North Wind Riders Horse Camp

Our last horse camp of the summer, and what fun we had! Both the girls went, so we took both Summer and Winter's Whisper. We were VERY lucky to be so close to home, so we rode them to the camp, rather than trailering this time.

All the moms from our horse group helped out, and planned the whole thing. It was great to be able to change some of the format from our regular horse camps, to make it more about safety and FUN than about just competing. And the kids had a blast, although I think we wore them out!

The kids all were part of a group, and did various skills within that group. Here they are getting a lesson on properly using a pack saddle to go mountain riding/camping.

We had a trail riding clinic, and then an obstacle course with ten stations that they had to pass. They were graded on how they did on each obstacle..such as "The Wagonwheel" "The Gate" "The Waterhole" "The Jump" etc.

Penelope on Whisper, getting ready for trail class.

Heading around "The Wagonwheel".

Chena on Summer at "The Jump".

Penelope working with a very stubborn Summer, on "The Gate".

Getting ready for their group to head out on a trail ride.

Penelope cutie!

Penelope rode Whisper for all the trail classes, and Chena rode Whisper. But, for the second day when it was time for jumping instruction in the arena, Chena rode Whisper, who is much better in English tack, and does better with arena jumping. Confusing, huh? For the mom who was trying to keep all the tack, classes, horses, and kids straight..it was confusing too! I spent my time tacking, grooming, checking gear, helping other kids with their tack, dealing with rowdy horses, etc. But it was still great. I loved it.

Chena getting ready to take a jump on Whisper.

Because we were working in the arena so much, the ground needed to be smooth and free of rocks. We knew we needed the kids to pick up rocks, but we wanted it to be fun. So, we secretly marked a few of the rocks on the underside with numbers. Then we bought some prizes, and put them in brown paper bags with a number on them. When the kids found the bonus rocks, they could come up and claim their prize. They loved that!

We got to harness up Wildfire, the pony, and do chariot rides!

On the second day, the advanced class did a Vaulting clinic. This was Chena's second Vaulting (trick riding) class of the summer, so she was ready to move up a level, and do some more difficult moves.

Here she is with her future vaulting team members. They will be on the team next summer.

They learned how to mount while the horse is running, by running alongside and jumping on. Chena really improved, and was able to do it easily by the end. She also learned how to do forward, backwards, and sideways rolls on the ground, after she jumped off the moving horse. She hurt herself once during a handspring off her vaulting horse. She was okay..but yikes..mom got worried! She just got a bit dusty, and shrugged off with only a few small tears.

Here they are doing "Superman".

More tricks!

My sister in law and me, both with our black mares. We took a short clinic together, mostly so we could get the kids off the horses and get our turn. Hey, moms need to ride too!