More Fun!

The weather was gorgeous yesterday, and we went out on trail rides! Everyone had a lot of fun! We also had a "Time Travel" theme for our afternoon and evening, so when they weren't riding, the campers got to do activities like groovy '60s tie-dye, a "gold rush", jousting, and an "excavation". What a great day!

Today we announced at lunch that we'll be going out on our Mystery Trip this afternoon. The campers were instructed to bring shoes they can walk in, a swimsuit, a towel, sunscreen, a change of clothes, and sandals/flip flops if they want them. Stay tuned to find out where we are going...!

Here are some photos from the last couple days:

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New horse: Mesa!

Welcome New Campers!

On Sunday, we had six cabins of new campers move in! A big move-in day! We spent Sunday evening doing barn tours and getting to know our cabin mates. On Monday, everyone received the morning schedules that they'll follow for the week, and began morning skill classes. We played some mounted games on Monday afternoon, hung out at the barn, and also played a game of Ninja! In the evening, the cabins had some more bonding time and then met on the athletic field for some all-camp games.

The cabins took some group pictures in the evening; here are some of them!

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Riding Demonstration - June 25, 2011

Hoofbeat Ridge Riding Demonstration

June 25, 2011

5304 Reeve Road, Mazomanie, WI     53560   w    608.767.2593

Dear Parents and Family,

Thank you for coming to our riding demonstrations today!  The time and location of your camper’s demonstration is listed below.  The indoor arena is at the barn; please enter through the white door off the parking lot.  Ring II is across the road; you can get there by walking up the hill and across the road.  Please do not walk along the road.  Ring III is located on the hill going up to the barn.

To check your camper(s) out, please go to the Trading Post to pick up any money and medications, and sign your camper out on our check-out list.  Trading Post will be open from 9:00 AM until 10:30 AM.  Please check your camper out before 10:30 AM.  Please check your camper’s bunk area thoroughly to ensure that items do not get left behind.

For everyone’s safety and comfort, please note that we have a no smoking policy at Hoofbeat.  Smoking is not permitted anywhere on the premises.  Also, for safety reasons, pets are not permitted.  Please do not bring your dogs when checking in or picking up your camper(s).  Please refrain from using flash photography around the horses.  Small children must be supervised around the horses.  Please do not hand-feed any of the horses. 

Ring III

9:15 Lauren’s 1^st hour English

Leah Fenster

Maia Sauer

Caroline Leland

Mae Ryan

Fiona Potter

9:45  Becca’s 2^nd Hour English

Ava Stallman

Alex Wheeler

Alex Nicholson

Sophie Haines

Lauren Feddersen

10:15 Christina’s 3^rd Hour Western

Alyssa Davis

Chloe Trumble

Cheyenne Schmidt

Karli Kiesel

Sammy Riesmeyer

Ring II

9:15 Anne’s 1^st hour English

Zoe Kasper

Zoe Thomsen

Sydney Gruchot

Hannah Whiting

Maya Finman-Palmer

Paige Przybylski

Indoor Arena

9:15 Katie’s 1^st hour Western

Kourtney Camm

Collette Vitiritti

Maddy Liebman

Anna Aikman

Kelsey Welch

Hannah Bald

Katie Brye

Lila Darragh

9:45 Christina’s 2^nd Hour Western

Melinda Houtman

Amy Kraak

Jenna Schugart

Emily Lubin

Kayla Kajita

Jordan Brogan

Diana DeGroot

Karli Garlich

10:15 Katie Gab’s 3^rd hour English

Lulu Johnson

Lizzie Keuler

Liana Swatek

Olivia Weber

Jane Buck

Charlotte Buck

Damp Weather... But Not Damp Spirits!

Today was cool and damp... but we decided to look on the sunny side and be grateful that we don't have to worry about sunscreen or getting dehydrated! We had a great time with our riding lessons this morning, and also got a chance to do some bareback riding this afternoon. When they weren't riding, everyone got to choose from a variety of activities, including tie dye, group games, and board games. We had a great afternoon! In the evening, the cabin groups held a Hoofbeat "Parade of Homes" - decorating their cabins and coming up with a theme/skit. Once everyone finishing planning, decorating, and rehearsing, they toured each others' cabins - so much fun!

Here are some pictures from our day today:

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Still Rolling! [Now with pictures!]

We have been lucky the past couple of days - while we've had to keep a close eye on the weather, we've managed to dodge most of the rain and haven't been hit by anything very strong. Last night, we played Capture the Flag, although our game was cut short by a rain shower. We retreated indoors and had an indoor campfire, since it was too wet to sit outside. Although there was a tornado watch in effect for our area, we didn't have strong winds, or significant amounts of lightning and thunder.

This morning, we started out the day with a little misty rain, but it was light enough that we pushed ahead with morning skills and didn't follow a rain schedule. The mist quickly cleared and everyone has stuck to their normal schedule. If weather conditions change, we'll post here, but for now - we are doing great!

The computer has decided it is now capable of uploading some pictures from Capture the Flag:

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Severe Weather?

We've had a few phone calls this afternoon regarding severe weather in the area. Currently, there is no rain at Hoofbeat but we're keeping a close eye on the radar. We're proceeding with activities for the afternoon - both riding and unmounted. Should the weather take a turn for the worse, we'll pause our activities and gather the campers in a tornado-safe area. We'll post some updates here throughout the afternoon and evening as things progress.

UPDATE (4:40 PM): We are hoping the threat of severe weather has completely passed us by. We had a great afternoon - each cabin group got a chance to choose their riding activities, and we also played a bunch of other fun games. Here are some pictures from our riding fun today:

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Weekend and Monday

We were sad to bid goodbye to our one-week campers last Saturday! We hope they had a lot of fun at camp this summer. On Saturday afternoon, the campers who are staying for a second week got to go to Bethel Horizons, a summer camp and nature center. At their nature center, one of their naturalists gave a wonderful talk with lots of animals guests, including birds, snakes, lizards, frogs and turtles. We then got to go on a hike, capture frogs, and climb a cliff. Everyone returned to camp exhausted but happy, and we spent Saturday evening watching Tangled.

We welcomed new one-week campers on Sunday! We'll have cabin pictures up soon for our new arrivals! The new cabins were welcomed to Hoofbeat on Sunday evening with some cabin skits presented by the two-week cabins. They also got a chance to take a barn tour and get to know their cabin mates.

We were sad to awaken to rain on Monday morning. The weather stayed "iffy" all morning, so we used the indoor arena for all riding classes, rather than attempting to ride in the misty rain. By afternoon, the weather had cleared enough for us to have some mounted rodeo games, including barrel racing and pole bending. The girls also had a chance to try their hand at unmounted roping! We did some "choice" activities in the evening, and campers could choose to hike, play group games, have a dance party, or play some board games.

This morning has been sunnier, though weather reports are calling for rain later this afternoon. We're hoping to get out on some trail rides but may have to adjust our plans due to weather!

Here are some pictures from our time at Bethel Horizons:

Super Fun Day!

Today we had a great day!! It was a little foggy when we woke up, but the sun soon came out and it was a gorgeous day! Thanks to yesterdays rains, our outdoor riding arenas were a little muddy, but we were happy to be back outside, riding with our usual lesson groups! In the afternoon, the campers stayed with their cabin groups and did some bareback riding, as well as tie-dying t-shirts and spending some time grooming and hanging out with horses - it was an awesome afternoon. We had "Wacky Hair Night" at dinner, and everyone enjoyed admiring each others' creativity. In the evening, we split into a red team and a white team for a game of Stratego! We played a massive version of the board game, similar to Capture the Flag. Everyone was very energetic and had a great time running around - the Red Team emerged as the winner! After Stratego, we played a few more group games on the athletic field. Everyone went to bed tired from a great day! Here are some pictures from our fun today:

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