D & D Ranch

🐴 Week 4, Day 2 at Horse Camp! 🐴

Today was all about taking the reins! The kids learned how to lead a horse all by themselves. We started off by watching an instructional video to understand the basics. From there, everyone practiced ground driving — a great way for the kids to get a feel for controlling the horse without having to worry about balance just yet!

After a couple of practice rounds, they were ready to saddle up and try it for real. We are so proud to say that everybody did a fantastic job with very minimal struggling! The horses understood the kids clearly, and there was absolutely great communication between everyone. 🥰🐴

After everyone finished their rides, we kept the fun going with a game of musical chairs! 🎶🪑

Once the game wrapped up, it was time to roll up our sleeves. The kids all worked together to tackle some real farm chores — scrubbing feed buckets and water buckets, sweeping the floors, picking up trash, and of course, my personal favorite… picking out manure from the paddocks! 😄 I think it’s safe to say that after today, the kids have a whole new appreciation for just how much physical labor goes into running this farm on a daily basis. They were absolute troopers!

Now that we have the basics down, tomorrow we’ll make things just a little more challenging! We can’t wait to see what they accomplish next. Stay tuned! ✨

11 kids. 😮‍💨 i’m ready for what chaos today brings! 💪

I can’t believe we are already an entire month into summer camp! The farm has been so busy with kids running around—it’s truly an organized chaos, and we love every minute of it.

We started our Monday just like we always do: with introductions and a safety video. Whether you’ve been with us since day one or it’s your very first day, we always do this. It’s a great refresher for everyone to ensure we all stay safe and have fun.

Today was also lead line day, which is our Monday tradition. Before a child can direct and steer a horse on their own, they need to be balanced and comfortable in a saddle. That is exactly what our day one exercises focus on. After we finished all of our rides, the kids helped care for the horses by untacking and hosing each one off to cool them down.

From there, the kids were able to take a well-deserved break and enjoy some lunch. The break didn’t last long, though, as we jumped right into playing a couple of games! We had a blast with a feed bag race, where the kids had to hop around in feed bags and race through an obstacle course. We also played some kickball to keep the energy up.

At 2:00 PM, my assistant riding instructor, Amy, came over on her horse, Magic, to do a riding demonstration. Amy showed the group the basics—walk, trot, and canter—and then answered all the great questions the kids had. A huge thank you to Amy and Magic for coming out and taking time out of your day to show the kids the correct way to ride!

After Amy and Magic headed out, the kids had a few more moments to continue their kickball game before it was time to feed the horses their dinner.

Overall, it was a highly successful day full of wonderful chaos. We can’t wait for the rest of week four!