Connected Riding Goes to Summer Camp
For a Great Cause

In June 2008, I volunteered to teach in the horse program at New Beginnings camp at High Rocks Academy for Girls, a four-year mentoring program for girls in rural West Virginia. The program aims to enable girls to complete their high school educations and aim for college or technical schools to help them succeed in their lives.

Using learning Connected Riding techniques with horses rather than presenting traditional riding lessons, the instructor team provides these young women opportunities to learn non-verbal communication skills, body language, awareness, observation, partnership and leadership. In addition, they are challenged to replace fear with trust, use their bodies in new ways, and support both their equine and human partners. 

It was great to be involved in such a valuable and necessary program as High Rocks, which is one of those wonderful grassroots organizations working in its small way to make the world better. It's not easy to keep a program like this running year after year; yet, once you start and see the need, how could you stop?

This program won't continue to be able to offer horses as part of the curriculum without skilled volunteers. To help potential participants understand what it's like to spend two weeks at High Rocks, the following is a diary of one volunteer's experience.

First Impressions
It's so green here, which is a bit of a shock to my Arizona-summer-brown accustomed eyes. The pastures are steep and the clay-based mud is treacherous after a bit of afternoon rain falls, but the grass would make my desert-based horses' mouths water, for sure.

I was warned there was a lot of walking, and the path from the barn and arena to the campground is a steep one. Between trekking that several times a day, and teaching three classes a day, I'd say we'll all be fitter by the end of the two weeks.

Day 2
We fit tack - saddles and Connected Groundwork halters - for the second half of the horses today and gave them a bit of a try-out ride to check both saddle fit and attitudes. Every saddle, pad and halter we're using now has a label so it will be easy to get the horses ready before classes. Nice for me to benefit from past years' experiences - this is a very organized and well-planned program.

Overall it seems like a nice group of horses. Several are veterans to the program, while others belong to a local riding instructor who is helping at camp this summer. A few needed some bodywork, mostly basic neck/shoulder releases and some suppling. One is a bit unstable in her hind end and will need more attention and careful monitoring, and the big draft-cross turned up lame in the pasture this morning. Luckily, there are enough horses to leave us options when the riding starts.

Only one questionable candidate at this point, a feisty little chestnut Arab mare. She was scrubbed from the program last year because of aggressive behavior. She likes to snap her teeth and make threatening gestures with her head any time something new or different happens. She also does it during the girthing process, but it seems more of a habitual behavior than indication of any physical problem. I did some massage work on her and she was pretty funny – trying to maintain the attitude even when her eyes were rolling back in her head from enjoyment. Seemed to me that any time she felt a bit insecure, she would play aggressive. She never really tried to make contact, though. I think she’s all bluff, but we’ll see over the next couple of days.

Day 3
We got to meet the rest of the staff in training today and I got one of my questions answered. How exactly do you teach math in a camp setting without locking the girls in a room and tyng them to their chairs? Seems it's about developing problem-solving skills and doing puzzles something like sudoku. Okay, that makes sense. The sobering part of the day was reading the essays the girls wrote about themselves as part of the application process. Some of these young people have already faced some pretty serious problems in their lives. Seems like this program really can provide a lifeline for some of these girls.

Day 5
The girls arrived yesterday, but this is their first class day and there’s a lot to cover – basic safety, tying and grooming. At breakfast, some of the girls still seemed pretty homesick, and I understand that each year a few choose to go home instead of stay at camp. The rest seem to be either vying for attention, trying not to be seen or copping a tough pose. Never mind all that – our little staff is lucky to have on our side the the horses, who are great equalizers.

I’m pleasantly surprised that we have one or two girls in each group who seem to have some horse background. Little did they know that in demonstrating their superior knowledge to their peers, they actually set a good example for the few girls who were a little scared to do things like pick up feet in the grooming routine. We all encouraged them to help each other, and that seemed to break the ice a bit.

On a non-horse note: the food is great. The kitchen staff is especially inspired with fabulous salads, complete with homemade dressing. Mmmm ...

Day 7
The girls were introduced to the concept of the neutral pelvis today, learning to “stand strong.” It’s always fun to see people react to the huge differences a little rebalance will create in their stability. And fascinating the way a group’s energy changes as the focus moves inward. Time for them to start learning how to be present, to stay in their bodies, before they’re in charge of the horses.

They practiced “leading” each other, trading off playing horse. They had fun and laughed a lot, but there were a few lightbulbs going off, too. Hard to believe these were the same girls who just a few days ago were sobbing from being homesick or posturing to look tough. And, of course, in the backs of all our minds are the stories of hardships most of these girls have faced, the reasons they were deemed “at-risk” and invited to become High Rocks girls. Watching them concentrate as they led each other blind around the ring, and hearing them crack jokes with each other, you’d never guess.

They’ve learned a lot already about being responsible for the welfare of a horse. The ones who didn’t want to get their hands dirty the first day are cleaning feet like troopers now, and they’re showing up in their free time to help muck stalls. And, of course, they’re all asking, “When can we ride?”

Day 8
Leading practice with the horses today – pelvis neutral in action. Some of the girls did really well at noticing the differences in the horses’ responses during the leading demo. They could really see when the horses tensed up in reaction to the handler hollowing her back or holding her breath. I’m always pleasantly surprised at how clear this is even to people who don’t have a lot of experience with horses. As expected, the horses were perfect – causing just the right amount of problems for just the right girls.

My special project, the chestnut Arab mare, was too funny. My first group of the day had a couple of the girls who have pretty strong personalities, and at first they were a bit backed off by the teeth snapping routine. But after I had them notice that she wasn’t actually making any move to touch them, they were able to start analyzing why she was behaving the way she was.

Didn’t take them long at all to identify her “I’ll get you before you get me” pattern, and to identify with the pattern. After that, they realized the best approach to her “aggressive” behavior was to be really clear, calm and supportive. The more they worked with her from that basis, the less she felt the need to threaten. A good lesson all around, I’d say.

Day 10
The big day – the girls got to ride for the first time today. They’ve all mastered grooming, tacking and leading with connection as a warm-up – pretty good progress, especially for those who had never touched a horse before camp.

Mounting and dismounting went pretty well, though I’d say this day was the most stressful so far for the staff. We’re all very aware how vulnerable a rider is when mounting, even from the height of the picnic tables that serve as our mounting blocks. We spent extra time showing the girls how to get the horses lined up just right and how have someone stand at the head to be sure the rider had a stable, balance horse to mount. By the end of the program, they’ll be responsible for doing that part of the process (under close supervision, of course.)

Tomorrow they get to start leading each other over/through simple obstacles to practice for the demo on the final day.

Oh, and several of them mentioned that the posture work – pelvis neutral, baby! – helped them on their daylong hike yesterday, making them feel more balanced on steep ground. How cool is that?

Day 12
Demonstration day! The horses were so good, even with the crowd of people and the bursts of applause. All the girls seemed to take their jobs very seriously, being really focused and careful when they were on leading duty. They showed real respect for the horses and each other today, and I was proud of them.

Many of the girls made a point of bringing their parents over to introduce to “the horse ladies” and the horses (not necessarily in that order!) I think we’ve made some good connections here, and I hope the girls are able to apply some of what they have learned about focus, clarity and mindfulness to the rest of their lives. Being part of the program at High Rocks really gives them a chance to change their lives for the better.

To become a part of this program for 2009 and beyond, email Laurie Jurs or phone her at (520) 625-8808 or (520) 730-3456 or email Nancy Williams or phone her at (520) 398-2469 or (520) 247-2872.