We've said this before, but seriously -- horses rock. We love our horses here at the Ranch. It's amazing to watch kids gain confidence, learn patience, and open their hearts to what horses can teach us. Plus, working with horses is good exercise, and frankly... it's fun!

So we're doing something new in our horse program this fall. Once a month, we dedicate a Saturday to something our Barn Manager, Amy, likes to call "wrangler mentorship". Basically, it's horsemanship training and it's mentorship, and it's lots of fun.

Last Saturday, two of our young summer staff came out to spend the day with us. They had a riding lesson where they were able to get more in depth teaching than they had as summer volunteers at camp. One of them even loped for the first time. They also got a lesson on harnessing, hitching and driving our team of Belgian horses, Pearl and Bea. 

These wrangler mentorship days are a chance for us to connect with the staff outside of summer camp, teach them more about horses, and give them the chance to improve their riding and horsemanship skills. That way, when they come to work at camp next year, they can be even more confident in their skills and will be able to pass their knowledge on to the next crop of young volunteers.

If you were on staff this year and are interested in learning more about horses and coming out to one of our wrangler mentorship Saturdays, contact Amy by emailing horses@birchbayranch.com!