C-c-cold Weekend

While last weekend was a long, three day weekend, it was pretty uneventful here. It was the kind of weekend where you bundle up in layers upon layers to work at the barn, or stay in the house with hot soup or hot chocolate to read a romantic novel or watch movies. Temps on Sunday were 6 degrees. Saturday wasn't quite so bad although it was windy, snowy, and generally grey.

To spice up my day, I had a bit of fun with my camera. Surprise! Surprise! Wandered into the pasture amidst horses and blowing snow to snap a few photos. This is a photo of Romeo. Whereas I am taking a photo class, I took a red cardinal from under my bird feeder and with the miracle of cut and paste, gave Romeo the company of a beautiful bird in the pasture. Tadah!

Saturday evening Tom and I were privileged to have Lia Teck and her mom and dad visit with us for dinner and the evening. What special people. They brought warmth into our home with their cheerful conversation and shared enthusiasm for summer camp. We had such a pleasant evening talking about summer stories, horses, and goals for the new season. Lia brought me a bracelet which she designed and made. It was lovely. I've suggested Lia talk with Jaime, our Head Riding Instructor, because Jaime also designs and makes beautiful jewelry.

As long as we are talking about the cold weekend, you might get a kick out of seeing that long-haired cat from the barn. Many of you from this last summer may have named him. For his survival during cold temps, he and all the other cats at the barn have grown very, very thick winter coats. They really look beautiful in the winter. Anyway, here he is headed for a bucket of water which I had just drawn from the pump, and you better believe that water was c-c-cold!

Oh, I just remembered a bit of news that cheered us this weekend. Jill Fisher wrote an email. She was one of our riding instructors last summer. In the fall, she took a new teaching job as a Chemistry teacher, and she loves it. But the big news is that Jill is engaged. She's very happy and wants to share her news. Also, Jaime wrote to say she is on her school equestrian team. Congratulations are in order for you both.

I send warm thoughts to each and every one of you during these freezing days. May a spontaneous email or a friendly conversation ~ like a red cardinal ~ brighten your grey, winter day and make you smile.

Riding Students

In this post, I want to brag about more of my riding students. One such rider is Katharine. Many of you know her as 'my kindergartner'. That's because she started riding here when she was a very little girl, and for years, my reference has been to lovingly call her 'my kindergartner'.

Well, she is no little girl anymore. She is now in 6th grade and is nearly as tall as me. She smiles and chuckles and tells me the doctor says she is going to be 6'4" someday. When I hear that, I pray Boomer will still be with us so she will have a horse to ride!

Anyway, I am very impressed with how Katharine's listening and riding skills are improving. Her learning has been fun to watch, and I have been honored to be part of her growth as an individual over these years.

Another student is Sarah. She started with me in the fall, and she has become a Fella lover. The two of them do so well together. Sarah loves how Fella yawns when you bridle him. Even her mom gets a kick out of that, and is quick to snap a photo. One of these days, I'll have to share a yawning photo with you. Fella is a character.

What I love about Sarah is her connection with Fella. Even more fun is her smile. I always know when she is challenging herself and feeling good about her accomplishments because she rides around the arena with a smile on her face.

The horses love the girls; and I am happy to know and work with both Katharine and Sarah. They are the exclamation point to my Saturdays after lessons with Jenny, Erin, and Lia. I am so lucky to be teaching such willing students.

January Trail Ride

I have to tell you that our weather here is amazingly like spring. The snow has totally disappeared which of course means we are slopping around in the mud, and the horses look like something from either another planet or a mud wrestling tournament after rolling in the brown yuck! As you can imagine, it takes forever to groom them before our lessons, and sneeze? Yup. We do that well!

Temps fluctuate right now between 32 and 50, although last week it was 65 degrees. That of course makes working in the barn a pleasure and riding lessons are easy. But I have to confess that I'm worried we will pay for this good weather one way or another. Either lake affect snows off Lake Erie will bury us in the near future or the storms will settle upon us in April when we would rather be enjoying spring. Oh well. The joys of living in Western New York. For now, we are enjoying the moment.

Jenny, Lia and Erin came for lessons on Saturday. Jenny rode Boomer, Lia rode Honey, and Erin was on Kokomo. They ride weekly and are improving so much.

What was fun for them this time around was a little trail ride down the Al Capone trail. I suggested they conclude their lesson this week with that ride so they could say they went trail riding in January.

Trail riding in January is quite a novelty in these parts. Usually we are high stepping it through snowddrifts, sliding on ice and praying the snow falling from the roof doesn't spook the horses.

From me to you

There are mornings when I look at the day and am thankful to be alive. One such morning happened this last week. I was driving to school as the sun rose with all its color and you know me, the gal who loves to take photos, I just had to stop and capture the glory of the day's start so I could share it with you.

Because I drive into the sun on my way to school, I have frustrating mornings where I am blinded by the light and it's a miracle I don't crash into an oncoming vehicle. But this is the time of year when I leave in the dark, witness many a sunrise, and get to school before the sun is high in the sky. Makes the drive easier. Anyway, enjoy. I wanted to share this with you, no matter where you live...just because.

Visit from Good Friends

Last weekend, I had a wonderful surprise. Lizzie Briggs came to ride Bonnie, and Lizzie inspired Brianna Pilliod to visit. They met out here at camp. I was teaching riding lessons when Brianna popped in to say 'hi', and she explained Lizzie would be arriving soon. What fun!

Bri is going to college in Vermont. She says she loves it and is happy she chose that school. Apparently, the college offers a pre-vet program that is outstanding. So Bri and Lizzie chitter-chat about their life in pre-vet because Lizzie is in a similar program at Cornell.

I love watching them together. They've been fast friends since their time together at camp. My gosh! They've known each other for years and years. That's what we mean when we say Sprucelands is about friends. Often those friendships last far beyond 2-4 weeks during the summer.

Anyway, Lizzie had a pleasant ride on Bonnie, after Bonnie accepted the fact she was going to work and the herd in the pasture would survive for a time without her there. You know how she screams and hollers until we convince her to get a grip! Is that a morgan thing or a Bonnie thing? Well, the temperatures were pretty fair so it felt good to be at the barn with the horses.

Lizzie and Bri look great. Don't you agree? Seeing them was a treat. They are such special people, and they have made such contributions to Sprucelands, just by being who they are.

Look at Charm

Now while I have your attention, I want to show you a photo of Charm. Remember how skinny Charm was when she came into camp a year ago? She needed groceries and the chiropractor and the horse dentist and lots of love. There were days when we hand fed her different combinations of feed, and as I recall it was messy because we needed to make her meals fit for a horse needing carbohydrates.

Well, our barn manager Lorie has worked with Charm consistently giving her love and affection. She has also researched different foods and found something dear to Charm's heart. I can't tell you the name of the feed right at the moment, but between hay cubes and this feed, Charm has become a roly-poly beautiful lady.

We can thank Lorie for developing a bond with Charm. That more than anything has sparked Charm to take an interest in life and living. If she continues this well, perhaps we can try using her again. Because she is carrying some weight, my guess is she will be more comfortable under saddle. Isn't she amazing? If you think of it, write Lorie a message and applaud her dedication to Charm. Lorie's email: LM14082@aol.com.

New Horses

When you look over the fence into Ring #2, you wonder who is out there, don't you? Well, let's see. There's Glory. She is still here and doing pretty well actually. Seems to have picked up some weight despite the cold temps. Her best friends are Charm and Lena.

There's a new horse out there in the ring with those three girls. Her name is Scribbles, and she is the replacement for House.

We had to trade House because even though he was a handsome dude, he liked to bite you when you least expected it. He took our barn manager Lori by the hair one day and wouldn't let go. That's disconcerting and darn right scary. So this last week, Scribbles arrived as a replacement for House. She is kinda cute, don't you think?

Scribbles seems quite sweet. She is five years old, moves nicely, and is affectionate. She is seeming to relax in the barn and in the herd, softening around her edges as she settles in. I like that she is not aggressive with the other horses. She accepts them and they appear okay with her.

With two white feet, Scribbles is a chestnut and a papered paint. Hard to tell, isn't it? She stands between 15.2 and 16H. Since she is young, I believe she will continue to grow. She has done trails. Now it is our job to school her in the ring. I hope you like her, and are ready to help make her a Sprucelands horse. I get the feeling you will quickly fall in love.

The other horse that came in here last week arrived in trade for Spanky. We were so excited to finally find a man who adores Spanky and is having fun riding him everyday. Sounds as though Spanky will be doing a lot of trails and may even do some team penning.

Anyway, we now have another horse named Buddy. From the front, he actually resembles our 'Buddy' horse from years ago. He is also a chestnut, but smaller. He is a sturdy little quarter horse between 14-15H, and five years old with experience on trails and team penning. Buddy apparently didn't work well for team penning because he was too slow.

On Saturday, Jenn Metz rode Buddy and confirmed that he is on the slow side. She had to work with her seat and legs to move him forward. He needs encouragement. In time he will pick up lots of skills and may eventually become a good horse for beginner-intermediate riders, especially on trails.

We always need horses we can trust on trails. I am personally hoping he may learn well enough to become a first canter horse for those who are trying out their canter skills for the first time. Anyway, sounds as though both of these horses are pretty bombproof over hill and dale. I hope they catch quickly catch on to the Sprucelands way of doing things so they can be active teachers in our schooling string come summer.

Christmas Reunion

Our Christmas Reunion was special, filled with goofy fun, silliness, and genuine giggles that come only from good friends having quality time together. David Spink serenaded us all with improvised songs created in the moment, songs that left us with pure pain: face and side pain from laughing too long and too hard. Just thinking about it, I laugh all over again!

Saturday evening we played games. Alie and Kristen Reindel came with wrapping paper and a challenge. They broke the group into teams, challenging them to create holiday costumes out of the wrapping paper. Now I assumed the paper would rip. Not so. It rose to the occasion. All kinds of interesting get-ups were designed and displayed in a mini fashion show. Here you see Tarrah posing for you all. I was amazed at the fun we had just being kids together.

After feeding and breakfast on Sunday morning, we gave the Christmas tree new life with lights and garlands and decorations. Each decoration on the tree has a story; some of those stories are shared each year. You see Daley here as he hangs the new decoration he and Dylan brought for grandma. Everyone cheered when Tarrah boosted the angel onto its perch atop the nine foot tree.

The grand finale is our red ribbon ceremony. Gathering at the foot of the tree, each individual honors someone who has made a positive difference in their life during the past year. To honor the selected person or persons, we share reasons for recognizing that person and then tie a red ribbon on the tree. Before you know it, we all want more than one ribbon because there are many we want to acknowledge for contributing to our personal growth.

As we honored counselors, hill parents, each other, riding instructors, school teachers, classmates, service men, family members and horses, we shared appreciation for our life experiences and the fact Sprucelands gives us an arena for expressing that appreciation. I of course love that I have this opportunity to tell the world how these hard-working, dedicated Clinic Helpers spark the Sprucelands Spirit with their enthusiasm and positive attitudes.

I do not know if the Clinic Helpers totally grasp the impact they make on riders young and old who are open to a genuine horse experience. They give those riders confidence, knowledge, security, and courage to trust a horse. I am so fortunate to have this group in my life. They keep me young.

Happy Holidays

Yes. It has been a long time since I've been on the blog. I took leave of you for a little while because I needed time to prepare for the holidays: I make most of my gifts for relatives and friends.

I also visited my parents in Indianapolis. Driving there and back was an adventure this year mainly because I usually fly and it actually felt good to drive. I was terribly fortunate to get into a window of good weather, so the trip was uneventful and as relaxing as it could be considering I spent 10 hours in the car in both directions listening to talk shows and music.

Now I'm home ready to tackle the blog. To start, I send you all greetings for the new year. I trust you had a pleasant, safe holiday with your family and friends. Our celebration in Indiana was a time to connect again. My folks are recovering from a rough year, and looking at turning 90 soon. New Years at home with my kids gave me a chance to catch up on Christmas and welcoming 2008. Pleasant all the way around.

Since many of you have asked about my children, they are terrific. Thad, Drew, Stacey and Darren are all doing really well with their families. Included here is my photo card with pictures of the grandkids. For you who are past campers, you might get a kick out of seeing future Spruceland generations.

Thad's boys are Dylan and Daley. They are petting my dog, Babe. Drew's daughter is Kiersten. She has her hands outspread, and Brenden is in the orange shirt. Stacey's little tyke is Brady. He is showing you his Elmo costume at Halloween. Darren's girls are Shelby - eating a peach - and Amanda - on the four-wheeler. They all enjoy Sprucelands for camp, picnics and hikes.

Now I want to share what you have to look for to in my upcoming blogs. There will be photos and fun about the Clinic Helper Christmas Reunion. I have news about two new horses. Peeked your curiosity yet? There is a possibility that we may get newsletters in pdf format for the website which will make it easier especially for campers in foreign countries, possible new campers, and old campers/staff who I've lost touch with. So it goes. We are moving forward full steam ahead for 2008.

Meanwhile, remember the 'Find a New Camper' program. For every new camper you recruit, you earn a $100 gas/gift card. Want to know more? Email me at spruceland@aol.com.