Tuesday, February 12, 2019

Counting down for spring!

Hello from Hoofbeat!
We wanted to give everyone an update on what we've been up to at camp. In between snow and ice storms over the last few weeks, we've had several UW groups out for retreats, a camp fair in Illinois, and Ted has been busy hiring staff for the summer.
The weather has been interesting to say the least. We got a couple of pretty good snowstorms and had snow piles that looked like small mountains all around camp. 
With the temperatures bouncing around and a little rain in the mix, we've had the horses in the barn quite a bit. The last time we let them out (after being in for 3 days straight), it was like a circus! There were horses running everywhere, bucking, snorting, and being wild. Even our 4 oldest mares did laps around their pasture. When they act like that, you'd never know that they can be well mannered enough to carry the youngest of our campers around on trails and for lessons! But to be fair, they have not been ridden since December and they've been getting corn (which makes them extra wild!).

The ice made things a little rough for feeding - we're really glad that our feed truck has chains on all of the tires. One of the crew that was out feeding and shall remain nameless , was seen sliding down a short hill (on his posterior) and under a gate with some hay. When asked what happened, he replied, "Well I started to slide, so I just sat down." Our miniature ponies reportedly took off after spooking at the large person sliding down the hill toward their pasture. Once they realized he had their breakfast  they came trotting back.
So, if you've ever wondered what life is like at Hoofbeat in the winter……now you know!
We are counting down the days until spring. It'll be nice to see the leaves on the trees and the horses out in their pastures eating grass again!