Thursday and Friday

We have had a lot of fun the past two days! Thursday was a little rainy but luckily the most severe storms went south of us. On Thursday morning, we followed a rain schedule to allow the rain to move out of the area. We did some bareback riding Thursday afternoon, and "scatters" activities on Thursday evening.

Today was warm and sunny! We went on trail rides in the afternoon and finished the day with a game of Capture the Flag. Here are some pictures of our fun!

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Week Seven!

We have had a wonderful beginning to our week of camp! We had very pleasant weather Monday and Tuesday, and took advantage of the sunshine by playing mounted rodeo games, doing tie dye, playing SPUD, going on trail rides, and having a lot of fun at the barn! We had a storm move through here early this morning and the possibility of rain all day long, so we'll be keeping a close eye on the weather. Here are some pictures from our first days of camp:

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Heat Wave = Over!

What a great couple of days we have had at camp. With high heat indices on Tuesday and Wednesday, we did most of our riding in the mornings! We had normal riding lessons Tuesday morning and then did bareback riding Tuesday afternoon. When we weren't riding, we stayed inside to cool off and made sure to stay hydrated. We played some water games and some indoor games on Tuesday evening. We went out on trail rides Wednesday morning - the shady woods were a little cooler than the arenas, though it was still quite warm. Wednesday afternoon was our hottest day - we spent the afternoon inside and everyone was VERY excited to go to the Mazomanie pool after dinner!

We were so happy to have a much cooler day today! We had our normal lessons in the morning and rode again in the afternoon with our riding classes to plan for our Saturday riding demonstrations. Everyone also got a chance to spend more time at the barn making horses treats and feeding them to some lucky horses! After dinner, each camper got to choose what she wanted to do with some "Scatters" activities. We are looking forward to a great day tomorrow!

Here are some pictures from this evening's "Scatters" activities:

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Heat Wave!

We've gotten a few calls about how we are coping with the recent heat wave that is affecting the entire Midwest. In a nutshell, we're doing just fine! Here are some of the steps we are taking to make sure campers, staff and horses are staying safe:

• Counselors and staff are being proactive about making sure campers are drinking enough water and staying hydrated. We're making sure everyone has their water bottle with them at all times, and are taking breaks during activities to give everyone a chance to grab a drink - including the horses! In addition to water bottles, we have coolers of water at each arena.
• So far, we are still doing our normal morning riding lessons since it is slightly cooler in the mornings. With the high temperatures, the instructors are slowing things down and keeping lessons to walking and trotting. There may be some afternoons this week when we do not ride. We will try to make up the riding time in the evenings, when possible.
• We are opening Trading Post more frequently so campers can get Gatorade and other drinks.
• We have not been to the Mazomanie pool yet but will probably go at some point this week to cool off. In camp, we've been playing a lot of water games to help everyone cool down. Our other activities have been low-key, mostly indoor activities such as group games, arts and crafts, skits, etc.
• Although campers are still required to wear long pants to ride in, we've allowed staff and campers to wear shorts and boots to the barn for all unmounted activities, and encouraged them to change into lightweight clothing when they're not at the barn.

Overall, everyone is in high spirits and is happy to be at camp! We're having a good time planning some fun and different activities in order to keep cool! If you have specific questions or concerns about your child at camp, please feel free to call the office at 608-767-2593 and we'd be happy to chat with you!

Our hydration/sunscreen sheriff verifies that riders have water bottles and adequate sunscreen before allowing them to go to the barn. :)

Monday Fun!

We had a great weekend and after a very warm check-in on Sunday, we were eager to get started with our week this morning! A rain system moved through the area on Monday morning, but the rain was light enough that we decided to push forward and ride outside anyways. The morning was already warm enough that the light sprinkling of rain felt good! Some of the morning riding lessons wrapped up a few minutes early when thunder started rumbling overhead, but luckily the delay was minimal and everyone was able to ride for all or most of their normal riding time.

The rain cleared and the afternoon was quite warm. We played some mounted games after lunch, monitoring carefully to make sure campers and horses stayed well-hydrated. After dinner, we decided to cool down with some water games! Splashing and playing games on the Lower A was a perfect way to end a very fun beginning to the week.

Here are some pictures from our water games!

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