I don’t really know how this happened, but it appears that summer is history.  A few orange leaves are visible on the tips of my neighborhood trees, the pear tree is dropping small pear-bombs onto unwary riders in the outdoor ring, and the Scotch thistle in the mares’ field looks like something out of the Little Shop of Horrors.

We have been beyond busy.  The ponies and I are more than ready for our end-of-season break.  But we have had a lot of fun.  The final regular session of Canter Camp was last week, and we celebrated with the traditional Friday pizza, awards, and “Becky Day”.  Canter Camp riders all managed to negotiate the outdoor ring, work on up and down hill balance, create a fairly sophisticated trail course, play a variety of mounted games, and, of course, canter.  We were especially happy to be joined by friend and graduate Erika Anderson and her horse Pretty Girl for the last week.

Lunch

The Jr/Beginner Camp, new this year, was a big hit.  We were fully staffed with helpers and leaders, and the horses were truly saintly as we made it through what was the first group riding experience for most participants.  Thanks to Sofia, Francesca, and Shaina for their assistance, and for perfecting the art of the “mid-trot leader-change handoff”  with Fleur.  You have to see it to believe it.

At camp we always share.

Also, huge thanks to the “T-shirt committee” of Phil Drinker, Kathy Gulick and various members of their families who got pressed into service.  The T’s were a great success, and I look forward to seeing them around town.

I will post more pictures as I get them, and plan on being a bit more forthcoming on the blog with plans for the fall.  Summer offers no time for reflection, at least not in this business.

Tags: Camp

This entry was posted on Tuesday, August 17th, 2010 at 7:35 am and is filed under Farm Journal. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.