EVR 2 week Session 2 begins!

07/14/2015

Sunday brought the arrival of 40 new campers to EVR as session 2 began. It’s so exciting to see so many new and returning faces getting ready to spend two weeks having fun with horses! Yesterday was the first full day of the session and it was Eval day where we see what everyone’s riding style is so that we can match them to the perfect horse for the session. As well as riding for the first time, the girls also learnt how to groom, tack and lead their horses which is very important as they will be responsible for their horse during the session. All of the girls enjoyed getting to know our horses on their first trip down to the barn. In the afternoon we played an all camp game of Geronimo so that the girls could get to know the girls in other yurts, and they just managed to dodge a rain shower! In the evening for our Evening Programme we played a big game of Human Foosball in one of our riding arenas, this is basically like soccer except all of the players are holding a rope and are only allowed to slide along the rope without letting go. It was a great game that everyone got involved in, the only problem was that we were having so much fun that it got too dark for us to see the ball!

Today at breakfast the girls got to find out who their horse for the two weeks will be and they were all super excited. Half of them rode their horses in their assigned riding groups this morning and learnt all about different horse breeds and colours whilst the other half did activities. Today one of the girls activities was playing rounders (which is an English version of baseball) but with water balloons! They then caught a hay ride down to the farm to go swimming at the water hole and a few of the bravest girls went swimming. This afternoon the groups will swap around before dinner and then it’s time for… USB!

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.