On one of the hottest weeks of camp so far, we kicked off our last session of horse camp this summer. And boy did we have fun. We had nine campers this week that got to do horsey crafts, tie dye, farm chores, brush horses, and of course ride and learn all about horses.
On Monday we went for an in-depth tour of the farm by going for a trail ride on some of the paths along the back of the farm. And then we got to see how talented of artists our horses can be as the campers helped the horses paint some pictures.
On Tuesday campers learned how useful of a tool horses can be for not only mental but occupational therapy, by getting their own mini mock therapy ride. They had to stretch out all sorts of different muscles by reaching and pointing out the different body parts on a horse, they even had to ride backward to work on core strength and balance. While they weren’t riding, they had to go on a camp-wide scavenger hunt to find all sorts of different horse tack.
On Wednesday each camper got the opportunity to practice riding the challenge course that at the end of the week they would showcase part of to their parents. We had to hurry and beat the storm so once they were done, they quickly did tie-dye and some of their afternoon chores. And then when the storm hit, they all stayed cozy and dry in the downstairs painting picture frames and doing trivia about horses, camp, and their counselors.
Thursday was a scorcher so to beat the heat horse camp joined the farm camp and headed to the lake for the afternoon. Since horse camp doesn’t end till 5 pm once the farm camp headed back horse camp stayed a little longer and had the whole lake to themselves. How fun!
Friday rounded out our week of horsey fun, with a showcase to parents. But before that campers still had a little bit of work to do before parents got there. They had to get the horses they would be riding all cleaned up, by giving them a thorough groom. At last, 4 pm came and parents made their way to the pony ring for campers to show them all they had learned this week like where the different body parts were, how they properly brush a horse with all the different brushes, and finally how they complete a portion of the challenge course.
Horse Camp Directors: Nicole and Ava