Camp

I think this took place the summer after 7th grade.  As a little girl I had always wanted to go to a horse riding camp.  Fancy riding camps were not in my parent’s budget.  Well this year I had my own horse, and we found a week long sleepover camp at a local ranch.  I was stoked!  Mrs. Brenda loaded Henry up in her big blue stock trailer and my mom and I followed in our Pontiac.  When we arrived I pulled Henry off the trailer and put him in his home for the week.  The air was full of excitement as all of the campers prepared their stalls for their horses.  Somehow we ended up in the lower barn.  It seemed like the reject barn at the time, but I grew to love the privacy.  There is nothing like taking care of your own horse – pouring sweat for the animal that is your friend and partner.  I forgot his box fan – a necessity in the hot Mississippi summers – so after a good lecture and several reminders of my ignorance Mrs. Brenda discovered one I could borrow in the tackroom of her trailer.  Mrs. Brenda pulled away and eventually even my mom left.  Henry and I were ready to take on this new world together!

The campers were all ages, and it turned out I was one of the older kids.   I still remember the first day when the old cowboy that ran the camp sorted us into skill groups.  He was a gruff, intimidating man who wore his big boots and a straw cowboy hat all day every day.  Ever the competitor, I wanted to be in the best group.  Henry was a former racing quarter horse and very spirited.  We danced and pranced around the ring while all of the other kids’ horses walked calmly around.  Was the old cowboy going to put me in the beginner group because I can’t keep my horse calm?   He glared at me as we jigged around and around the ring.  Annoying.  Group C was pulled out and some of the counselors – not much older than me – took them off to start their first lesson.  Phew!  At least I’m not in the worst group!  Then he started to pull out Group B.  He studied each and every one of us as if he were playing a game of chess – one where his entire farm was at stake.  Did I mention this was serious?  Henry and I were jointly lathered in sweat as he continued his dance around the ring – camp made him very excited.  The harder I tried to calm him down, the more excited he got.  After what seemed like hours the selection was done and I was left in the arena as part of the advanced group.  Being older, part of the advanced group, AND on the handsome, spirited horse that was difficult to ride, I officially became one of the “COOL” kids at camp.  Hahaha!  If they only knew how uncool I was at school.  As silly as it all sounds, this was the makings of a dream come true.  So often I had read about horse camp in The Saddle Club series and dreamed of attending one myself.   It was a great start to a great week.

Looking back I realize that Henry’s excitement was only his outward reflection of my inner feelings.  I was SO excited and SO nervous!  He expressed my feelings for me!

This was all just in the first few hours of camp.  Come back in a couple days to hear the rest of the story.

Lesson for the day:  Don’t get mad at your horse (or dog or husband or wife or anyone else) when their behavior bothers you.  Most often the things that annoy us are thing that we ourselves struggle with.

Soli deo gloria

~Sarah