Session three is here and the girls are having a blast at East Valley Ranch! The past two days have been full of games, activities and of course….HORSES! After all of the girls were dropped off on Sunday and all of the decorations for the yurts were set up we went for a tour of EVR. The girls got to see where everything was and get an idea of how things would work before dinner. After that it was time for showers before our very special evening activity planned for the night- OPENING CAMPFIRE! Sitting around the fire the girls all talked about what they were most excited for and what their goals for the next two weeks are. After that it was time to make s’mores over the fire and enjoy our yummy treat! Then talents were shared with the group and everything from singing and dancing to Donald Duck sounds bounced around the campfire. We even had a few staff members and campers pull out guitars to have some sing along songs! It was an eventful night leaving everyone to rush to bed excited for Monday morning.
When the girls woke up in the morning to head to flag raising there was no doubt that all of the girls were excited for their EVALUATION RIDES! During breakfast it was all anyone could talk about because they knew just after that we would all be headed to the barn for the day. The girls were split into three groups, done by yurt. So while one yurt was doing their evaluation ride, the other groups were going through grooming and tacking, leading and tying as well as barn rules and introductions to the horses! It was a busy, busy, fun filled morning down at the barn, and the evaluation rides went amazingly!
After each yurt had a chance to do everything down at the barn it was time for lunch, followed by rest hour. A game was played quickly and then it was time to head back to the barn to turn out all of the horses to the field and do chores! To cool off we decided to surprise the girls with a hay wagon ride down to the farm to go swimming! The waterfront at the farm is a natural water hole and the girls got to splash around and laugh after a long day at the barn, it was so much fun! We got back to East Valley Ranch just in time for dinner! Evening program was paper bag skits and the girls did an AWESOME job! All of the girls were split up into five different groups and each group got a bag filled with random props. They had to come up with a skit using every item in the bag and then preform it for everyone else. It was so funny! The girls enjoyed it so much that we ended up doing it a second time, but without any dialogue so we all had to guess what was going on!
This morning after Yurt 5 wrangled, brought the horses in to the barn, everyone met at flag raising to celebrate what they had enjoyed the day before and to hear a ‘Pearl of Wisdom’, our inspirational quote of the day. Breakfast went quickly as all of the girls were excited for the news that followed the meal….who their horses and instructors are! Today all of the girls are riding their horses for the first time, and everyone is excited to meet them! Half of the girls went down to the barn right after breakfast to groom and tack their horses before riding. The other half are out doing their ground lesson on Parts of the Horse, followed by arts and crafts!! After lunch and rest hour the groups will flip flop so the girls who haven’t yet been down to the barn will go there for their lessons and the other group will do their ground lesson and craft! All of the girls will then meet up for turnout and chores before it’s dinner time! The evening activity for tonight is a NIGHT HIKE! It’s going to be so much fun, with games and some beautiful spots on the way!
It’s been a fun-filled, action packed first few days and we’re so excited to see more!
WE <3 EVR!
