Galloping Bairns!
Over recent months, the bairns of the Carsphairn children’s group, Bairn Banter have enjoyed a variety of different sessions involving a very equine theme.
It all began in May with our group attending Knockengorroch, the popular Carsphairn-based music festival. The festival’s key theme in 2026 celebrated the Chinese Year of the Horse, which also happened to be the birth animal of Simon Holmes, founder of the festival, who died in December 2025. The organiser’s asked if we would work in collaboration with other children’s entertainers to offer fun activities and workshops on the horse theme. Over the course of the weekend, a wide range of hobby horses were ‘born’ and joined a large herd of fifty or so galloping together for the final parade on the Sunday afternoon.
In the following weeks, we continued hobby horse creation at Carsphairn Show, alongside other activities including a bouncy castle and a fundraising tombola. Bairn Banter’s coordinator and participating parent commented:
“On behalf of Bairn Banter, I would like to say a big thank you to all the members of the community and parents who donated to the tombola and also another thanks to the local businesses: Wrights Shop, New Galloway Community Shop and Londis for their kind donations to the cause. We raised an amazing £96, which the children and parents have decided to put towards a ‘family feast’ during the summer holidays.”
As we welcomed in June, we also welcomed a new visitor to Bairn Banter in the form of a miniature Shetland pony named Harry. This very well-behaved visitor came along to the group with his handler Emily, from Galloway Therapy Ponies. This was a very special visit for the group of children, as they were encouraged to stroke, brush, feed and spend time with Harry during the morning. It was an absolute delight, which Bairn Banter highly recommends to anyone looking to hire them for birthday parties and other events.
In other news, Bairn Banter has been successful in securing another year’s funding to continue our popular monthly Forest Learning Sessions. These sessions, in collaboration with Heart of the Glen, are funded by Carsphairn Renewable Energy Fund Ltd (CREFL) and are free of charge for children of all ages from Carsphairn and wider Glenkens area. The outdoor, natural learning opportunities are proving to be very supportive and engaging for the attendees, who have gain confidence when foraging for snacks, cooking on an open fire, whittling wood, dipping ponds, building dens, planting and identifying trees and plants, identifying tracks of animals, learning about nature-based celebrations and traditions and so much more!
Melissa, Lead Coordinator - Bairn Banter