your students look like? Do the students ride the horses and what kinds of progress have you seen from your student participants? We are fortunate to have had the opportunity to work with the Western Foothills Regional Program (an RSU 10 school in Rumford for students with special needs) with the support of Friends of the River Valley (a philanthropic organization created to aid people in the Rumford area communities). We are going into our second year working with the school and have seen tremendous growth and positive changes in the children participating in the program.
Our work is primarily based on the ground, little to no riding is involved. We develop activities and learning exercises based on the individual needs of the kids. The bonds, emotional connections, and healing these children have experienced working with our horses is immeasurable as the power and effects of working with horses impacts every facet of life, from personal growth and mental well-being to interpersonal relationships and communication. It is the relationship forged between student and horse that has the most profound effect.
You and your husband, Jody Brown, built your barn and the arena for your horse therapy business in 2019. Later on, you added another section to your barn for your wedding and event center. Whose idea was the event center and has it been successful? I have been dabbling in and out of equine therapy since 2015. I started off with some land, a round pen and a small run-in (a three-sided shelter for horses). I faced many challenges along the way. One of the biggest barriers for me was that I didn’t have an adequate facility to establish an official program, nor the resources. I met my husband, Jody, in 2018 and being raised on a farm, he quickly embraced and adopted my lifestyle. It was clear we needed to work on building some infrastructure, so in 2019 we set out to build a new barn. We put the first timber up in September of that year and completed the exterior by December. We spent the remainder of the year finishing out the interior of the barn.
While having a new barn was incredible and made life much easier in regard to caring for the horses, I still faced the challenge of not having a space to work with clients during inclement weather. It was at that point that I tried to convince my husband that we needed to build an indoor arena. After a tremendous amount of research and some coaxing, I laid out a plan and convinced my husband that we could do it ourselves.
One year to the anniversary of the barn raising, we began building the arena. After spending two years building, COVID struck and the inflated lumber prices nearly crippled us. We were financially strained and exhausted. . . . We decided to step away from the project for a bit and focus on us.
We had planned to marry in 2020, but due to COVID our plans were altered. We opted for an intimate ceremony in our barn. Little did we know at the time, this spontaneous decision was the answer we were looking for and would lead us down a new path. And so was born Boondocks Farm. One day I decided to create an advertisement to see if anyone would be interested in booking a wedding at the farm. Much to my surprise, we booked seven weddings that first year. We primarily advertise through word of mouth and just completed our second season. We have been fortunate to have gained a tremendous amount of support and have hosted a variety of events in addition to weddings, from benefits to baby showers, to celebrations of life and birthday parties. We have expanded our offerings and now provide catering and bar service through our sister business Boondocks Farm Backwoods Affair, LLC. We are a unique venue as it is a very large, nearly 10,000 square foot venue and we are a working horse farm as well. We continue to build and expand and will be partnering with Dixfield Discount Fuel again this year for their annual Toy Drive.
We are also fortunate to have forged a relationship with Opportunity Enterprise, which provides supportive services to adults with disabilities. We always look forward to their weekly visits and all of their hard work and dedication.
As for the future of Boondocks Farm, we plan to continue on our current path and grow, adapt and evolve as opportunities present themselves. The most important thing to us is the journey and those we meet along the way.
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