2012 DAY CAMPS

We had a great summer here at HHH.  Our day camps were a great success!  It was great fun for us just as much as the kids.  We did have a couple of HOT days but that didn’t put a dent in our fun — we gave the horses baths, put them away and turned on the sprinklers in the arena for our own fun.  Looking forward to seeing many of the kids next summer again if the feed back we got is any indication.  Thanks to all the kids, parents and especially our camp helpers—we couldn’t have done it without you and some great horses here @ HHH!

SPECIAL OLYMPICS

Last year went so well with our nine athletes that we expanded our Special Olympics Equestrian program to 12 athletes this year.  We also added several new horses to the program as well.  The return of Laura’s big Appaloosa, Sierra, from another program was our gain and was great for Ryan, Tina and Daniel. A big Thanks goes to Jim & Lu Neary for donating six horses to our program.  Zoey, a pretty little 25YO Bay Arab mare, was a perfect match for Meaghan’s smiling face.  Ian clicked with Chino, a 13YO stocky Palamino QH mare.  Bo, one of our senior horses from the Westwind herd, had some history with Taylor.  Of course Angel and JR returned this year for Max, Kyle, Joey and Gabby and Nicole & Rosie did great on their own ponies, Beaver & Pumpkin.  We even added a new class entry—the unified partners drill team and came home with the gold!  Lots of smiles, wonderful weather, great people and awesome families made for a terrific year.  We are planning on trying for 16 athletes in our program next year.  Let us know if you are interested in volunteering!

BSA HORSEMANSHIP MERIT BADGE

Another new adventure that I am looking forward to doing more of was working with troop 304 on their horsemanship merit badge!  We had 12 scouts that did one working session here at HHH on basic horsemanship, then they worked from the workbook that they were sent home with for a couple of weeks and we finished the merit badge requirements during our weekend camping trip at Sand Dunes State Forest.  Laura and I hauled eight horses and the scouts with a little help from four adult leaders took care of the horses all weekend.  It was another HOT weekend and the trip to the lake on Saturday night sure felt nice!  Then we added one more scout that was attending one of our day camps—when I found out Max was a scout, I gave him the work book and we spent some extra time with him to cover all the requirements and man did he get it all down PAT!

TRAIL RIDES

We have also had a great year at Lebanon Hills Regional Park.  Doing many enjoyable rides at the park for customers, lessons and just to take a group of boarders over for something different to do.  A big thank you to Thorwood Inn for adding us to their list of services for the area.  We were asked to participate in the focus group for the Master Plan update for that park and many of our suggestions were well received including horse camping, trail head improvements and youth programming.  Our most memorable ride was a group of eight 9-10 YO girl scouts!  I am so thankful for our old lesson horses and some great trail horses—it went off w/o a hitch!

HHH @ THE DAKOTA COUNTY FAIR

Jess and Willow had a great year at the fair!  First in Egg & Spoon, Barrels, Poles and Halter, Second in Trail Class, Third in Horsemanship and Western Pleasure.  Check out the photos and videos on our FB page.  It has been so rewarding to see how much both of them have progressed in their three years together here @ HHH.   

GOODBYES

A running joke here in the barn is that I run a geriatric ward for dogs and horses here.  I do have many old friends here and unfortunately part of that is having to say good bye.  In the barn we walked Lizzy and Tranny, two of our 30+ Arab mares, over the rainbow bridge in August.  I can see the years starting to catch up with Buzz & Tucker and King had a rough summer but seems on the mend now.  In the kennel, I have had to say good bye to two more of the dogs from my original two teams that I started with 12-13 years ago.  While looking through some of the photos on the dog sledding page, I realized that many of those dogs in those photos are no longer with me—Charlie, Kay, Simba, Harry, Kenya, Kayla, Ginger, George, Max, Kody, Sasha, Elvis and the team mascot, Boo, the cocker spaniel.   The only ones left are Sammy, Maggie, Avalanche, Gracie & Gizmo, Kasper & Kato. This year and next will be some new beginnings with the pups in the kennel. Happy trails to George and Max.

One last good bye goes out to Mom—miss you... 

DOG SEASON IS RIGHT AROUND THE CORNER

While we didn’t have much of a winter here last year we are making big plans for this year!  Our season at the BSA Northstar Council’s Tomahawk Scout Reservation just north of Rice Lake, WI is full.  We will be at Ritterfest again this year and several other local events.  I am also working on the details for hands-on dogsledding classes and already have many private rides scheduled.   Watch the video from last year and be sure to call to make a reservation for your ride this year.  THINK SNOW!!!

Watch for updates, pictures and coupons on FB