‘This Is the Horse From My Book’: How a Farm Visit Brought Animals to Life for a Toddler

This story is part of “Parenting: What Google Won’t Tell You” — The Better India’s people-led parenting series that goes beyond conventional advice to document how real families are actually raising their children. Through real parents, parenting coaches, influencers and experts, the series brings honest, diverse and relatable perspectives on the questions, choices, challenges and solutions that shape everyday parenting — the things Google can’t always answer.

When Aayansh Singh first visited a farm near Mumbai, the horses, pigs and hens he had seen in picture books suddenly had a life of their own. Two years later, he returned with one wish: to ride a horse.

For his father, Bhanu Singh, a software engineer based in Mumbai, watching that wish come true was a reminder of how much a child can take away from an experience that seems simple to an adult.

“When we first took him, I honestly thought he would forget everything because he was only two years old,” Bhanu recalls. “But for the next year, he kept talking about the horses and remembering the farm.”

It began with a small observation at home. Aayansh, then two, could identify horses, pigs, cows and goats from his picture books. He knew what they looked like, but he had never encountered them outside the pages.

“We wanted him to go beyond books and experience them firsthand, to see them up close, touch them, and understand how they feel and behave,” Bhanu says.

That thought led the family to Japalouppe, a farm they discovered while searching online for a place near Mumbai where their toddler could meet animals.

When the pictures came alive

The family kept their first outing simple. Japalouppe was about a 1.5-hour drive away, making it manageable for a day trip with a young child. There was no packed itinerary or long list of attractions to tick off.

Bhanu was drawn to the farm’s open spaces, animals and horses. They also carried some food, unsure whether they would find suitable, non-spicy options for Aayansh. To their pleasant surprise, the farm had a child-friendly menu.

Once they arrived, the family let the day unfold at Aayansh’s pace.

“He didn’t run around shouting or get overwhelmed. He was quiet, curious, and busy taking everything in,” Bhanu remembers.

One moment that stayed with him was watching his son run around the hens. Until then, hens had been pictures in a book. Now, they were moving around him, clucking and going about their business.

The horses and pigs offered another kind of discovery.

“He looked at the horse like he was thinking, ‘This is the horse from my book.’ He did the same with the pig. In his book, it was just a picture, but here it had a smell and made a sound. For him, it was a big thing.”

For the adults, these might have been ordinary sights and sounds. For Aayansh, they were details that no picture could quite capture.

The family stayed close, letting him decide how near he wanted to get to each animal. A dedicated guide showed them how to approach and handle the animals safely, explaining which feed to offer and how to do it.

There was no need to hurry him along. If something caught his attention, he could stay and watch.

From watching horses to riding one

The first visit was about getting acquainted with the animals. Aayansh was too young to ride a horse, but the experience left him with memories he continued to talk about long after the family returned home.

Then, at three and a half, he asked to visit the farm again; this time, he had a plan of his own.

“He clearly told us he wanted to visit again and ride a horse,” Bhanu says.

The family returned, and Aayansh got his wish. He was the youngest child on the farm to ride a horse that day, making the moment especially memorable for his parents.

Bhanu noticed how much had changed. On the first visit, his son had watched the animals with wide-eyed curiosity. Now, he knew what he wanted to do. He approached the experience with greater confidence, going around to meet the animals again, almost as if he were reconnecting with old friends.

“For us, the most special part was watching him sit on the horse with so much pride,” Bhanu says. “The first trip was about discovery, while the second was about building on those memories and trying something new on his own.”

A holiday doesn’t need a packed itinerary

The two visits changed the way Bhanu thinks about family holidays.

Earlier, he associated a good holiday with travelling to a new destination and having plenty of activities planned. Now, he finds himself asking a different question before choosing a place: “What will my child actually experience here? What will he see, feel, and remember?”

His advice to parents who want to introduce young children to nature is to start small. Choose a place close to home, perhaps somewhere connected to an animal or activity the child already loves, and leave room for curiosity to lead the way.

“Don’t try to fit too many activities into one day. Let your child explore at their own pace, follow their curiosity, and enjoy the little moments,” he says.

After all, Aayansh’s first farm visit wasn’t filled with elaborate attractions or a faraway holiday backdrop. It was a day of watching hens, meeting pigs and standing close to horses he had previously known only from books.

Yet those encounters stayed with him. They even gave him something to look forward to when the family returned.

And perhaps that’s one of the loveliest things about travelling with children: you may plan the outing, pack the snacks and choose the destination, but you never quite know which small moment will find a permanent place in their hearts.

And sometimes, the best souvenirs from a family holiday are the memories a child carries home, and the little adventures they can’t wait to have next. 

All images courtesy of Bhanu Singh

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