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OUS day camp offers kids opportunity to care for horses
Nine-year-old Kayla Wheeler of Texas is assisted by volunteer Mary Bryant of Ironton while participating in Fun with Horses Summer Camp at Ohio University Southern Ohio Horse Park in Franklin Furnace.
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FRANKLIN FURNACE, Ohio -- The saying goes, "You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink."
What about painting a horse with finger paints and learning how to give it a bath?
The students at the Fun with Horses Summer Camp at Ohio University Southern Ohio Horse Park did just that this week, but the activity serves a greater purpose, Alicia Carver, student worker and volunteer coordinator for the center for therapeutic riding, said.
"It's a different kind of day camp," Carver said. "It's taking things they've learned in the classroom and taking it to the barn."
Carver said the painting gets the kids interested and acquainted with the horses, which sets up the lesson of how to bathe them.
Carver, who is a graduate of OU's equestrian studies program, said the goal of the camp is beyond bathing the horses and is a way to teach kids how to take total care of a horse from feeding it, to tacking it all they way to trotting. Painting your horse after camp is optional.
The camp is designed as a crash-course in caring for horses, Katie Bantz, a camp instructor and another graduate of the school's equestrian studies program, said.
Bantz, who is experiencing the camp for the first time, said the kids are introduced to their horses on the first day, and the lessons progress from caring to the horse, to completing a competition using the skills the kids have learned during the week, which includes building their own obstacle course and completing it with the horses.
When the horses aren't in camp, several of them are used for therapeutic riding sessions. Carver said the techniques they use in these sessions are applied to teaching some of the more novice students how to work with the horses.
"It's all about learning, and it's all about safety, too," Bantz said. "Even though the kids don't need as much reminding about the rules, they're still pretty new to this."
Bantz said even if a child has the smallest interest in animals, they would have a great time at the camp.
"You're never going to know what you're able to do unless you get up close and personal with the horses or any animals," she said. "We're learning how to cooperate and get along with each other as well as the horses. It's all hands-on, and you're working with your horse everyday."
Both Bantz and Carver said they were fortunate enough to be around horses growing up. Bantz said she started off by feeding her neighbor's horses carrots and brushing them.
They shared sentiments of wanting give kids the same opportunity to explore their interests that both women say they had growing up.
"I used to do camps when I was younger, and the fact that I can help by teaching kids the same things I learned when I was younger is really cool," Bantz said.
Carver said being around horses is practically in her blood, describing her family as a "total horse family."
"I was a lucky one," Carver said. "I turned a childhood dream into a lifelong passion. I hope to be able to help these kids find that, too."
While this week's camp is almost over, there is still a chance for budding equestrians to sign up for next week. For more information about the camp, call 740-354-9347 or 740-354-9907.
