Start of Camp, Summer 2010

Tuesday June 22nd 2010

Dearest Camp Families,

I am sitting here smiling in my office as I listen to the footsteps above me in the lodge as your Treasures are having their rest hour time. They have finished the quiet half hour, and have just stared the card playing and crafting part of their day. Of course, the older campers love to listen to their music and just chat during rest hour…but they are all getting a good rest after their start to camp…

What a great start it has been, too. They are super kids, every single one of them. They listen intently to every direction because they want to do it ‘right’. They are sprung loaded to get to ride their horses or bring them in from the pastures. They seem to love all the food and, most especially, being together with a bunch of fellow horse lovers. It is just so fun!!! Thank you again for ‘lending’ them to us.

As my letter indicated, we did all sorts of introductions to the farm and each other on the Opening Night. We started teaching them some of our favorite camp songs…you know the kind that you remember years later! While none of us are going to end up in Carnage Hall, we sure did make a joyous sound that first night. We also had Vespers, which is the time of day when either staff or the kids from each room create poems, songs or stories about something special. The first night the Counselors-In-Training say what about Pony Farm makes them come back, year after year. It is certainly a sweet sound to Kris and my ears as it makes all the preparations and planning worth while! We love having second generation kids and staff. I guess that is probably why I have all these smile lines and gray hair. After Goodnight Circle, which is when we all hold hands and everyone says what they were thankful for that day, each room tip toes off to their bunk. While they change, the staff give out any evening medicines and review the day with me. Following that, all the room counselors go to their rooms and say good night. Many good stories are told and all the stuffed animals are introduced!

I had to catch up on some correspondence so I stayed in the main room until well after 10:30….Not a peep was heard and not one drop of a tear of homesickness was spilled. I think everyone lay in their bunk beds, dreaming of their day to come.

The day dawned bright, clear and cool without a bug in sight. The kids were up and eager to go when Kris got here at 7AM! We did hold them off until a decent hour. Off they went in their muck boots and shorts to catch and feed their ponies, eagerly getting ready for the big first ride. A yummie breakfast followed with a Community Meeting to announce the whole process of tacking up and mounting up. The first attempt at getting everyone grouped into appropriate classes was announced and off everyone trooped in their lovely riding clothes, buckets and hats swinging in the breeze. It is fun to feel the energy and good spirit abound now that camp is back in full swing.

Three of us went to watch each group with their counselors and counselors in training. We compared notes as to who liked her horse or pony, which skills each needed to learn and where they were on the range of levels for this session. The kids did a great job of letting us know if they liked their pony or wanted a change. They were nicely articulate and most of the time, dead on! It was fun to be a part of it all. It is quite like the ‘sorting hat’ time in Harry Potter and Hogwart’s School! We not only have to see if they are on the right horse but also what group to put them in so they learn to ride well without being overfaced!

By lunchtime, we had all but 4 kids on the right mount. They happily were game to try again that afternoon…The rest of the kids divided up into three stations in their barn teams. They took turns learning Natural Horsemanship and Horse Handling a la Pony Farm, doing Pony Spa (a fun name for extra good grooming and playing with their new found friend0 and getting their picture taken. We have a great camp photographer, who doubles as our Camp Nurse!!!, who does a lovely job of taking camp portraits. All the girls’ pictures will be available for your viewing, and possible purchase, on Saturday’s pick up day. (More on that to follow!)

By 4PM I saw lots of hungry little faces, even some big ones, who were eager to feed their pony the evening grain and to get a snack for themselves. During this relaxing time on the front lawn by the garden, they learned how to do barn chores and how each barn team took care of their section of the barn. The old adage of “Many hands make light work” is truly true if all hands know what to do!

In fact, barn chores and turn out flew by and they were up in jig time to take showers and get cleaned up. Dinner was served promptly at 6:30 with everyone all freshened up and smiling. Again, no homesickness or roommate troubles…I do believe that all the kids were thrilled with their PF horse or pony. It seems to really make all homesickness disappear for good if we can find just the right pony! Funny how that works!

After dinner, we played an all time camp favorite called Bag Skits. Each room collects 6 items from their room and places them all in a big dark garbage bag. They then switch bags with other rooms. The counselors for each room join with the campers and create a skit using everyone in the bag. All roomies play some kind of part or prop! The results are darling, funny and sweet. It is not only a great way for them to all get to know each other, but it really helps me to see a different side of each of the girls that what they do or say upon their pony!

We then used our well loved PF Songbooks and sang a whole bunch of favorite oldies but goodies. The kids are great singers and we sure made the rounds. Rooms 1 and 2 had the Vesper couch and did a great job, small as they are! We concluded with Goodnight Circle and off they went to bed. Tonight, it sure quieted down quicker than the night before…They were pretty darned tired!

Today again dawned beautiful and bright with a gentle breeze, in short, ideal camp temps. The girls now knew what riding group they had and which instructor and horse. It makes for a much smoother and quicker morning meeting. Again, staff went around to watch all the lessons and to make any last minute changes. I can honestly say that I think the kids are thrilled with their groups and their matches. Even the littlest kids are trotting happily around the ring…and the oldest are already jumping and doing lines.
The staff are really turning out well. We have a couple of new ones this year and they are just fantastic, so we are delighted. The combination of the right horses and the right staff truly are the making of a great summer!

We had lunch followed by rest hour. This afternoon they got to choose between 8 activities. To my amazement 16 children signed up to do the Small Farm Animals with me. This includes three goats, four miniature horses, one miniature donkey, two wooly sheet, four rabbits and chickens o’plenty! I got lots of pictures of this for future slide shows. Two other groups of the older and more experienced kids chose to work with the new ponies and horses that have just joined our camp string of horses. They are cantering and jumping them as we speak. This will be the first time that the campers will have ridden the new borrowed, loaned or consignment horses and ponies. We spent all of orientation organizing them and assessing them. I can’t wait to hear at dinner how they all went for the kids themselves.

Another whole two groups of kids chose to go on a trail ride. That is such a fun thing to do on a summer afternoon. We are so blessed to have so many great places to ride that are not on any highways….We have so few cars that go by, it really is only beautiful and safe. Gotta love New Hampshire!!!

Tonight, they are going to play Capture the Flag, another camp fav. Tomorrow will feature more lessons in the ring in the morning with lots of activities to choose from in the afternoon from Western riding, Dressage, vaulting and more trail riding to get ready for the all day ride with a picnic on Thursday. I will be leading this and we will be going up the mountain to the high field overlooking all four mountains in our area. It always reminds me of Jackson Hole. It is a real favorite ride of mine. We will take saddle bags and tote our picnic along with us for a yummy full lunch with our horses.

So, all is well with your kiddos. No one has been anything other than wonderful! They are polite and lovely children…gung ho and sweet….funny and silly….young and beautiful….just what we hope our children are! So thank you for sharing them with us here at Pony Farm.

One final word….We forgot to outline the pick up process on Saturday….not that we are happy that you will be arriving to take ‘our’ children back!!!! However, for your planning, please plan to arrive between 9:30 and 10AM. We will do a riding exhibition for you. Your child will show you what she has learned this week. She will also show you a ‘specialty’ that she wants you to see her do like driving or vaulting. The morning will wrap up about noon when the girls will show you how they do their barn feeding. Please bring a picnic lunch for you and your family. We will provide all drinks and desserts. We used to do the whole lunch but found that sometimes we had way too much food…and other times, more came than we expected, and we embarrassingly ran out of food…so, do bring a picnic and let us provide you with drinks and desserts! You can have a chance to speak with your child’s instructor and room counselor, plus Kris, Becky and myself for a full update as to how she was while we were privileged to have her! She can also say good bye to her friends and her pony.

The one week session goes soooo fast. I will try to sneak in another blog after the all day ride….I do hope this gives you a sense of all the fun and interesting things that we do here. It is such a great way to spend my summer….its just hard to believe I have been doing this for 39 years…I guess time really does fly when you are having fun!!!! Thanks for having such fun and interesting and smart, capable kids. I will be sad to give them back to you!

Hope you are well. We are thinking of you! Enjoy this beautiful day.

Warmly,

Boo!