Over the May half-term, we were invited by the lovely Jayne to have a private animal experience at the wonderful Goxhill Meadows, a working therapy farm and glamping site a few miles from Hornsea in East Yorkshire.

Goxhill Meadows is a private farm and glamping site which offers personal animal experiences, including for therapy and small groups, and the odd corporate event. A family animal experience lasts for 1.5 hours and is for up to 5 people. I took the twins (now 14 years old – I know!) and a friend each, because no-one is too old to spend the morning playing with farm animals, especially me!

DISCLOSURE – we were guests of Goxhill Meadows for the purpose of this article. All opinion is our own.

Goxhill Meadows is in the hamlet of Goxhill, which is signposted off Hornsea Road between Hornsea and Great Hatfield. It’s at the top of the lane, signposted Glebe Farm. The What3Words is ///boast.hurls.politics

The farm is very cute. There is a toilet with handwashing facilities, and a small undercover area for indoor learning. Next door to the farm is a church and a picnic and play area. Parking is free and ample.

We arrived a few minutes early, and Jayne and her small team said hello and busied themselves getting some horses put away so we could begin our session. We had some horse fans in the group, so we started in their yard. We got to know the two bigger, but younger horses, and then the much smaller but older miniature horses. We learned how to approach them and where to scratch them, and also about how they sleep and what they like to eat. The horses were very calm and clearly used to visitors. Jayne is very knowledgeable, particularly about horses and is an advocate for equine therapy. She is an ex-teacher too so is able to communicate well with a range of different ages and she was very engaging.

We got to choose where to go next, so I asked for the goats please, and it was a great decision. Jayne took us over to the goat enclosure where we met seven very active goats and one cat who thinks he is a goat. After a short orientation about goats, we then were charged with taking them out to the adjacent paths where they like to explore and feed on the weeds and shrubs. Jayne showed us how to lead them and call them, and once we’d taken them into a neighbouring field, Jayne crept away and charged us with bringing them back. This was a lot of fun as the goats were (mostly) obedient and very quick. We didn’t lose a single one! All good.

Next were the sheep and alpacas. The only issue were they were currently in a field belonging to the neighbouring farm, so we used our newly found herding skills to round them up and bring them over the lane to Goxhill Meadows where they were to be put back in their home enclosure. Again, the animals were clearly used to visitors and were only a bit jittery. They certainly knew where they were supposed to be going, which made our job a bit easier.

Once rounded up, we gave the alpacas some food from our hands and Jayne talked about their handling and their history. She then harnessed the alpacas and a couple of sheep (this was a tough job which we helped with but Jayne took the lead with the riskier parts, thankfully!) and we took them for a walk through the eco-glamping site, out into the next field, and back through the church’s picnic and play area. The animals were mostly compliant but they certainly knew where they wanted to go. We did our best to keep them in check though, and apart from two of the un-leashed sheep making a detour back into next door’s farm and Jayne having to go and find them, we got back to base unscathed.

We spent 1.5 hours with Jayne meeting her animals, including a quick look in at her pack of guinea pigs, which was plenty of time for us. It’s a bit different to a regular petting farm experience and Jayne can tailor your session to suit your party. If you’re into horses, you can spend more time there. If you have younger children, then more time with the guinea pigs instead of the rowdy goats. The session was perfect for my pack of 14 year old girls as they could get hands on and close up. This is not your normal children’s farm experience. Which is fine for us as we’ve done all that now and for us, something like this is more age appropriate. The week before, Jayne said she had a local business in for a corporate team building day, and they loved it too.

The eco-glamping site is in the heart of the farm and the animals wander around and about, though a fence keeps the hungrier ones at bay and protects the flower beds and pots. The site is open from May half term to the Autumn and there are only a few pods, making it a small, friendly site. As we were leaving, the children of a family staying at the site came to take over with the alpacas and sheep. If you’re looking for a short break on a working farm where you can get close to animals, then this is a great place.

We recommend taking a look at Goxhill Meadows if you’re over petting farms and want to do something more personal and tailored to you and your group. It would make a great birthday party activity for tweens and teens.

Visit time – 1.5 hours.

Click on the links for more information on the private animal experience and on Goxhill Meadows eco-glamping site

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