Description

DATES:  March 29th, 2024

TIME: 10:00am – 3:00pm

AGES: 7 years old and under

THIS CAMP IS FOR: Beginner/Novice riders under the age of 7. There is no specific minimum age, however, the kiddos must at least be old enough to be potty trained and able to go to the bathroom independently. Once they hit that milestone they’re generally independent enough to handle a day at the barn and the activities that are involved. 🙂

SPACE IS EXTREMELY LIMITED to allow for a personalized experience for all riders and our website will automatically show as “sold out” as soon as we hit our maximum, so don’t hesitate to reserve your spot! You MUST secure payment to reserve your spot. These camps often fill up weeks in advance, so register quickly!

 

This camp is the PERFECT setting for younger kiddos to spend time in a barn with tons of hands-on learning opportunities and time spent with both miniature horses AND full-size horses. They start the day learning how to care for the various animals around the farm, including feeding and watering horses, goats, chickens, ducks, donkeys, and potbelly pigs. Then, they will spend the remainder of the day handling miniature horses from the ground and riding full-size horses.

We have found that interacting with the miniature horses (grooming and leading) helps even the timidest and nervous children to come out of their shells and feel more comfortable so they are prepared to try riding later with the full-size horses!

It would be very hard to find another camp that offers more ride time than we do! Our horses are SAFE and experienced, and they are ready to take care of your kiddos in any riding situation!

Not only will each camper get the opportunity to ride, learn, and have fun, but they will also be able to enjoy spending fun days on a farm that is home to many horses, ponies, donkeys, goats, chickens, ducks and a mini pigs!

Our main instructor is barn owner and head riding instructor Mary Sansevere.  She offers a lifetime of riding experience and is so excited for another great season of horse camps at the family farm. She is assisted by numerous camp leaders who are all experienced and knowledgeable riders and most of them were horse camp kiddos here when they were younger. We typically have a camp leader assigned to just 1-2 kids each to help watch them and make sure they have a safe and fun experience at our farm.

PLEASE NOTE:  Parents do not stay for the horse camp day. Once your child has been checked in, we ask that parents leave until pick-up time at 3:00 pm.

If this is your first horse camp experience with us, we completely understand your hesitation to just drop off your little one and leave! Rest assured, however, that we do work very hard and are so happy to provide a safe and well-supervised experience for your kiddos to enjoy a day at the farm.

We pair up the young ones with older mentors/camp leaders, and they are all supervised and instructed by adults that are very experienced with horses, camps, and lessons. Your kiddos are in good hands here! We have found that from past experience from doing many of these camps the kids tend to focus better, learn better, and have even more fun even without their parents are not around. When their parents are present, they tend to only focus on them and seem much more anxious about trying anything new, and do not pay attention to their instructors or activities.

This makes it very difficult for us to do our job and we find that parents generally won’t get their money’s worth. We do take LOTS of photos and videos to document their day here so you will get a great look at what they were up to after camp! It’s also disruptive to other youngsters to see other parents present, but not their own — they often question why their mom isn’t there, but someone else’s is.

We completely respect your decision if you feel that your kiddo isn’t quite ready for a day at the farm without mom or dad, but we encourage you to try doing a one-hour small group lesson in a shorter time format instead of a full camp day like this. You can email us at enchantedhollowstables@gmail.com to inquire about getting on the lesson schedule!

We require ASTM / SEI certified equestrian riding helmets to be worn in all riding lessons and horse camps. You can purchase a helmet at any Tractor Supply, Runnings, Fleet Farm, Dover Saddlery, and most country stores as well. We really like the brands Troxel and Ovation for their quality and affordability, but really whatever is most comfortable for your child and certified will work! They are much safer and designed for higher impact than any other type of helmet. We do have a couple on hand that kids can borrow but cannot guarantee that we will have enough or one that fits your child, and a properly fitted helmet is required for all riding activities. It’s best for your child’s safety that you get them their own so you can ensure that they have a properly fitted helmet!

Please print out our waiver and bring it signed on the day of the camp.

WHAT TO BRING:

• Waiver printed and signed
• Sturdy boot or shoe with a heel to ride in
• Rain boots, just in case it gets cold and muddy!
• Old jeans or riding pants that you don’t mind getting dirty!
• Extra layers (sweatshirt, jacket, extra socks, gloves, etc.)
• Warm/waterproof jacket in case it is rainy and we are outside
• ASTM / SEI Certified Riding Helmet
• Lunch
• Water Bottle
• Snack
• A good attitude!

 

WHAT TO EXPECT:

EQUINE EDUCATION: We will take time to discuss equine feed and nutrition, how much hay a horse eats per day, and other types of food horses eat and need.

FARM CHORES: They will learn about about cleaning horse stalls top to bottom, re-filling water buckets, re-filling hay nets and preparing grain and supplements for each horse and pony for the next feeding.

GROOMING: They will learn to properly use each grooming tool and groom a horse from top to bottom.

RIDING EDUCATION:

• They will learn (or review if they already know) how to tack up their horse or pony.
• How to get on and off your horse safely.
• Asking your horse or pony to stop, go, turn and back up.
• Learning an “emergency stop” and the situations that may require it.
• Working on the gait transitions. Walk, trot, canter (if ready), and whoa.
• Going over/through obstacles
• Fun obstacles will also be set up to ride over and through in order to challenge their hand and eye coordination and bond more with their horse or pony.
• We will set up games and activities to be played from horseback to promote skill development while also having fun!
• Trail riding (weather permitting)