As planes flew overhead and train whistles blew in the distance, Briarcliff Elementary School students saw firsthand Friday how people got around before the age of mechanized travel.
“Are they real?” Jayden Guevara, 6, a kindergarten student, asked as he spotted Remington and Dandy, a pair of horses by the school’s playground.
“Awesome!” Jayden replied when he got his answer.
Donnie Stephenson of Saddletree Stables in Willow Spring brought Remington, a quarter horse, and Dandy, a spotted saddle horse. Johnny Wood, 45, of Angier explained to Briarcliff Elementary School students what he does as a farrier as he shod the horses all morning.
Amid jokes about scooping the poop off the hooves, Wood placed the horseshoes on and took questions from the students.
“I hope they get a better understanding of what it takes to care for horses,” Wood said. “It’s more than just feeding them.”
It was the first time that many students like fourth-grader Nemo Branch, 10, had seen a horse in person.
“You don’t realize how big they are,” Nemo said. “On video they look so small. They look prettier in real life.”
