It's Horse Camp 2025

 

I used to show up at this house several times a week when I was about the same age as most of the riders you see in today's photos. 

Usually, I was walking or riding my bike from our farm about half a mile away----same place on Boyer with the big hangars which stand in what was once our hay field.

My friend Susie lived in that red house on the northeast corner of the Bonner County Fairgrounds. 

She had an old, white gelding named Major.  I rode a bay Saddlebred/Morgan mare named Largo. 

We did most of our riding in the evenings.  Susie's parents (her dad worked in Sandpoint for the U.S. Forest Service) knew very little about horses.  

Mine knew a lot, and there were rules to follow when Susie and I would get together with our two horses. 

No running on the road was the big one.  

Well, Susie probably had stronger leadership skills than I did, so with her urging, we often ran our horses on the roads---but not until we had left our place and were on the back road which was hidden from parent view by a woods. 

Upon coming home and turning the corner onto Boyer Road, I would get off and clean the lather off from Largo's legs so the parents wouldn't notice that she had been going faster than a walk. 

Yes, we ran them and we even raced them at the old rodeo grounds on Baldy Road.  It's now Interstate Paving. 

One time Susie and I decided to race around the rodeo grounds arena, starting off in opposite directions.

 Largo must have been a race horse in her past life because she never wanted to allow other horses to beat her. 

I think she won the arena race, but that was after I fell off when she made a sharp and fast turn. So, she crossed the finish line riderless.

Susie lived in Sandpoint for five years, and then our daily fun ended when her dad was transferred to Missoula. 

Susie found ways over her lifetime to maintain her love of horses.  She has done dressage. She has done reining.  Most of all, she trail rides in the Colorado Rockies where she lives. 

I also found ways to maintain my love of horses--- nothing very special, just loving the horses, riding them occasionally, always loving when they run free in the fields and perform and, of course, paying the bills.   

I'm happy to report that our friendship has continued through all those years since the good ol' days when I'd walk or ride down to Susie's house, and we'd figure out what we were gonna do next. 

I could not help but feel a bit nostalgic yesterday when I passed that house and remembered the good times with a good friend and our respective 4-legged friends. 

It was neat to spend some time at horse camp, which is running this week at the Bonner County Fairgrounds. 

I don't know how many years the camp has been going, but I do know that over the years, the annual event for 4-H'ers and their horses has added a little more polish and sophistication to its offerings each year. 

I learned yesterday that more than 70 young horse lovers, their families and their clinicians  have come together for the week of instructional classes, camping and fun. 

As soon as I parked, my focus was drawn to the north end of the outdoor arena where a ranch class called sorting was about to happen. 

There were calves in a pen off to the west, and an instructor was waiting on his Quarter Horse for teams of two to enter the arena and sort out a calf with whatever number the instructor called out. 

I learned about dirty calves and clean calves, which is not literal.  They all looked pretty clean, but I think those to be sorted are the clean calves and those who offer the challenges to sorting are the dirty calves. 

I want to check more on this definition to make sure, so don't quote me. 

I was most impressed when the instructor Lucas Reid, who has some polo experience under his belt, stopped the sorting for a minute to talk about how important equitation and general horsemanship is for the riders.  

What's learned in those disciplines applies to practical use in sorting, i.e. your hands need to be low and quiet and your leg muscles need to work hard to push the horse. 

Lots of dust was flying in the arena as the pairs of riders came in and worked individually to sort their calf from the herd and drive it through a gate. 

And, there were popsicles!  

It was a hot day. I was concentrating with my camera when suddenly I heard, "Popsicle?"

The adults were making sure that participants were staying hydrated, and I'm sure there were plenty of reminders throughout the day to do the same for the horses. 

I had fun watching and visiting and taking pictures. Some of the kids involved live right here in the neighborhood so it was fun to see them in action. 

Horse camp lasts all week, and I hope to have an opportunity to stop by and see what else is going on with those 70-plus kids and their horses. 

It's like a trip back into my own early horse days, and it's fun. Plus, I can say with confidence that the bond among kids and their horses will likely last a lifetime. 

Happy Tuesday.  Stay cool.