Caption Contest #2

A few weeks ago I initiated a contest inviting you who read the blog to enter a caption under the photo I posted. The response was fairly positive.

I would love for even more of you to participate. You don't have to be from Sprucelands. We welcome entries from everyone. Just make sure that you send us an email so we can contact you if you win.

So this time around I am putting up a different kind of photo in hopes you will have some fun with it. Please send me your caption suggestions by clicking on comments at the foot of this post and writing your entries there.

Meanwhile, we have chosen a winner from our first photo. I've asked a number of people to look at the photo and review the caption entries. We've decided to post a winner and an honorable mention.

And the winner is...drum roll please...Sue where are you when we need you...a little louder...now softer...watch my eyes....and the winner is Courtney James with the caption: Horses talk too. You just have to listen.

Honorable mention goes to Vicki and Jacob Cicero. They entered the following: What? You've never seen a horse with this many legs? Why I can out run you anyday!

Courtney will be coming for a riding lesson this weekend and she will receive her prize at that time. Congratulations, Courtney. Nice job.

Thank you judges one and all. I appreciate your help. We will start an album of our caption contest photos. Should be fun to look back at over the off season. Enjoy!

Clinic Friendships

At our weekend riding clinics, I have clinic helpers. They are young people who go through a training in February or March. Then they come on Fridays, stay the weekend, and help me run the clinic. In the end they are not only providing safety for our riders, but they are also sharing their knowledge of horses and in the end they are emerging teachers.

I love my clinic helpers. I celebrate them and am grateful for their dedicated hard work and enthusiasm for Sprucelands. I throughly enjoy their sense of humor and get a kick out of the conversations we have in our down time.

Often my clinic helpers are campers who have gone through weeks of camp. They know the routines and have basically enhanced their horse experience with consistent day to day riding, horse care and learning about horse theory. Many keep up regular riding lessons so they can easily pass on what they learn to others.

What I enjoy most of all is watching my clinic helpers grow as individuals and in relationships with each other. Often friendships emerge that last a lifetime. They are tender, caring friendships where age doesn't matter.

Matt and Hope for example help each other out. Matt very nicely nudges Hope and Hope nudges Matt. Here they were working together with our horse Patti at our Special Needs Clinic. While they waited for their next rider, Hope climbed up on the mounting block and talked with Matt. The picture is priceless, and so I wanted to share it with you because it warms my heart.

Special Relationships and Unforgettable Fun

For years I've been contacted by magazine advertizers for Sprucelands Camp ads. Generally, I have to turn them away because I just don't have the money for expensive ads. But then there are the advertizers who take time to negotiate with me about our program and before you know it, they have lured me in!

One question I am often asked is: Do you run clinics or camp for those with special needs? And my answer is always: I believe everyone has special needs, me included.

There are those with physical limitations, and those with mental limitations. But then there are those who are shy and retiring or those who lack confidence. Because every one of us is a unique individual, it follows quite naturally that we all have special needs.

With that in mind, each fall - the first weekend after school starts - we run a weekend riding clinic for educable adults who are working hard at improving their balance and their confidence. They anticipate their riding weekend all year long, marking their calendar so they can count the days. And when the cars drive into camp, they whoop and holler and celebrate because like kids who come in the summer time their dream of camp and horses and riding has once again come true.

Originally, we started this weekend riding clinic 20 years ago for non-verbal, severly handicapped individuals. That was an experimental weekend.

Well, the weekend caught hold and with tweaks over the years, the clinic has evolved into a major event. Some of these riders in fact have attended 17 of the 20 clinics we've run. Now they can ride without spotters on both sides of them. They look where they are going and proudly they maintain their balance, even steering on their own.

I'm very impressed with the maturity I've seen in these folks. Some have confronted pretty major fears or insecurities. Brian for example has learned to let go of the saddle with one hand as he rides. That is a major accomplishment. Emily can set aside her anxiety issues so she can trot, and Megan is learning to just be. They have grown up, come out of themselves, learned to handle social situations, practiced making decisions, and in some instances, responsibly hold jobs.

Most of these wonderful folks have built relationships with our horses and with those of us on staff. Their sense of humor is priceless. Their goofy, silly singing and dancing after supper on Saturday night is something we love because it gives us an opportunity to be silly too. Always there is routy entertainment, joking, teasing, and flat out belly laughter. It's awesome.

I find myself wishing more people in the world 'out there' could experience the genuine spirit we share with one another. But then...that's the way we do it at Sprucelands. We accept each other's differences, respect them and celebrate the individuals we are. All of us leave the drama behind because we don't want anything to interfere with our quality time together. We share and care, valuing every moment.

Even the horses seem to know to put herd dynamics aside. They walk a little slower, stand a little straighter, and nuzzle a little more gently. In some strange way I believe the horses anticipate this weekend as we do. They make this riding adventure a positive experience, something wonderful for us all to remember until next year.

At this point last weekend is barely a memory, but most of the riders are planning their return to Sprucelands in September 2010. They are already buzzing about next year's campfire, horse show, and Saturday night entertainment. They make me laugh.

I don't think they're the only ones planning for next year though. Since the staff is so involved with the spirit of this big event, I dare say they have rushed home to pencil this weekend clinic into their calendars as well.

Manure Pile Madness

This is going to be a quick post because I am writing before school. Wanted to share some of the excitement from last weekend.

On a beautiful blue sky summer weekend, Stacey had a friend come into camp to remove our manure pile. The aromas that filled the air around the barn were what I would call a mixture of fertile and ripe, an aroma that really spiced up the riding lessons I taught on Saturday and Sunday!

It's impossible of course to take all of our pile away because it is nearly 30 years worth of our dumping one wheelbarrow at a time. In fact, Stacey's friend brought a ten wheel truck and took out about 20 loads of wonderful black dirt to rebuild a field on his farm. He said at one point, "I never thought there was this much here!"

Anyway, he used a machine that I would call a backhoe but it was more sophisticated than that and he dug until his heart's content. Only problem was at one point his ten wheeler sunk into the pile - egads! - partly because it was still pretty wet from the wet summer we had. That was quite a sight. I think you'll agree. While this isn't the best photography in the world, it does show you the challenge these guys faced.

Well, getting that truck out of the pile was the adventure of all adventures. But with Stacey driving the truck and his friend operating the big machine, they finally succeeded.

I have to add that the horses handled all this noise and smell really well. Even Jax went into his stall when it was feeding time without flinching. He was a real trooper and that of course gave the horses permission to manage the situation with flying colors. You would have been proud of your four-legged friends.

Caption Contest and Discounts

Okay. So we all know the summer is done figuratively speaking and we are moving on with our lives. School has begun for many or most of you. That means scurrying around for school supplies, getting lockers organized (or rooms depending on whether you're in secondary school or college), and managing schedules again. It also means figuring out teachers, bus routes, homework and extra curricular activities or sports. It's all pretty overwhelming at the start.

On the Sprucelands end, things are in gear for 2010. The theme - Finding Nemo - is a go, and the website has all the new data for camp registrations. Many of you like to get in on the early bird discounts. That's something I want to share.

Check out those discounts on the camp application itself. (Just click on the Fashion Show photo at the right and you'll go to the application.) You will benefit from $30 off each week of camp if you register before September 30th. AND if you are able to pay in full, then you save $50 on each week of camp. That's a real savings that many appreciate. I don't know any other camp 'out there' that offers such discounts.

Also, I want you all to know that I will be sending out a flyer each month to update you on specials, events, things to look forward to, and even contests. I want to make camp more fun this year in the off season.

Something I'm initiating with this blog post is what I call a caption contest. I will post a photo like the photo on this blog post and ask for a quote or caption that you would put with that photo. We could have some fun and it shouldn't take much of your time. Just a one liner. Then a winner will be chosen and there may even be a little prize...like dipping into Jaime's prize box.

So see what you can come up with for today! You can enter your caption as a comment on this blog. Have fun. I miss you all.

A Visit to the Indianapolis Zoo

Last week I had a marvelous break from the busy-ness of summer. I went to see my folks in Indiana and it was restful. I slept and read and wrote on my book and evaluated the summer and slept and read and played.

Wednesday evening we went to something called 'Beef and Board' to have dinner and watch the live production of Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. We explored the quaint Canal Zone of downtown Indianapolis, ate in a restaurant that was a renovated church, and on Saturday we visited the Indianapolis Zoo. The kid in me of course loved the zoo. It was the highlight of my vacation.

Now that isn't a bad week, especially when you stop to think that my mom is 91 and dad is 89. I had to giggle a bit when we went to the zoo because here I was going to the zoo like I was kid, only my parents are all grown up and taking their 63 year old daughter! Didn't matter. We had a ball.

All three of us throughly enjoyed the dolphin show which by the way - in case you go to the Indianapolis Zoo - is very well done. I marvel at how intelligent dolphins are and love that we humans are discovering what they can do.

Later in our day we stopped for lunch and watched the elephants perform. The trainers were clever, kind and loving toward their huge elephant friends. After the show, they invited everyone in the audience to stroke the leathery hide of their new elephant acquaintances and ask questions. No question was a stupid question. Every question was answered.

Now because mom and dad and I had just finished eating lunch from one of the nearby zoo concession stands, we were the last ones out of the arena area. Thoughtfully showing off his pride and joy, one trainer brought his elephant to visit with us and invited the elephant to perform a few of the 50 tricks he is trained to do.

It was awesome. I think if I didn't work with horses, I might want to work with elephants! You're laughing! I can hear you! But you know, those elephants loved being touched by everyone the same way our horses like to be touched. I could feel a connection as I looked in the elephant's eye and realized the trainer was helping his elephant keep the 'stroke bank' full.

So here's a thought. One of our camp safety rules is "Watch your elephants". Maybe we truly should take on some elephants and use them to challenge our advanced riders? Or maybe we could use them as the literal interpretation of the safety rule. Wouldn't it be fun to clean their stall after a night in the barn? You thought you had it bad last summer!

I know some new people won't have a clue about the "Watch your elephants" safety rule. So I'll simply conclude by saying that is our Sprucelands way of alerting riders to keep a big space between their horse and the other horses around them. That way no one gets kicked. Hmmm. I wonder what the horses would think of including an elephant in their ring lessons. Just imagine.

An After Camp Smile

Often when I go to the barn during the year, I see interesting sights. As some of you remember, I put a picture on the website last winter of Madge standing in the middle of a feed ring. Made me laugh and in the end I received all kinds of comments from you.

Well, I want to upload this photo of Laredo. He was intent on coming in for supper and stood at the gate with his halter on upside down and backwards. I couldn't figure out what had kept the halter on his head. He wasn't about to let me figure it out either until I of course had food in my hand.

That was when I discovered he had so many burdock in his forelock that they had wrapped around the halter and firmly secured it in place. Readjusting the halter meant pulling out all those burdock, and for that Laredo was minimally patient. But in the end he made me smile on that day.

I thought I'd share that smile with you at home. Julie, enjoy! I know the photo is a little dark, but you can pretty much see the off-the-ear halter fashion of the moment. Go ahead and chuckle. Feels good to chuckle about a silly horse as you are deciding what your goals will be for this busy day of yours.