Trail pace Saturday at Sprucelands.

Trail pace winners: Rose and Kristin on Toby and Audi. Hurray!

Wrapping up the first week means telling you about our trail pace on Saturday. That event is always BIG in the life of a Sprucelands camper and staff member. In fact, the trail rides that we have done across the week were in preparation for the trail pace on Saturday.

So for those of you who know nothing about a trail pace, let me explain. Riders are matched with a partner. Two at a time they go out on a marked trail with the challenge to follow the markers and return safely to camp.

To insure the trail is adequate, I personally arrange the markers and in addition, we place three adults with walkie-talkies at check-points along the trail to insure no one gets lost. Those adults are also support to the paired riders, making sure they are headed in the right direction.

Every horse is fly sprayed and tack is adjusted. We are safe here.

You may be wondering whether anyone wins the trail pace. The answer is yes because we time each pair of riders from when they leave the barn area to when they return. And to expand the opportunity for more winners, we also ask each pair to guess how long they will take on their ride. That way there is the joy of winning in actual time and/or earning a place in the 'guesstimate' time.

Now here's the catch. The three winners in actual time are not those who go fastest. They are those who come closest to the AVERAGE time of all riders. So if someone goes fast, they do not place in the trail pace. Our goal by taking the average time is to slow everyone down, keeping the ride safe and pleasant for every level rider. What I love about the trail pace is that often pairs of riders place who are not our most advanced riders.

Chores are tackled in teams.

While riders wait for their turn to go out on the well organized ride, they are busy around the barn. In fact, there's a lot going on during trail pace. Stalls get cleaned. Horses get lots of attention as they are groomed and tacked up, then later untacked and groomed again. Everyone works as a team, watering and haying the horses or putting them out in turnout areas after their rides are complete.

Our thought for the day at breakfast in the morning was: Appreciate your horses today. Do what you can to let them know they are special because they have worked hard this first week of camp and they are as tired as you are. Treat them like you are applauding their efforts to teach you well.

Tori kisses Toby. I think they are in love.

I was an observer during the trail pace, watching and snapping photos as our trail pace teams mounted. Like a pit crew in a car race, helpers sprayed horses with fly spray, adjusted girths and made sure stirrups were adjusted evenly. They also looked over the saddle and bridle well, checking that everything was fitted correctly. This is all part of the procedure before anyone at Sprucelands goes out on a trail. We work hard with safety for riders and horses.

Riders started from a check point and returned to that check point. While out on the ride, they were supposed to talk about what Toy Story character they would want to be, and why. That gave everyone a topic for conversation in case they needed to relax or wanted to get to know each other better.

I enjoyed watching the kids love their horses. Some patted their happy steed or talked to them. Others simply stood by them with a hand on their neck. When mounted, several lay down to hug their horse around the neck. This would often happen after their successful ride. Then there were those who kissed their lazy horses on the nose, a genuine kiss because they love the horse that is teaching them so much.

Often the horses will give a hug back. Here Danny hugs Hannah.

At a horse show last year, a father said to me, "This is all so interesting. You are doing nothing here. You take pictures and the kids run the whole show." I remember him being truly amazed.

The same is true for the trail pace. We adults have taught these young people well. They know the routines. They genuinely care for each other, teaching solid, safe skills. Everyone is independent and assumes the responsibility that we give them.

It makes me proud because our riders grow on the ground and in the saddle. They become balanced in every way because their partnership with each other and the horses is unique. As I think about it, that's really what Sprucelands is all about: learning, independence, responsibility, safety, and balance. Wish I had such a wonderful experience with horses when I was a kid!

I welcome any comments you may want to share.