“SCHOOLS OUT FOR SUMMER!: Summer Camps are Coming!”
HAY there Hands and Hearts for Horses fans! Your friendly “NEIGH”borhood horse blogger, i.e. me, is back with another entry of my blog!
Blog Reminders
Each week in my blog there will be one hidden clue to my identity, so make sure you tune in and read my blog every week for another clue! REMEMBER, if you think you know which horse I am, shoot us a message or email Stephanie at stephanie@handsandheartsforhorses.com ! Don’t spoil the mystery for our other followers by posting your guess publicly! Can you piece together the clues and figure out which horse I am? Because I’ll never tell, well not until enough of you have guessed my secret! Once enough correct guesses have come in, I’ll post a summary of the clues that should have led you to guess my identity and we will do a big reveal!
The first person to guess my identity correctly will win a Hands and Hearts for Horses sticker and a piece of pretty Hands and Hearts for Horses themed jewelry created by our very own boss lady (or as the humans call her executive director) Susie’s own mom! So, tune in for those clues and get those guesses in! One guess per person, per week please!
I have included links to my past blogs in case you missed them so that you can look for the clues to my identity!
Week 1: https://handsandheartsforhorses.com/neighborhood-horse-blogger/2024-4-22-we-love-our-volunteers
Week 2: https://handsandheartsforhorses.com/neighborhood-horse-blogger/2024-4-29-its-gonna-be-may-f4l32
Schools Out for Summer!
One of our Pelham Elementary participants having fun with Teena and her trusty volunteers Joslin, Mr. Joe, and David on her last ride of the school year!
SCHOOLS OUT FOR SUMMER!
So readers, the end of our session didn’t go exactly as planned! As you all know, our riders, staff, volunteers, and us horses had worked extremely hard to prepare for our 3rd Annual Rodeo on Saturday May 18th. Unfortunately, the weather wasn’t on our side this year for shows. Severe storms came through the area on Friday and Saturday and unfortunately the humans had to make the call to cancel the rodeo for the safety of all. We know this was likely disappointing for many, we know we horses sure were sad about it! This means that next year’s shows will just have to be extra wonderful to make up for it! If anyone has any pictures of their riders or volunteers working hard to prepare for the rodeo that they wouldn’t mind being shared on Social Media, please share via our Social Media pages or by emailing stephanie@handsandheartsforhorses.com and we will try to do something to recognize their hard work!
We horses are now off for two whole weeks while the humans get everything set up for Summer Camps to start on Monday June 3rd! We have had a LOT of people sign up already for our summer camps and openings are limited! This is the one time of the year that Hands and Hearts for Horses opens up and serves all riders, not just those with some sort of special need/ diagnosis. This allows a lot of people in our community to come experience what our program has to offer and is a wonderful opportunity for summer campers and summer camp volunteers to get experience working with a wide range of horses and campers!
Our camps are a whirlwind of fun, with campers being split into 4 groups of 4 that rotate between fun activities each day! Half day campers get one ride in a day, while full day campers have the option of a second ride in the afternoon. Past activities have included getting the chance to learn about horse care, grooming, feeding, bathing, horse body parts, different arts and crafts activities for a break from the heat, yoga, vaulting, barrels, roping, leading a horse, Friday WATER DAY and so much more! Rides are usually kept to early in the morning for half day campers so that us horses aren’t used too much in the highest heat of the day!
With so much fun to be had, I’m not surprised camps have been filling up so quickly!
Summer Camp Water Day Fun!
Water Day is a favorite of many of our campers! Not only do we have a big water slide, but we start out with a bareback ride rotating through a bunch of fun water activities, including campers having to keep their balance and hold a cup full of cold water over their heads while going over obstacles!
SO, this means anyone still interested in signing up needs to do so quickly!! Below are the ONLY openings still remaining for camp!
· Advanced Camp (Independent Riders Only): June 24th - June 28th, 2024
o ***ONLY 3 OPENINGS LEFT***
o This camp is for riders that are able to ride without assistance on leading horses, getting them ready for rides, or side-walkers!
· Riders 9 & Older: July 15th - July 19th, 2024
o ***ONLY 1 OPENING LEFT***
· Open Rider Camp (Any Age): July 29th - August 2nd, 2024
o ***ONLY 5 OPENINGS LEFT***
o This camp is open to riders of all abilities and ages! It is also our LAST camp of the summer before we are closed during August for the intense heat.
Remember dear readers, we are closed in the month of August due to the extreme heat as us horses, and humans are too hot for hard outdoor work! Also, please keep in mind, that unless you have specifically communicated with one of the humans who told you it was okay to come on a day and time that the barn is closed (including the next two weeks, the week of July 4th, and August 3rd through the start of Fall Session) , the barn is CLOSED to visitors, volunteers, and participants. This is due to the fact that staff is in and out of the barn taking care of errands that they are not able to get done during lessons, and we cannot have people at the barn unsupervised by staff. Thank you for respecting this so that everyone stays safe!
If you are interested in signing up to volunteer for summer camps, we will need a LOT of help all summer! You can reach out to our volunteer coordinator Jennifer at jennifer@handsandheartsforhorses.com about our openings and your availability.
We horses love that we get to continue seeing so many of our favorite people over the summer! And we are looking forward to our summer camp fun! We will be resting up and planning to take things SLOW to prepare the next two weeks while the humans work hard to make sure everything is ready and rearing to go!
Time to Rest Up!
Jimmy was caught mid yawn starting out his two weeks of rest before Summer Camp starts!
IMPORTANT REMINDER readers, our May Hay Fundraiser is still running through the whole month of May! We are lagging behind quite a bit this year from our goal! We horses would so appreciate you donating to our sharing our cause! The humans are hoping to raise $25,000 this year to fuel our herd all year long! We horses are foragers, and need a lot of hay to keep us happy and strong!
Donations can be made multiple ways!
1) Go to: https://paypal.com/donate/?campaign_id=KAMTN52ZL2CWL&source=url
2) Our Facebook Fundraiser at our Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/donate/1172764943903370/?fundraiser_source=external_url
3) Our Instagram Fundraiser on our Instagram: @handsandheartsforhorses
4) On our Venmo: @handsandheartsforhorses
We cannot reach our goal without the help of our community!
If for ANY reason any of these payment options gives you a hard time or you notice that a donation has bounced back, PLEASE let the humans know so that they can help get the issue fixed. We definitely don’t want to miss out on the generosity of anyone in our community due to technical difficulties! If you would like to share any of this information or any of our Social Media posts, please do! The more word gets out, the better chance we have of meeting our goal! These donations directly benefit our participants as well because our herd is vital to our program!
We hope to see a lot of you this summer! I’ll be back next week with another interesting blog entry!
Til’ next time!
XOXO Your Friendly “NEIGH”borhood Horse Blogger