The Lee Family: Horse Camp!

Thursday, June 18, 2015

Horse Camp!

On Monday I dropped both girls off at Ride with Pride for Olivia's very first horse camp and Sofia's fourth go at it. I'd signed both up at least two months ago and they were both very excited at the time. However, in usual Olivia fashion, she "didn't want to go" when I went to get her ready on Monday morning. Sofia was so excited and kept telling Olivia how much fun she was going to have. I finally got Olivia dressed and we headed to the stables so that Olivia could be there by 8:30am. There were only four other girls signed up for Buckaroo camp which is 3-5 year olds and only runs from 8:30 - 10:30am. Sofia's camp started at 9am and finished up at 1pm. After I signed away all my rights in case of injury, both girls went into the little classroom and Sofia started playing with all the horse and barn toys. Olivia was not so sure and stuck with me. Her instructor, Miss Sarah, kept trying to lure her away with coloring books and other fun, but she was having none of it.

The Buckaroo camp started with all the kids going outside and sitting at the picnic bench to paint a little bird house. Again, Olivia wanted nothing to do with it until curiosity finally took over and she sat next to Miss Sarah and instructed her how to paint her bird house. By then it was 9am and I said goodbye to Sofia while I snuck away. When I returned at 10:30am, Olivia had had so much fun and could hardly contain herself as she told me all about her day and Flash, the horse she rode. It was so cute how much fun she had. I asked her if she was excited to return the next day and without hesitation she said "Yes!" We picked Sofia up at 1pm and she rode Dolly and Red, two of her favorite horses from last year. She'd had a very fun day too and really loves horse camp!

Because of all the rain expected on Wednesday, Doreen cancelled horse camp for that day and then added an extra hour to Olivia's camp on Thursday and Friday and an extra two hours to Sofia's camp for both days. After her camp finished up on Thursday at 10:30am, Olivia and her fellow Buckaroos held a mini-rodeo. Each kiddo was able to ride Penny once around a small arena before the awards ceremony. Olivia loved it. At the awards ceremony, Olivia was given a horse trophy and her photo frame, door hanger, and small bird house that she made during camp. She had so much fun and said she wanted to do it again! Guess that means they are both ready for next summer's camp already!

Practicing on a plastic horse