The “useless critters” all wintered well. The mini horses and donkeys have massive coats, even Timmy is very hairy. This winter when the weather was very bad, Timmy curled up under the feeder in the donkey pen and waited it out. Wilma basically hibernated though the winter in her house under the heat light but is making up for it now. As the girls, Angie & Erica, are feeding grain to the horses after their ride, she is doing the entire cleanup. She is always under foot but the horses just tolerate her.

We have been using the Jenny Craig (pony) field for the hard to keep Thoroughbreds for the winter. Adam, Newman, Cody, Oliver, and Banner have spent the winter in there and have been eating non stop and actually came out looking almost fat for a change. Marilyn snuck in a few times as she never seems to get enough food. Maybe she thinks it is spring already as we usually have her in there when the grass starts growing.

A little about the staff. I am just in the process of selecting the staff and just thought I would let you know who will be coming back. Angie and Erica are once again teaching. Danielle, Amelie, Andrea, Ali will be coming back for sure and the rest of the staff should be selected in the next week. I have been bombarded with resumes and it is going to be a tough task. I will update you once I finish the selections.

I have been reading a lot about why horses are great for kids. Watching all the students here each summer get their work out proves that horses can keep you fit while having fun. There is so much publicity about children not getting enough exercise. I must say that riding and caring for a horse is quite a work out. Starting with the hike from the clubhouse to the barn to get the halter and lead rope, hiking to the paddock to get your horse, back to the barn for tack up, vigorous grooming, stretching to put the bridle on, carrying the saddle and lifting it up the horse, then walking to the riding ring. Of course that is just the beginning, as the real workout is in the ring during the riding lesson. After the lesson it is a repeat of what was done before the riding and then the dreaded paddock cleaning and pushing that heavy wheelbarrow up onto the manure truck. As you can see riding offers both aerobic and strength-building benefits. All this brings me to a tax benefit for the parents who have children in camps promoting exercise. I have just heard a little bit about it but apparently it will be implemented for 2007 with the sport camps being tax deductible. Check with your accountant and if only the children are reading this article, mention it to your parents. Maybe you will be able to spend more time at camp.

In closing I would like to thank all of you for all the positive feedback I have been receiving from the evaluation part of the web site. Also if you have comments, negative or positive, regarding the new web site let us know.

I will let you know final staff selection shortly and once all the horses have done their shedding I will finish up “meet the horses” on the web site.

Hilda

 

Hello everyone,

It has been quite some time since my last update, and I know I should really update more often, but during the winter months there is not too much to report as we are just maintaining and trying to keep warm.

We are gearing up for another great season. At this point our camps are about ½ full, some weeks are almost filled to capacity and others not so. There are always a few weeks in July that are more popular. I am seeing a lot of familiar names and then again lots of new campers. So far the furthest away is coming from Italy and Hong Kong and the southern United States as well as Whitehorse.

Since my last update, I have some bad news and some good. First the good news…more horses. We bought 3 more since November. Kiddo is an Arabian gelding, grey, or white as I like to say as he really is white, and Reiny a liver chestnut part Quarter horse. We picked them up from a ranch that has been sold, and they will make great horses for the not so confident riders. Another grey was purchased as well named Carley. No papers but apparently ½ thoroughbred. She will be used for all levels from intermediate to advanced. The bad news is we lost a couple of horses that were well known and loved by all. Persia and Shilo are no longer with us and did not make the winter. We will always remember them for the patience they had with all the different and inexperienced riders. They will be remembered by many students.

The snow is finally gone and the green grass is peeking through. The horses have already discovered it and are pawing to get at it. I am going to try to show Aspengrove at all seasons. I have taken some pictures in the winter which I am including. You will see the paddock area, manure truck, riding rings and a few of the horses on top of the hill. I am planning to take some more once the leaves come out and the fields get green.

We have just started our spring riding and conditioning program. Angie and Erica are hard at it. Each horse takes about an hour, 40 minutes grooming and 20 minutes riding. Once they shed out, it takes 20 minutes of grooming and 40 minutes riding.