Horse Camp

Berkeley went to a weekend of horse camp along with 3 other little girls who were all equally excited to be around horses.  I was a little nervous taking her because I knew she'd be very shy since it was a new environment with new people and I knew there was no way they'd allow me to get on the horse with her.  She clung to me and wouldn't let me leave her side for the first 30 minutes or so and I could tell the instructors were getting irritated.  They told me that the parents drop their children off and then return for the last 45 minutes to watch them ride.  I explained very politely that I do not have the type of child that gets "dropped off" and that it wasn't an option due to her extreme shyness/anxiety.  I could definitely see that she would be better off without me there and would get more out of it if I was gone so I told her I left my coat out in the car and was freezing and wanted to go get it.  I told her I would come back.  It wasn't a lie...I really was freezing and I did want to get my coat out of the car, but I sat in the car and read and didn't go back until 11:00 when they would be riding.  When I went back to the barn she was brushing her horse "Chocolate" and getting him all tacked up.  She was so cute with him and he was the sweetest horse there.  The instructors said they match up each horse to each rider's personality and I think Berk got the sweetest, most gentle little guy there.  She wanted to take him home with her.  So did I!  They played red light, green light in the arena and she and Chocolate won the game.  She was thrilled with her horse and still talks about him.  She would love to do horse camp every weekend and I would love for her to be able to do it.  She has a few more riding lessons coming up that she doesn't know about yet so that will be fun to tell her.  I love how much she loves animals.  I, too, love animals so much.  I think they are one of the best things God put on this earth for our enjoyment!