My First!

Ok, so this is my first official blog entry EVER! I thought it would be a good idea to keep everyone updated on the things I'm doing this summer, so I decided to create a blog! I don't get to use the phone all the time, so this is great.

I've been at Camp Celo since June 3rd, and I will be here until August 12. The first week I was here was kind of an orientation week for all the staff. It was a lot of work getting camp ready for kids, but it was also a lot of fun getting to know everyone :) The campers arrived on the 8th, and then the real summer began. I am the horse counselor here, but I also help out in Junior camp. We have about 35 kids in junior camp and about 27 in senior camp. The junior campers are anywhere from 7-10 years old, and the senior campers are 11 and 12. Our first session in junior camp has ended because it was only a one week session. Campers for the next session which is two weeks arrive today at 1 pm. Second and third sessions will each be three weeks, and for senior campers all three sessions are three weeks long.

Celo is a Quaker community that is full of people with there own large gardens and many animals as well. My job at camp is to feed and care for the horses, and to take the kids on rides almost everyday as a part of morning activities. Here at Celo we ride bareback. We only really do trail rides, so not a ton of teaching is involved, but it is still lots of fun! I love watching the kids interact with the horses and really develop bonds with them. I myself have had some pretty intense bonding sessions with the horses, and I feel like I connect pretty well with them. And I haven't fallen of yet, which is great! I also feed them, which is part of the reason they like me so much :)


While here I have learned how to folk dance, helped to castrate and de-horn calves, milked a cow, helped in the garden, gone on a hike, built a fire, cantered bareback many times, and had to deal with a raccoon in my tent! I've done many other things, but those are just a few memorable ones.


The picture of me on the horse was taken at a house down the road that one of the gardeners is house sitting for, and she let me ride on of the horses, Nicki, on my birthday! Our two calves are Preston and Westin; the view is from the house where I rode; the baby goats (kids) are Matilda, Casper, Rubarb and Rubar; Matilda was on my back! ; the waterfall was on the staff hike we took on my birthday; I'm holding a speckled baby chicken; two of our three horses...Cowboy is the brown one and Astro is the white one; my tent! ; the view of the house, which is where we eat all of our meals, and the garden is in front.


More to come!