Saturday
July 28th, 2012
Dear Parents, Grandparents and “Pony Farm” Extended
Families,
I write
this to you as the day dawns bright and beautiful. I also write to apologize that I have fallen
down on my job for you as Blogger! We have been having so much fun with your
kiddos that we just have not had a spare minute to sit and write. I also got a stomach bug for two solid days,
so I felt I had to do some catching up with the kids. Please accept my apologies…
Let me
first announce from the tops of the mountains what FANTASTIC children you have
bequeathed us! They have been truly
superlative since the moment they arrived.
They are sweet, gentle, hardworking, devoted to their horses, kind to
each other, attentive to the staff…and just plain a pleasure from the instant
they arrived. I cannot remember a session that has clicked so easily. Roommates
are right, horse matches were easy, riding groups came together smoothly,
learning the ropes of taking care of their own ponies was a breeze…in short, it
has been a delight for Becky and I to watch all this fun and loveliness
unfolding so nicely. Thank you for being such great parents and having such
fabulous kids. It makes our job easy!
So, let me
catch you up on the festivities of each day.
Monday was partly cloudy with some sprinkles, but we rode anyway. Matches were tried, riding groups determined
and the general lay of the land of PF was spelled out. By lunchtime, all but 2
kids had found the right horse match, and by dinner time, we were 100% there with
right groups and matches. The girls had
also done their ‘waterproof test’ at the pool.
The highlight of the afternoon was learning how to ‘partner up’ with
your horse. Each girl got some “Cowgirl Magic”, aka Natural Horsemanship tips,
as to how to handle each horse on the ground, paving the way for what the
riders should do once they were aboard.
How a horse is treated on the ground definitely affects attitudes once
mounted. We have added this piece this
summer and it has proven to be effective!
Once barn
chores, turnout and evening feeding routines were explained, the girls all
trooped to the barn to be a part of their Barn Team. I love this time of day as
it is so beautiful to watch all these healthy, strong and capable girls work
together to take care of the 60 horses we have on site. With good supervision, the work gets done
with ease and everyone learns how much there is to having a ‘horse of your
own’. I wish you could be a fly on the
barn wall as these girls dig in to get each horse turned out, every stall
clean, buckets scrubbed and aisle raked.
It is a miracle of happy horsemanship.
Bag skits
were the next activity after dinner. We already explained this in our Opening
Day letter so I won’t bore you with the details. Suffice it to say that they
had a blast. This game really does serve to bring roommates together and
showcase creativity. It was a blast.
Tuesday
dawned kind of dreary and definitely rainy.
Each riding group rotated between stations about horse care. One station was learning how to braid for a
horse show. Another was bandaging, while
still another was about taking Temperature, Pulse and Respiration. Yet another was learning how to lunge a horse
in a big circle, while the last was a “Love Your Pony Spa Day”. With a good solid morning of dry fun in the
barn, the girls were then able to ride in their riding groups that afternoon.
Thanks to the great new footing in all rings, there was nary a mud puddle
despite heavy rain both in the morning and the night before. Everyone was able to try out her riding group
and make certain that she was on the right equine partner.
That night
Kris Young, former Co-Director of countless years, came to do one of the big
favorites…Pony Farm Fashion Show. For a bunch of horse crazy girls, they sure
have a talent for doing the Runway and finding fun ways to strut their
stuff. Kris is such a huge addition to
our camp and helps keep the old time favorites alive at Pony Farm.
Sadly for
the girls, but happily for the pastures and flowers, on Wednesday, it was still
raining. We decided to have them ride anyway as we needed them to get ready for
the “Jumper Palooza”, a new addition to our weekend favorites. Good lessons were taught by all staff. We
have a terrific team of teaching staff, as well as a huge group of Counselors
in Training. Anyone who says that kids
don’t want to work these days should come watch these young women! Our mandatory Staff Training weekends,
Becky’s brainchild, are really paying off.
With between 3 and 6 days of training during the school year, these
staff member are teaching much more effectively. They are also much more able
to be room counselors and take care of the non-riding things that come up. As a
result, the kids are learning a huge amount more, while having a far better
time in their rooms and during at evening activities at camp.
On
Wednesday afternoon, the girls were able to pick from a variety of
activities. Sign up happens during Rest
Hour. Activities included a trip to see
the Budweiser Clydesdales, Vaulting (Gymnastics on Horseback) on Gruffy, our 18
hand Clydesdale, Catch Riding, more Stable management and a mounted lesson on
the greener horses. With plenty to do,
each girl had someone fun to be with and something fun to do!
That night
we were treated to a most exciting “First Ever” at camp. For the first time in 41 years, we had a Hawk
and Falconry Live Demonstration. All the
girls and staff went to the Indoor Arena right after dinner. They were met with
actual hawks and falcons from the nearby Connolly Brothers’ Farm, home of the
best ice cream in the world! With four young girls, the camp kids’ ages,
presenting and demonstrating, the evening flew by. What was supposed to be a 45 minute show
turned into 2 hours of delight. I am not
sure who loved it more, the owner of the raptors, the girls who presented, or
the camp community, but it was a huge hit.
Everyone had such a great time that they are coming back before camp
ends so the campers can pet more raptors and even ride while holding one. What a
rare and special treat this was for everyone.
Thursday
was supposed to feature the Camping Trip up the mountain with the ponies. Sadly
it was too likely to thunderstorm to dare to take the kids and horses that far
from the farm. We have rescheduled this
for Monday and Tuesday night of this coming week. We are offering camping over two nights
because so many kids signed up! We were
able to have lessons and really dig in to get ready for the jumping event this
weekend. Trail classes and courses were planned
and practiced. Everyone stayed safe, and
the lightening and torrential rains only came during the night when everyone
was happily slumbering in their warm, dry beds in the lodge!
Friday
morning dawned a little rainy but not so much so that we couldn’t have a last
lesson before the weekend. Again, thanks
to the super footing, everyone was able to stay safe and secure despite the
significant amount of rain fall. We did
decide to not offer the Hunter Derby and Outside Course jumping for the
Jumperlooza as the footing would have been slippery and muddy. All the jumps that had been moved down by
staff on Thursday sadly had to be moved back yesterday to make the courses in
the rings.
During the
afternoon, I took the two littlest groups of riders and some staff for a
carriage driving trip down to Connolly’s Bros. Farm for ice cream. I drove the beautiful new pair of Haflingers ,which
we lovingly call Magic Mike and Beautiful Ben! These treasures were just
donated to the farm and are proving to be a total success both with riding and
driving. They are so quiet and well
trained that it is simple to drive a whole group of kids and be safe doing
it. We also drove four other turnouts of
single ponies…allowing the kids to get a feel for actually taking the reins. They did a beautiful job and all loved the
ice cream. They so enjoyed driving up to get the treat. They kept saying, “Where else can a kid do
this on a summer day?” I had to agree!
Meanwhile, ‘back
at the ranch’, the older kids joined with the staff to create five different
courses of varying levels of difficulty for today’s event. They decorated and organized their hearts out
as Andi, our Head Trainer, took each group of riders on a ‘course walk’. She explained how to ride the corners, how to
establish pace, where to look and how to negotiate the difficult bending lines
and roll backs. Andi has added so much
expertise to our team that it was cool to see the kids figuring out their
different lines on their courses for today.
I can’t wait to see the results of their new revelations.
Last night,
the kids did Personal Scavenger Hunt, which is a game like Jeopardy but with
questions about Pony Farm and their favorite singers, movies, TV, etc. We started the Pony Farm Olympics with this
event. It is one of 8 events they will do over the next week, simulating the
actual Olympics. Each team is made up of
one rider from each riding group. They
will ride for their team at their appropriate level and then garner points.
Some of the events will be mounted, some with stable management, and some fun
non-horsey things. It will culminate on
their last night. Other events are
things like Hunter Pace, today’s Jumperlooza, tack cleaning, Horse Know Down,
and Gymkhana games. It is a great way to
get in lots of riding and team building!
Next week
will feature the camping trips, Cheshire Fair, and swimming with the ponies. We will also practice specialties which will
include Carriage Driving, Vaulting, Hunter Derby, the Puissance, Courses and
mounted games. We will not be bored!
I hope I
have given you a flavor of what a terrific time we are having together. We can do all of this and more because your
children are so organized and attentive! It is a pleasure to plan complicated
things like camping trips with horses. I
am sorry that you got the whole load today instead of little bites during the
week. I really did fall down on the job
of Blogging. We will write about the
Jumperlooza today in the next blog, I promise.
As I
approach my 60th birthday, I have to say that I cannot believe that
I am so blessed. I feel like I am the
luckiest person on earth. With such
wonderful campers, loving staff, dear horses and a farm that sparkles, what
could be a more rewarding or exciting way to spend my life!!!??? Thank you for sharing your daughters with
me. Thank you for choosing Pony
Farm. Thank you for making my life so
bright and beautiful.
Most
warmly and with a big smile,
Boo
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