Last week there was a camper who was so excited to take Farm Discovery clinic that he brought overalls and mud boots with him. I mean, how cute is that!!! It made me so happy that our animals mean so much to others. By happy, I mean I had legit tears.
This week I have a camper that, for whatever reason, gets along with Clifford in such a way that he is the happiest horse out there. He's been a little reluctant to move lately and takes much encouragement from us as the instructor. We walked into the arena yesterday and after little Amelia gets on and walks around a while, we decide to get ready to trot and I get ready to help her along. Much to my absolute delight, he picks up the trot right away and is licking his lips the entire time, meaning how much he is enjoying his rider. Little Amelia knows little about horses and I don't know if she totally understood my excitement but I think she understood enough that it was a good thing and it had to give her confidence. I mean do you see the joy from this child just pouring out of her?!
Last week I had the opportunity to hear about a couple of my counselors who are getting what camp is all about. They are letting God work in them and through them. Through the hot, weary, exhausting days they are taking the time to intentionally connect with children. 
And lastly I got an email from a parent that summed up in words the feelings I've been having lately. I've had a lot of horseless horse fanatical kids this summer. They know very little but their passion is there. I had been wanting to encourage my counselors to keep speaking instruction in love and patience, even though they've been saying the same things for 7 weeks already. I wanted them to remember what it was like to be a kid and have an obsession with horses but to live in suburbia and have no outlet. Your excitement and joy is there but the knowledge and ability is not. Patience is required so you don't squash their enthusiasm but as you instruct, don't forget that in their excitement, they won't remember everything. This parent wrote in about their horse crazy child who was born to supportive parents with no horse experience whatsoever and they live in suburbia and how they've been combing through the pictures posted on the website every day and how this upcoming week was going to be almost magical for their daughter. (No pressure!) She was delighted that we as staff were willing to share our expertise with campers. Thanks Mom! That's exactly what I was trying to convey to my staff. Way to put it into words! Trust me, we'll do our very best to give her the most memorable experience ever. We'll do our best to give her a strong foundation of riding and horse experience. We'll keep her safe as best we can and help her to have loads of fun. It's the same thing we try to do every week but you can bet I'll be keeping my eye on her this next week! To have a mom take the time to write in and encourage us....thanks Mom!! And there you have it....our end of summer heart warming moments.
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