If you live in Seattle, you don't have to travel too far to feel like you are in the country. Yes, there are large P-Patches dotted throughout the city and there are many parks that still feel a little wild, but there is also a 20-plus acre horse farm. It's called the Seattle Farm and it's tucked up against a green belt in South Seattle near Rainier Beach.
Gloria Sferra's grandparents, Amador and Visitación Seijas, settled the property in 1919. Their descendants have lived here ever since. Today, more than a dozen horses call the farm home. In the Fall, the family opens the hilly property to the public for its annual pumpkin harvest.
Keeping horses in an urban environment makes for some interesting field trips. Gloria, who is 80-years-old, has ridden her horses under the 520 bridge. She's trotted them through the Arboretum and, this past Halloween, she and her daughter went on a trail ride that started in Green Lake and ended on Greek Row in the University District.
Gloria says that when people cross paths with her horses they often break into smiles and say things like, "Oh my god, it's a horse! Can I pet it? Can I kiss it on it's nose? Can I love it?"
According to Gloria, these enthusiastic responses would only happen in the city, where large animals are a novelty.
