Tuesday - Riding, Riding, Riding!

Another gorgeous day and we took advantage of it by doing LOTS of riding!!

We had our usual morning skill classes, and then decided to head out for trail rides this afternoon - such a perfect day for it! Everyone also got to be artistic and do some tie-dying this afternoon.

In the evening, we decided to ride one last time and did some bareback riding with our cabin groups. It was a very full day!

After finishing tie dye - ready to go to the next activity!

Tie dye drying in front of Hoofroof.

Showing off newly made tie dye creations.

Calm, relaxing trail ride.

Peter Pan in the midst of a bareback lesson.

Running to the barn! :)

Chief has a comfortable wide back - excellent for bareback!

Afternoon trail ride on Bucky.

Beautiful Monday!

For the first time this summer, we had beautiful weather on a Monday morning!!

We started our morning skill classes this morning - each girl was given a schedule of a riding class, an unmounted horse care class, and a "down the hill" skill such as Arts and Crafts or Outdoor Adventures.

In the afternoon, we played mounted games, spent extra time at the barn grooming the horses, and made name tags for our bunks. Here are some pictures of what we've been up to! To see a larger view of any picture, just click on it!

(Note: I have found my true calling: goat photographer.)

Sam, our little white baby goat.

Goat looking mischievous.

It MIGHT look like Lauren is torturing the goat... but he's actually giving her little kisses.

Relaxing in the hay.

Linus and Bucky grazing.

Abby holding Diego after a riding lesson.

CITs and RITs in the gazebo.

Mya and Claire round a barrel.

Pepper is eager for his round of mounted games.

Heading for home during a game of kickball.

Beautiful weather!!

Getting started with a group game.

Early evening, on the Lower A.
Organizing a game of kickball.

Beautiful clouds in the evening.

End of Week Two, Beginning of Week Three

We had a wonderful end to our second week of camp! We finished up Thursday and Friday with lots of trail rides and clear weather. We took a hayride Friday night and enjoyed the beautiful weather. We got some rain Friday night, which meant that demos had to be kept slow, but we still all enjoyed riding for parents and friends.

On Sunday, we welcomed lots of new campers!! Everyone got checked in and did some riding evaluations to be placed in appropriate riding classes. In the evening, the cabins spent some time getting to know one another and also going up to the barn for a tour and orientation.

Here are some photos from the end of last week and beginning of this week. To see a larger view of any photograph, just click on it!

Friends on a fence. :)

Staff and RITs on the back of the hay wagon.

Getting ready to depart on the hay ride.

Hoofroof 3/4 goofing around on their way up to the barn.

The Longbranch cabins working together to write a Code of Living

Settling into Longbranch One.

Playing some icebreaker games in Hoofroof Two.

Hoofroof Two - really excited about going to the barn!

Horseshoe Two before Trading Post time.

Longbranch Two after their barn intro.

6/26 Riding Demonstration Schedule

Here are names and times for this Saturday's riding demonstration. More information will be given to parents when they arrive, such as location and check-out procedures. Thanks! See you soon!

9:15 Anne’s 1st Hour English
Maya Finman-Palmer
Sydney Gruchot
Claire Haas
Nicole Milazzo
Maya Spieske
Sadie Stewart

9:45 Katie Weber’s 2nd Hour English
Emily Blok
Dani Etheridge
Claire Johnson
Lydia Wuorinen

10:15 Lauren’s 3rd Hour English
Rachel Barrett
Lulu Johnson
Zoe Kasper
Caroline Leland
Samantha Reismeyer
Mae Ryan
Libby Scheurman
Sophia Vaccaro

9:15 Katie G’s 1st Hour Western
Lauren Fredrich
Arianne Lanaville
Maddy Liebman
Kate Morton
Katie Radtke
Siri Shropshire
Alexandra Wheeler

9:30 Christina’s 2nd Hour Western
Jennifer Collins
Zoe Hackel
Audrey Kratz
Morgan Reed
Brooke Schappe
Maia Yeazel
Skylar Zelenko

10:15 Nina’s 3rd Hour English
Alex Nicholson
Maia Sauer
Natalia Del Rio
Veronica Prestine
Kelsey Knapp
Molly Krupp
Ashley Janssen

9:45 Nina’s 2nd Hour English
Leah Neustdt
Chloe Trumble
Karli Kiesel
Rose Caplan
Morgan Schmitz
Haley Trumble

Ted Surprise!

We've had a great time the past couple days. The rain and storms have mostly been at night, so we spent our days doing our usual fun activities - bareback riding, grooming, painting horses, hiking, and lots more. This afternoon, we all rode with our riding classes to begin planning and practicing for the riding demonstrations on Saturday.

Tonight we had a TON of fun at a special event. Once or twice each summer, we have a "Ted Surprise" evening. Ted, our camp director, organizes an evening of fun and very wacky activities. Tonight, we had a series of relay races and other events with the camp divided into four teams. The teams chose team members to participate in each event. Some required speed, like running, while others required skill, like the balloon toss. Ted was nice enough to allow me to use his nice camera to take photos, so here are some shots of the fun! To see a larger view of any image, just click on it.

Natalia representing the red team - ready to go for a parachute ride!

Blue team gets ready for their turn at the parachute race.

Loading Sydney into the parachute.

Parachute race - Sydney gets to go for a ride!

Maya finishing her leg of the relay.

Trying to keep the clown wig on while running.

Red team sending a team member off at the clothing relay.

Black team cheering on a teammate.

Cheering on a team member during the clothing relay race.

Blue team!!

Yellow team!

Not sure if this counts as a "toss"... :)

Beginning the water balloon toss.

Cheering their water balloon toss partners on.

Excitement during the water balloon toss.

The Red Team!!

Mid-leap in the sack race. (The horses are unconcerned - they are used to their crazy humans.)

Racing the stopwatch in a wagon.