Phew! Back from camp. GMHA Junior Horsemanship Camp was an exhausting experience. We rode for a combined total of nearly three hours during the day. We typically did flat and/or jumping every day. My camp trainer’s name was Olivia. She probably had the most fun out of all of us in the group, frankly, because she didn’t have to work that hard. She could just sit in the shade and tell us what to do…especially when we were jumping. The temperatures were steaming almost every day. I did soak Punky in the stream daily.

At camp we had to take care of our ponies and horses; feed them morning and night, clean stalls, keep our areas clean and raked, and make sure our tack was very clean. During our lessons and when we took our ponies for a walk, the expectation was that there were no shavings whatsoever, on the ponies.

I worked on folding on the front of the jump and leaning back and giving on the downside of the jump, especially when they were downhill, balancing him right away, on landing. I also learned some supplying exercises and I learned how to communicate with my legs better, to Punky.

In the middle of camp, there was a horse trial. In dressage, Sue Berrill, my trainer, was the judge and she gave me a 40.5, (event score).She told me I was very accurate and I have been working tirelessly on that. Stadium; I was almost finished with a clear round until I was getting cocky and let down my guard, and he stopped at the last fence. Cross country was a stellar experience. I had a clear round and after the last fence I started pumping my hand like a jockey.  I came in second in my division.

On the second to last day our trainer had us play some games. We played tennis ball and spoon races, slalom poles that had to weave around, cup and ball races and more. Punky thought the tennis ball was an apple so when I refused to give it to him, he got angry and he bucked. I didn’t come off, but I only had one hand on the reins, because I was holding the spoon and tennis ball in the other. I kept the tennis ball balanced; probably all the experience I have gained from the li’l guy bucking, rearing, you name it, he has done it.  We won that game.

I made a lot of new friends. One of them even joked to me that more people know Punky than know me. And, that probably played a big part in me getting the “Bell Wood” annual award. It’s given to the camper who exhibits a strong bond with their pony and made camp special for everyone. All in all, Punky and I had fun at camp and can’t wait until next year.

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