CAMP CURRICULUM 

TYPICAL CAMP LEVELS

A specific curriculum is in place for each level of camper, and at the end of each camp session, we award certificates of merit to each camper for mastering the skills. Past the curiculum listed below, campers will learn leadership and team building skills as they are challenged by team activities, through this process they will better discover the person they are and the leader they are becoming.

Beginner-Level Curriculum Goals

Campers will learn:

·      The parts of the saddle

·       The parts of the bridle

·       Five major parts of the horse

·       Three riding aids

·       Basic grooming equipment used on a horse

·       The five basic coat colors

·       How to tell when a horse is adequately "cooled out"

 Campers will be able to demonstrate:

·       The proper way to approach a stabled horse

·       How to groom and tack up, including picking up and cleaning hooves

·       The correct way to lead a horse

·       Mounting and dismounting techniques

·       Walking, posting a trot, and halting

·       Riding a figure 8

·       Mucking out a stall

·       Haltering and un-haltering

·       How to properly turn out a horse

Intermediate-Level Curriculum Goals

Campers will learn: 

·       The basic difference between good and poor conformation

·       Basic horse rations

·       Inoculations that horses must have annually

·       How to take a horse's temperature

·       Ground Work Exercises

·       Two major parasites affecting horses and how to prevent them

·       The step sequence for the walk, trot, canter, and gallop

·       Bareback Riding

·       The aids used to ask a horse for the right and left leads

Campers will be able to demonstrate: 

·       Bathing a horse

·       Pulling a mane

·       How to disassemble, clean, and reassemble a saddle and bridle

·       First aid for minor horse cuts

·       How to band a mane

·       How to give and accept leg up

·       Riding a figure 8 and a serpentine

·       Posting on the correct diagonal and cantering on the correct lead

·       Riding safely on the trail

·       Posting to the trot without stirrups

·       Bending and counter bending

·       Riding Games (Horse Soccer, Barrel Pattern, Poles)

Advanced-Level Curriculum Goals

Campers will learn: 

·       Ten parts of the horse's muscles system

·       About floating teeth

·       The gestation period of a mare

·       How many teeth horses have

·       The age at which a junior rider loses junior status

·       How many hands high is a small, medium, and large pony

·       Four color breeds

·       The official birthday of horse breeds

·       To identify a splint, a wind puff, and a bowed tendon

·       The initial treatment for colic

·       The amount of water horses require daily

Campers will be able to demonstrate:  

·       Proper care for a tail

·       Fitting a bridle and saddle

·       Treatment for thrush & treatment for abscesses

·       Good Equitation

·       Advanced lounging & ground working a horse

·       Turning on the haunches

·       Demonstrating a Horsemanship Pattern correctly

·       Working through a trail pattern

·       Simple lead changes

·       Turning on the forehand