Back to Blue Skies!!!!!

Friday July 25th, 2008

Dearest Families One and All,

Wow, what rains we have had….I kept thinking that it was a good thing that none of us had Ruby Red Shoes so we could blow to Kansas with Dorothy and Toto!!! The trees were whipping in the wind, the rain came down in sheets and ….happily, we are all just FINE!!!! Today, we woke up to bright sunshine. The whole world looks like it got washed clean so it was green and beautifully sparkling. It is a good day to be alive!!!!

I am going to camp right after I finish this letter to you all. I took yesterday off to get ready for our exciting weekend and the two nights of a camping trip on Monday and Tuesday (You have such gung ho kids that 39 campers signed up to go camping with the ponies, necessitating two nights. We just can’t fit 39 children around the fire or take enough horses to make it fun if we only do it in one night). Then on Wednesday the summer favorite of the Cheshire Fair. So, it will be a power packed next week with lots to do to make up for the days of rain!!!

I feel a little out of touch up at camp because I spent Wednesday late morning and all afternoon with my Mom and Dad. Dad had not been feeling well for about a week and it seemed to be getting worse…When I came to check in, he had a 102.7 temp. I scooped him up and took him to the Emergency Room at our local hospital. After many tests, they decided to keep him so they could control the temp and the infection…..much to my relief as he and my mom are in their 80’s. When all was settled down and he was tucked into bed, I came back to camp. They had had a great day and were all happily getting ready for bed. I even had one room decide to come sleep at my house….so I felt like I was indeed still a good part of camp!

On Wednesday, they were able to ride in the morning. With the Ride a Thon coming, the staff and I are most eager to have each group surely get out on the trail to make sure they feel comfortable and that the horse matches work in the woods as well as in the rings. So, despite some rain drops and everyone getting pleasantly wet, they were able to ride on Wednesday morning, some in the rings with sand footing and others on the trails. The horse matches do seem just right and the groups are nicely organized. Everyone seemed comfortable on the trails and sporting big smiles as they returned.

After lunch and Rest Hour, the rains really were coming down in sheets with a good deal of thunder and lightning. We had been planning the Pony Farm Olympics which will be a feature of this session. We had already organized the 6 teams with 8 members which would participate in 10 events over the entire session. The winners would be announced on Thursday evening with a big Awards Banquet of sorts! In short, the staff and kids were making a big deal out of these olympics. One of the events was to be tack cleaning…so we decided to start the PF Olympics a little early on Wednesday afternoon in the pouring rain. The tack surely was grateful to be clean and well oiled. It gets such a major amount of use in the summer that it is great when we have the opportunity to really take an afternoon to get it clean.
Thursday dawned with fog, reports of heavy rains, and high winds. Kris and I decided to give up the idea of riding yesterday as, even if there was a break in the rain and wind, the rings were going to be un-rideable. Safety is always first and foremost in our minds…So, the plan was to do event #2 of the Olympics which was an Equine Know-Down, fashioned after the Pony Club Know Downs. The girls divided up into their teams. The staff, armed with several Pony Club and general riding & stable management books, asked questions relating to horse knowledge and care. The teams were challenged to work together to come up with the answer or the response to a given scenario. Together, they know a lot of information and it was a big success. Again, another event was scored for the eventual grand prize!

The afternoon weather was still terrible so the staff decided to do the Lip Sync Contest ahead of schedule. This is yet another PF Olympics event…The team picks a favorite song….learns the song and dresses up to impersonate the singer or singers. Each team then created a dance to go with the song. You surely have creative children! Evidently, they took great interest in this and the results were terrific, according to Kris and the staff. The actual contest took place last night and kept everyone happily involved..

Today has dawned beautiful and sunny with cool temps. The girls will ride like mad today to make up for yesterday’s missed lessons. We want to insure that everyone is able to participate in the Ride A Thon tomorrow. It should be a terrific event for everyone.

Tonight, we are slated to have a bit of an early night so we can be ready for the Ride a Thon tomorrow. My mom was to come and tell stories around the camp fire. We will wait and see how my dad is. The kids absolutely adore having my mom tell her stories of riding out west during the round up days when everyone gathered the horses and cows with mounted round ups. None of the pick up truck round ups of today! She also drove the ambulance in Washington, DC during World War II so that the paramedics and professional drivers could go fight in the war. She has some hair curling tales, all of which are true. I have heard these stories since I was a wee one. So, should she need to take care of my dad, I can certainly stand in for her as I know these stories by heart!

Tomorrow is the Ride a Thon. I hope I have explained what it is in enough detail for you to understand what it is. We will have a course (3 & 5 miles) up on the new Temple Mountain State Park which is about a mile and a half from the farm. We do invite the camp parents or family members to come and walk up there. It is just spectacular trails and you can see Boston from the top of the mountain. We hope that riders from other farms will be joining us to ride up there as well. We have really worked to clear and mark the trails so it is a self guided trip.

Meanwhile, ‘back at the ranch’, the girls will go out on trails that we have ready here. We have a one, three and five mile loop. We thought it best not to have riders from other farms riding on the same trails as our girls as it was not as safe as we would like. Some of the girls will go out in pairs or small teams. We will have check points all along the way for fun and safety….some will even have refreshments. The lesser experienced girls will go with staff members…still with a safety & refreshment stop along the way. It should be great fun and the weather is supposed to cooperate nicely.

Following the ride, we have Horse Power board members who will be cooking a big BBQ of chicken, burgers, hot dogs and veggie burgers on the grill in the lodge parking lot. We will have table and chairs on the lawn for the picnic. We will end with a few speeches about Horse Power and give the prizes for those who have gotten the most sponsors and raised the most amount of money for Horse Power.

In the prior summers, we had hosted a Horse Power Benefit Horse Show. We felt that we were getting a little too show oriented with a show for almost every session. The Board and Kris & I all felt that we should change to this Ride and Walk a Thon. It is the first time we have ever hosted this in the summer. Years ago, we did some similar events in the fall. It was a huge success then as we became the third largest Ride a Thon in the country. We hope to build it back over time into a great event in the summer months.

Several of you have written to ask what Horse Power is and why we are raising money for it. A group of us started Horse Power 19 years ago because we were moved by the many ways in which we saw horses helping people to heal. I had seen countless camp kids and lesson students really gravitate to their horse or pony when they were struggling with difficulties in their lives. I knew first hand children whose father had committed suicide due to a gambling addiction, several who had lost a parent to cancer, others who were hyperactive and could not learn, still others who had physical limitations or were either underweight or overweight. We had all seen children who had behavioral issues that made it very difficult on their families…or who had struggles with anxiety, depression, chemical dependency or attachment issues. In short, I saw day in and day out, the miracles that the horses worked in their lives. They truly helped them to come out of their disabilities and limitations to lead healthier and happier lives.

As I began to really see past the surface, I got more and more committed to having a program that addressed these issues. I got particularly interested in the mental health part of the horse therapy so I went to graduate school to get a degree in counseling. With many courses later under my belt, I began to understand the theory behind what I had personally experienced with these children. I began to ‘get’ why the horses were of such enormous help! Thus, Horse Power was born…

We are about to celebrate our 20th Anniversary of Horse Power. Much to my delight, it has become one of the largest and most successful therapeutic horsemanship programs in the country. Over time, we have even started a school to teach instructors how to plan their riding and horsemanship classes to meet the treatment goals designed by therapists of all kinds. We are now beginning to also gather a team to begin to train psychotherapists and educators how to ‘harness the healing power of the horse’ with their clients and students. I am proud to say that Horse Power has served over 3500 individuals with all sorts of challenges. Together, with their families and professional care givers, we have turned their disabilities into abilities, their challenges into successes.


Thus, you bet I am excited about Horse Power. The money raised at this event and through donations at other times of the year as well as grant monies helps us to serve more people….and to take better care of our horses…and to recruit and retain the best staff possible….and to get training and to have a volunteer corps, etc. etc. It is a most exciting time for Horse Power as we prepare for our 20th Anniversary of service.

Following Saturday’s ride, we will have the cook out. If parents want to attend, you are most welcome. Do let me know immediately if you are coming so we can plan the food. Then, you could take them out to dessert for ice cream. We will also have our life guard so folks can swim. The small farm animals are most excited to have some attention as they have been hating the rains too! We will then do Barn Chores and have a movie night at the lodge. We hope that parents can surely have their kids back by 9PM.

On Sunday we will spend our day with the small animals, gardening, driving the miniature horses, doing obstacle courses with the farm animals, seeing the new baby chicks, swimming and arts and crafts…Monday and Tuesday are the camping trips and more PF Olympics…Wednesday is the Cheshire Fair, hopefully Thursday is swimming with the horses…so the fun never stops now that we have sun!!!

I hope you are well and that we see you soon. I send all my best. We love your kids and can’t wait to show off their riding prowess….

Most fondly,
Boo