Initiative as a Life Lesson

Trail pace 4th Session was another busy time. We appreciated that we could squeeze it in between rainstorms. Thankfully, the barn area is high up and on gravel so our drainage is excellent. The footing was pretty dry.

Our trails in the woods were and still are muddy. I don't think they've ever really dried up this summer. We just think we're getting to a point where we don't have to slip and slide and then there's another thunderstorm. Anyway, the rain held off Saturday until rest hour and that meant we all finished in fine time.

I take out the first ride on Trail Pace Saturday to see if the trail I marked in the wee early morning hours will work okay. This week Lia helped me mark the trail at 6 a.m. It didn't rain. That was a plus. We had fun tying surveyor's tape to the trees from the 4-wheeler and 'hoofing' it through more narrow passageways. I've got to say sharing that job with another friendly soul sure makes it go quicker. We talked and chattered the whole way.

After my ride, I love watching campers, Counselors and CITs help each other mount, do fly spray, check stirrup lengths and girths. Our emphasis on safety makes each one of those jobs high priority. Each helper knows they have a big responsibility to insure that both the horse and rider are balanced and secure.

Reassurances are shared with nervous riders so they are thinking positively about their upcoming ride. Guestimates are taken and written on a clipboard right before each pair of riders departs. All the while, other riders are busy in the barn with stalls and feeding as they await their turn to steer through the twists and turns in the woods.

I fade into the background at the barn to take photographs. Amazingly I think the kids forget I'm there. Since I don't ask for poses often, it's easy to move around and snap my shutter wherever and whenever. Gives me an opportunity to see independence in action.

The kids by now know the routines. No one is around telling them what to do. Sometimes you'll hear a request for help. Often there are thanks for jobs well done. I think more than anything, realizing they can safely manage themselves and these huge four-legged creatures builds confidence and aids maturity. Kids like Sergio know they have jobs to do. They know what the jobs are and they get them done. I am amazed at how comfortable each one seems. To me it feels good to be a fly on the wall...with a camera.

One big emphasis this year has been taking initiative. Since the first session of camp, we've been stressing the idea that each individual can move themselves to do things without being asked. If a horse makes a mess in the parking lot, anyone can take the initiative to get a pitchfork, pick it up and toss it in the manure pile. In fact there is an understanding at Sprucelands that intiative rules.

My hope with pushing initiative is that Sprucelands campers will become better babysitters, more positive additions to school clubs and sports, active students that will start projects and finish them on time, all because they have practiced taking initiative here. Taking initiative is difficult at first, but in time it becomes more habit. Of course, peer pressure and the fact that mom or dad isn't here to do it for them helps to get the point across. When everyone is doing it after all, the expectation is in place and initiative becomes effortless.

A question that pops up as a result of taking initiative is "what makes sense"? In other words, if you see that pile in the parking lot, you might ask, "Does it make sense to leave that there for everyone to walk through or does it make more sense to clean it up?"

If a horse's water bucket is empty on a hot day, does it make sense to leave it empty or take the initiative to fill it and in the end practice good horsemanship? Or if you are going to ride a lengthy trail ride, does it make sense to snuggle your girth so your saddle is secure? Are you going to take the initiative to do that or are you going to ignore the loose girth and risk your own safety?

There are multitudinous (is that a word?)opportunities here, there and everywhere for taking initiative and doing what makes sense. At Sprucelands we practice this life lesson daily, hoping that somehow it transfers back home.

I keep telling the kids how much happier their household will be if they clean their room without being told or set the table for dinner or get their homework done. In the end I hope the kids will begin to please themselves with the initiative they are taking. That after all is evidence that maturity is really happening, especially if they stop and ask, "What makes sense?"