Gemesen Baer has been an instructor for Green Meadow Farm since the very beginning. In fact, like only a small handful of people, she was around even before there was a horse or many fences lining the rolling green pastures. Her love of horses and working with kids attracted her to the mission God was leading John and Beckie to begin. 

The farm has been a place of peace and comfort for Gemesen over the years. Because of what horses have been for her in the past through various struggles (such as being bullied as a child), she loves having the opportunity to help others by using the passions and abilities God has strengthened in her over the years. 

Several years ago, while at a school for horsemanship, Gemesen can remember a time where she had to create a biblical lesson utilizing a horse. There was a sweet small tan horse named Nugget that she chose for this task. Nugget was trained to respond to vocal cues and could be blindfolded for her illustration. Gemesen blindfolded Nugget and then asked him to work through his different gaits: walk, trot, canter. Nugget had to trust that Gemesen would not let him down by allowing him to go anywhere dangerous during this time. She was then able to express the similarity in having to trust God‘s leading in our lives even when we don’t see what the next step is. She noted that it was important for her and Nugget to have a trusting relationship already established in order for him to respond to her well. This translates directly to us needing to continually build into our relationship with God which will in turn create more trust. Gemesen has been able to pull some of these thought processes into her lessons at the farm. One day, she had to opportunity to hear from a student’s parent that the lesson that her student had struggled through the week before with a horse was relevant to a struggle she had at home that week. Small moments like that give life to Gemesen’s long years of helping as an instructor, even when she doesn’t see the fruit. God is teaching her to trust, even when she cannot see the next step. 

We are very grateful to have Gemesen on staff with us as a part of our horse care team and in support of our volunteers. We look forward to all that God has for her and pray that she will continue to grow, along with all of us, in an ever deepening trust in the unfailing love of our faithful God.

Gemesen currently lives with her husband Alex in Ephrata, PA. She also works at Oregon Dairy and owns our first retired farm horse, Banjo.