Thursday, August 11, 2011

Thursday, Aug. 11th

We are having a fun, activity-filled day at Hoofbeat.

Everyone got to roast s'mores in Nature, and then sit in the cool gazebo to eat them and tell stories.
The choice activity was "giants, wizards and elves."
For riding, the girls got to try trail riding...

...and riding English!

We did our traditional tie-dye for arts and crafts.



In sports, everyone played with water balloons and did a water balloon toss. It was fun to try and get the counselors wet too.

We are sad that tomorrow will be the last day of camp!

Wednesday, August 10, 2011

Wednesday, Aug. 10th

We continued the trend of great weather on Wednesday!

Yesterday, a picture of each girl was taken while they were riding. Today in arts and crafts, they got to make a picture frame for that photo.
In nature, everyone made bird feeders out of bird seed and peanut butter.

Since everyone was doing so well in riding, they got to try trotting.

Rosie trots all the way down the rail.

Horse fun was hands-on as the girls all made horse feet with cookies and then learned about horse hoof care. Some groups were even able to watch a farrier trim some of the horses' hooves.


Tuesday, August 9, 2011

Adopt-A-Horse Week, Aug. 8-12

It is the last week of camp for the 2011 summer season! We are having a lot of fun so far and are enjoying the perfect weather today.

In arts and crafts, everyone made "bubble art" which could also double as great stationary!
Everyone is also working on improving their riding skills.

For horse fun, Holly teaches a lesson about how to lead a horse properly.


And then everyone gets a chance to practice.

It was a blast to play "spud" in sports.


"Celebrity animal" made a great nature game!




Here are a couple photos from Monday:

Everyone played "horses and duckflies" (like sharks and minnows) in sports.

The campers also played several get-to-know-you name games.

The craft project was making cool horse head paper bags.

We are looking forward to the rest of the week!

Monday, August 8, 2011

Thursday Aug. 4th and Friday Aug. 5th

We had a great end to the week at Hoofbeat!

On Thursday everyone got to try riding bareback. It was a good way to practice balancing.

Everyone also got to take a trail ride, and it was fun to try something different than riding in the riding.

Holly and Nina teach a horse science lesson outside the barn.
Our special guest on Thursday was an Australian Shepard pup named Lexie.



Thursday was also tie-dye day and the shirts looked great!

On Friday we took an afternoon trip to Peck's near Arena, WI.

At Peck's we got to take a wagon ride pulled by two draft horses-Dolly and Molly.


Peck's also had a train ride.


The train ride took us all around Peck's and we got to see all their different animals.

Peck's had lots of birds, and even an emu!



Everyone got corn they could use to feed the animals-included goats, pigs, a calf, deer, a donkey and many others.

The baby goats were so cute!

The bounce house was a hit too.



Thanks for a great small animal week everyone!

Thursday, August 4, 2011

Wednesday Aug. 3rd

On Wednesday we got to meet another small animal guest: Huey the hedgehog!


Everyone was very quiet as Huey made his way around the room. Hedgehogs don't have very good eyesight so they are wary of loud noises.
Huey's spines, which are made of keratin, felt really cool.


Everyone got to pick which horse they wanted to ride, and also got to trot!

In arts and crafts, the campers made art with "fuse beads." That's a lot of beads!

Tuesday, August 2, 2011

Tuesday, August 2nd

Tuesday was a hot and busy day!

Everyone learned about horse teeth, and even got to eat marshmallows as a part of the activity!
Playing water games was a great way to cool off in the afternoon.

Riding was still fun, even in the heat.

Our special guest was Punky the cat.

Punky helped teach everyone about cats, including cat history, cat care, and some interesting cat facts.

After lunch, all the counselors helped face (or hand) paint the campers.

What a beautiful butterfly!

In arts and crafts, tissue paper and wax paper were used to make "stained glass fish tanks."

Everyone is looking forward to meeting tomorrows small animal guest.

Monday, August 1, 2011

Small Animal Week, Aug. 1-5

It's horse and small animal week at Hoofbeat! We are excited to learn about horses and different kinds of small animals.

Riding is always one of the highlights of the day.
On Monday, everyone worked on steering, starting and stopping, and their body position.


The Morgans played "Katie says" to help practice basic riding skills, but it was fun too.

"Katie says touch your helmet!"

"Toxic River" was the game of the day in sports.

Teamwork and balance are necessary skills for this game!

Our special small animal guest today was Hoofbeat's three resident goats!

Each group learned all about different kinds of goats, and then got to play with the three dairy goats.

Arts and crafts also had a small animal theme as each camper made different kinds of animals out of paper plates.



We are looking forward to an animal-filled week!