CAREYWOOD — A horse poked its head through the window of a stall, wondering what all the fuss was about. In a larger pasture on the farm, a group of horses bounded by, showing off for the onlookers.

It was, in fact, participants the Bonner County Farm Tour who were watching in awe as the horses ran gracefully past them on Thursday, as Cocolalla Creek Sport Horses was one of four stops the group made throughout the day.

Since 1995, Cocolalla Creek Sport Horse owner Marion Dresel O’Connor has been operating the successful breeding program that has earned her the title of USDF Sporthorse Breeder of the Year three times. The farm is located in a secluded valley in Careywood, getting its name from the narrow Cocolalla Creek that snakes through the property.

“It was not supposed to be a professional horse facility,” O’Connor told the group as the tour started. “We were just supposed to have a couple of trail horses ... Now we usually house anywhere between 12 and 18 horses.”

Some of the horses on the farm are there for training, some are there for education and to find a new home and, of course, there are the permanent residents. O’Connor said there is also a “revolving door” of rescue horses that come through the farm. Last year, she said, they re-homed 24 horses.

About 80 people in two groups attended this year’s farm tour, which is hosted by the University of Idaho Extension-Bonner County and the Bonner County Agriculture and Forestry Committee. The stops included McKerracher Family Farm, Delay Farms, Inc., and Triple T Nursery in addition to the horses.

“We have a nice mix of stops this year,” said Extension educator Jennifer Jensen. “We are hitting the forestry end of things, the nursery, Christmas tree growing, vegetables, and then these horses, so it’s been a good day.”

For Kerry and Julie McKerracher, the goal of the farm in Athol, according to their website, is to provide their neighbors with the “healthiest, most delicious food, grown from fabulous, earthworm-friendly soil, using organic and sustainable methods.” The Delay Tree Farm is the home of the Idaho State Forestry Contest, and Triple T Nursery grows several popular species of trees including grand fir, Colorado blue spruce, Frasier fir, and some cork bark fir.

The farm tour itself dates back 53 years, evolving from the UI Extension and Sandpoint Chamber of Commerce’s Grassman of the Year Award. Chris Elliot, a Bonner County Agriculture and Forestry Committee member who was a youngster in the early years of the tour, said the purpose has always been to get people out into the rural areas of the county and educate them about local agriculture.

“Agriculture is still a huge part of Bonner County’s economy,” Elliot said.

The tour group also enjoyed a farm-fresh lunch — complete with homemade pies — that serves as a scholarship fundraiser for the Bonner/Boundary County Cattlewomen’s Association. The association has been providing lunch for the tour since 1968. In addition, the Agriculture and Forestry Committee uses any funds that are leftover to sponsor the Bonner County Fair’s “Pre-Fair,” which provides agriculture and forestry education to area youth in grades K-6.

Mary Malone can be reached by email at [email protected] and follow her on Twitter @MaryDailyBee.com.