Every October, the barn at 2575 Woodstock Road fills with costumed children, carved pumpkins and at least one miniature horse dressed for the occasion. Boo at the Barn, now in its fifth year, is the annual Halloween open house and fundraiser for the Fredericton Therapeutic Riding Association (FTRA), the non-profit that has been running horse-centred therapy programs in the city since 1980.
The event is held at Silverwood Arabians, the farm that has hosted FTRA's programming since the association's inception. The barn sits on the Woodstock Road north of the city, just past the Bucket Club and Hartt Island RV Resort, and it is the kind of venue that makes a Halloween event feel different from a community-hall party: the activities happen in and around working stables, with horses and ponies on hand as part of the fun rather than as a backdrop.
Boo at the Barn is deliberately low-scare. When FTRA described its second annual edition, the lineup included a "low-scare spooky walk," horse patty bingo, pumpkin painting and mask crafts, a costume contest split into three categories -- cute, funny and scary -- and a spread of kids' games that included a "guess the monster organ" station. There were FTRA t-shirts and merchandise for sale, a jewelry sale, and opportunities to take selfies with a miniature horse in costume. Entrance was by donation, cash only, with proceeds directed to the association's equine therapy programs.
That fundraising purpose is the heart of the event. FTRA is a non-profit dedicated to providing therapeutic, horse-centred programming to individuals with physical, intellectual or mental health disabilities. Its programs are goal-based and tailored to each participant, using riding and groundwork to work on things like balance, range of motion, self-esteem, following instructions and socialization. The association is a member of the New Brunswick Equestrian Association and one of only two certified therapeutic riding centres in the province, accredited through the Canadian Therapeutic Riding Association (CanTRA), which sets strict safety and instruction standards and requires each centre to have at least one CanTRA-certified instructor.
FTRA's work is not abstract, and the people who run it talk about it in concrete terms. Kim Taylor, who owns Silverwood Arabians and works as an equine facilitator, has described the moment a non-verbal autistic boy in the program walked over to one of the minis, held her face and began to speak. Meghan Gamble, the association's president, has spoken about how volunteering can itself be therapeutic -- she got involved while going through a difficult period and found that the barn demanded a kind of mindfulness and presence that helped her redirect her focus. The association's Mighty Minis program, built around one-on-one work with miniature ponies, is designed to build comfort and confidence around horses so that participants can eventually progress to working with the larger animals.
That reliance on people is also the association's vulnerability. FTRA has publicly appealed for more volunteers, noting that each participant needs three volunteers per session and that consistency matters enormously in a therapeutic environment. Horse experience is not required, but comfort around horses is, since side walkers spend their sessions walking directly beside the animals. The association has also expressed interest in expanding its services to reach people dealing with mental health challenges and post-traumatic stress disorder.
Boo at the Barn fits into that broader effort as both a community event and a funding mechanism. It is a chance for families to spend an autumn afternoon at a working farm, and for the association to introduce itself to neighbours who might otherwise never set foot in a barn. The fifth annual edition is scheduled for Saturday, October 17, 2026, at 2575 Woodstock Road in Fredericton. The listing carries no ticket price or capacity limit, which is consistent with the event's by-donation, drop-in character in past years -- though visitors should expect the cash-only approach that has applied before, and should check with FTRA directly for the current year's activity list, hours and admission details, since the schedule has been adjusted from year to year.
For a city with a busy autumn calendar, it is a small event with an unusually specific setting: a Halloween party where the hosts include horses, the games include bingo scored by livestock, and the money raised keeps a 45-year-old riding program in the saddle.