Beautiful Words from a Camper

Dearest Pony Farmers,

One of our fabulous campers, Mikaela, wrote this touching tribute to her experience last summer. I wanted to share it with all of you....

My Second Home

Imagine a place filled with ponies and horses and a smiling face wherever youlook. You know who everyone is and are friends with pretty much all of them..This is Pony Farm, my camp, the place where I am my best self and one of theonly places I feel entirely relaxed and comfortable. It’s a place where I feel completely undisturbed and totally at home. I have a really special horse and friends who are ready for me to lean on them at any time.

Pony Farm has the most remarkable people and the best friends I could ever have. Everyone is a friend with everyone and no one is ever mean. I rememberafter the horse show I thought I did really badly and my friends cheered me up completely. They explained you could not be perfect every time, and made me feelbetter. My friends talked and talked with me for three days about this until I was feeling all better. They were never negative, and always had something good to say. All my friends, especially Annie, were fun to be around. I felt like I could be completely myself. Best friends are one community, and my barn family is another. My room is just one more group of closely-knit people, and everyone is family. It made me feel like there was no one who would be mean. It was such an open community of forty-eight kids. Pony Farm would not be the same without my friends, because they make up part of the experience.

My barn was a really special part of camp. I spent more then half my day there, and it was where no one bothered me. Spending time with my horse was a stillness that was relaxing. Everyone was working there but no one made me do their jobs. However, if I needed help, they were there in a second. It always smelled like fresh hay. I loved the way that when we had to scrub water buckets, my friends and I would carry them together. It was teamwork without one person taking over. This showed me what it was really like to work as a group; you are all in it together. I loved how we always had music playing in the barn. Blasting music in the barn made me want to do more work when I was done.

My horse at camp, Alhana, is incredible. When I went in to her stall she would look up from her hay and would nuzzle with me pulling the treat out of my pocket. While riding her I had a soaring sensation. I would get off of her and give her a hug. She was more then a horse, she was my best friend. If I wanted to talk to someone and didn’t have time to find my friends, I would just talk to her, which was not weird because I knew she was listening. I would do anything for Alhana. When she peed in the aisle I would clean it up with out a single complaint. After riding her I would cool her down and this was the perfect time. I would talk to her and she would nuzzle me and we would just walk and talk until she was cool. My horse was like having a best friend who always was with me.

Here at tranquil Pony Farm I am my finest self. It is my Querencia. I have unique friends, an extraordinary horse, and a new family. Without it I wouldn’t have something to look forward to in the summer. I know I will always have a place at Pony Farm. I constantly think about going back. The limited time I spend there makes when I am there so special.

From Mikaela