EVR 2 week – Trail rides, creeking and staff demo

08/05/2015

As session 3 begins to come to an end, the girls have been busy making the absolute most of their time here. Over the last few days, each of the groups has had the chance to go on a trail ride up in the mountains around us to explore the beautiful surroundings and wildlife. Trail rides are also a great way to put all of their recently learnt skills in to practise, as sometimes it can be quite different to ride out of the arena. All of the girls have really enjoyed their trails though, especially riding through the river and up on to the side of the mountain. This afternoon they will be doing round pen which is a natural horsemanship training method that we use to gain our horses trust and to show them that we mean them no harm. This is my favourite ground lesson so I can’t wait to see the girls get excited about this too!

Yesterday the girls spent their activity period creeking in the river and trying to find water creatures. They learned all about newts, tadpoles and how to paint with rocks as well as wading in the water to cool down. In their ground lessons the girls designed their dream barns complete with arenas, washing areas and trails. Everyone was very imaginative with their ideas and lots of them also drew and described their dream horses. Some of them seemed very closely based on a few of our own ponies! On Monday evening we had an extra special evening programme where the staff put on a demonstration with our horses to show the campers what they can do. They did a drill team where they ride in pairs to set routine with music and they also demonstrated a pinwheel with 8 horses which looked very impressive! After that they played a game called transitions where a command such as ‘walk’ or ‘trot’ is called out and the last person to do that command is out. The girls absolutely loved watching their counsellors ride and joined in as much as they could.

Tonight we have Mustang village coming to visit for challenge night as well as an extra special guest which is super exciting!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Nick Lomauro

Nick Lomauro is a lifetime lover of camp (overnight and day), outdoor recreation, and value-based programs. Nick grew up in the YMCA and discovered his passion for working in youth development as a summer camp counselor. Full of curiosity, Nick graduated from Montclair State University with a degree in General Humanities. Immediately following graduation Nick set off to Spain to hike the 500 mile ancient pilgrimage trail, El Camino de Santiago. Nick then returned to his childhood YMCA in NJ, of over 20 thousand members, as the Director of Youth Development. In this role he designed, developed, and implemented day camp and teen programs. In 2015, Nick returned to Frost Valley and he is now the Director of Camp Wawayanda. This is Nick's 16th summer at Frost Valley.