We suspect there are hidden springs on the property situated on the crest of the hill on Lewis Road, given the pond in its valley, usually visited with at least one heron, a flock of ducks, and several horses. What most of us didn’t conclude, what was not notably visible among the beautiful equines frequently seen on this jewel of a farm, is its mission: Hidden Springs Farm is a horse rescue.

The owners of Hidden Springs, the Silk family, have been caring for rescue horses for twenty years, here in Hampton since 2017 after purchasing the property, and formed a non-profit last year. Most of the ten horses they currently shelter are thoroughbreds from the race track, with some standardbred and quarter horses, as well as ponies. Other members of “the family” include a couple of cows, Belted Galloways and Jerseys, a small herd producing raw milk, many cats, including a particularly friendly one who greets every visitor, “Mr. Duck”, and a couple of retired chickens.

On this cold, December afternoon, the barn has been transformed into a wreath making station. All natural materials are available, different kinds of pines and red shrub dogwood branches and pinecones found along the Airline Trail. The hosts make the most of our local invasives with bittersweet vine bases, and rose hips from the wild multi–floras. Tiny white lights strung, crisscrossed, across the ceiling and a decorated Christmas tree add to the ambience of the old barn with its low ceiling beams, wide, dusty floor boards, white washed walls, wooden stalls. The fresh scent of pines and the sweet scent of hay mingles with the aroma of hot cocoa and gingerbread cookies, a recipe safe to share with the horses, whose names are written on their stalls where the windows provide squares of sunlight, striping the straw-strewn floor. The windows also offer a sweeping view of the farm with its wide, fallow fields, stitched with fences and rimmed with woodlands, the pond beginning to glaze with ice. One of the most picturesque in our town, Hidden Springs is the subject this month in our Hampton calendar, with Ethel Engler’s painting titled “February Barn”.

Wreath-Making is only one of the events Hidden Springs sponsors. Farm Tours are offered, as well as picnics by the pond, Breakfast on the Farm, which invites visitors to participate in morning farm chores – milking the cow, collecting eggs – followed by a farm fresh breakfast, and Tea Time in the Garden, which includes a tea party, a tour of the flower and herb gardens, learning of the flowers and herbs to use for tea, and choosing one’s own blend to bring home.

Most of what Hidden Springs Farm offers centers on horses. In all of their endeavors, the Silk Family understands the special relationship people and horses share, and programs range from “Bond with Rescue Horses in Need of TLC”, which has participants grooming horses, and hearing the story of a rescue horse who can no longer be ridden, to leasing horses, sponsoring horses, and riding horses.

“Own Your Own Horse!” is a two-tiered program for leasing certain rescue horses. The first tier, “Beginner Horse Owner”, enables participants to visit, groom, and spend time with the horse and to ride in the indoor arena, where riders can perfect their skills, or on the airline trail, which runs parallel to Hidden Springs Farm. The second tier, “A True Horse Owner”, provides an “immersive, all-in horse owning experience”. Benefits include unlimited visits during operating hours to groom, ride, and spend time with your horse, while the farm handles all the “hard parts” of horse ownership. In either program, the Silk family helps participants select a horse to match their personality and expertise – which could include no experience at all.

There are also opportunities to sponsor a rescue horse with three different kinds of membership. All three types include monthly news of your horse. “Love From Afar” also offers an annual visit, “Somebody to Love” includes three visits yearly to groom and spend time with your horse, and “Love Is Kind” allows six visits per year as sponsors learn to take care of their horses.

Along with Trail Rides in the neighboring Airline Trail State Park, Beginner Riding Lessons on a Rescue Horse are offered in the indoor arena. Participants learn everything they need to know; the family believes in immersing participants in the “whole experience”, with people learning about being around horses rather than just about riding them. Lessons start in the barn where participants familiarize themselves with the horses, learning how to approach horses, brush them, tack them up, eventually moving to the indoor arena, a quiet, spacious and relaxed environment for rider and horse, where participants will learn how to steer, stop and navigate while riding.

Therapy Sessions are also available in the barn, “a peaceful, calm, and healing place … for anyone who needs a little moment of serenity in their lives…The horses will listen.” The owners of Hidden Springs concede they are neither licensed nor professional therapists, “but the horses might as well be.” Horses are therapeutic, empathetic animals, “and there’s nothing else quite like resting your head on the neck of these massive, gentle creatures.” Therapy sessions start with a tour of the barn and with meeting a few of the rescue horses “who know what it means to heal.” Participants will learn of what their horse has been through, what their life is now like, and the special care they receive. Depending on the confidence level of the participant, and the weather, they might take the horse for a walk on the trail, where all will immerse themselves in the sights and scents and sounds of nature. There is also a Horse Immersion Retreat Program, an experience which allows participants the opportunity to stay on our farm, working with the rescue horses, and staying in a cozy camper by the pond, “a perfect way to completely immerse yourself in life on a horse rescue farm.”
Additionally, people may Rent The Arena. When the weather is too rainy or cold, the farm’s large sand arena, adjacent to the garden, provides an opportunity to ride your horse.
Hidden Springs also sponsors special events, such as birthday parties, with a tour of the farm, an opportunity to meet the animals, a farm fresh picnic at the pond, and a homemade cake. The farm also avails itself for private photo shoots and for field trips for groups of children.

The property has been used for several agricultural purposes. In recent memory, it was known as Hampton Croft, where a prizewinning flock of sheep resided and the owner taught felting and other needle arts. It also served as the veterinary office of Dr. Jack Meister, who tended to our pets for several years. Years ago, the property was primarily a dairy farm, and in Alison Davis’ “Hampton Remembers” the family from whom the road was named shared their remembrances.

When I was first married I made butter, put the cream in an old-fashioned churn, with a crank you turned ‘round, then you had to mold it in pound molds. Then I hitched up the horse, took the wagon and went up to the store on Hampton Hill. One day in particular I took thirty three pounds and got thirty cents a pound for it so I had $9.90. I bought all the food I needed and had some left to put in my pocket. Couldn’t do that today!
Lucy Lewis

All the farmers here sold their milk to the Whiting Milk Company in Boston. They had platforms by the railroad tracks that were even with the doors of the cars and they’d bring the cans there and then the empties would be thrown out onto the platform – and they were never washed. You had to wash the cans yourself. They held eight or eight –and-a-half quarts and had a handle and a wooden stopper. And those stopper were always sour, most of the year, they had to be boiled. The last that I remember their being used Josie Smith washed the cans for the Lincolns and the Hammonds and I don’t know how many more. That was her job and they paid her. We took them to her house where she washed them. Usually one person collected the milk from all the farms in the neighborhood and took it to the station.
John Lewis

Earlier still, we have the remembrances of Helen Matthews:
We had our own meat on the farm. We had a flock of sheep and of course the dairy cattle, and of course we had pigs – or how would we get our hams and our sausage and all that sort of thing? They cured their own hams those days, and their own dried beef and salt pork. We had creamed salt pork. It sounds awful but it was so good. They sliced it, cooked it a little and threw out the water to get out the salt and halfway fried it and then added a nice cream sauce. They would always kill an old hen and we had eggs as long as they kept layng. We had our own milk and cream and butter. She had to have a lot of fresh milk and she put it in a big tub made of tin. She put the rennet into it at the beginning. Then she let it stand and it curdled or set, like custard, and then she cut that up a little bit so it would be easier to handles and the idea was that she must have all the wetness, the drippings out of the cheese and have just the custard part left. So it was put in a cheese box of 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 pounds and in a cheesecloth and put in big presses that would do 2, 3, 4, cheeses at a time. Each press had a cover screwed down which pressed out the whey and after a few more days no more whey came out …It took probably a matter of two or three months of her pressing it a little every day to get all the moisture out of it.

Hampton is always appreciative when new owners maintain our town’s rural roots. Thank you to the Silk family for preserving this property for agricultural purposes, and for such a worthy cause.