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Junior Camp 2008

Old Surrey & Burstow Hunt Branch

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Junior Camp 2008

Judgewood Farm Camp 2008

By Georgia Dollemore

Once we had settled in and got our tents up, which was a struggle, as mine was massive, we found our stables and settled our ponies in. We said our goodbyes, the parents then left. We got told what group we were in and got going straight away tacking up our ponies. Camp was a lot of fun and both campers and horses enjoyed it. It was a real laugh with you friends and good bonding time with your pony. We went out for a ride twice a day so there was always something to do. I had Hester as my instructor and she made it even more exciting. I loved the gallops up the hills as it was really fast but you had the choice whether you wanted to do it or not, so don’t worry if your nervous. The food was delicious as well. We had fajitas and jacket potato and some days we just had sandwiches with crisps. I am a fussy eater but I cleared my plate every time. Later on in the week we all helped set up a massive water slide that went from the top of the hill to the bottom. We poured wheel barrows full of water on it, then bottles and bottles of fairy liquid! We all dived down it (or in my case, got thrown) and got soaking and covered head to foot in bubbles. After that the only downer was the long queues for the showers but when you get in it was worth the wait. The only other part that wasn’t as enjoyable was the yard chores that you had to carry out everyday. Sweeping the yard wasn’t all that bad but I hated the washing up! When it got dark we all gathered in the barn to have hot chocolate and chocolate cake. This was one of the best bits, along with the riding. At the end of the week when our parents came back we had an Eventer’s Challenge. Before we started jumping we had to plait up for our showing round. My plaits were awful and my poor pony looked really silly. We had to do half a round of show jumping, go cross-country in the woods then come back and finish your jumping round. That was a lot of fun as it was a test for you and your pony as you had practiced over the jumps earlier in the week. Apart from a little bit of rain the whole week was really enjoyable and I can’t wait till next year.

Junior Camp 2008

By Ashleigh Dollemore

It was my 2^nd time at Judgewood Farm, near Tonbridge, in which the camp was taking place. The day before we went to camp we had to put our tents, this time we bought our dad to do the job, as last year the tent nearly blew down in the bad weather! Luckily enough this time the weather was a bit better. Finally the day came and we spent ages packing everything for the ponies – our trailer and car was full up to the top! The minute we arrived we went down to the yard to find where our ponies were going to live for the next 5 days, and settled them in. We were all excited and so were the ponies as they were altogether in the stable block. They all settled in very quickly – Alex (Georgia’s pony) curled up and went straight to sleep! Everyone went to cuddle him. Mums and Dads went home, and we found out what riding groups and yard teams we were in. My team leader was Katie and my instructor was Sam Smith. The lessons Sam gave were brilliant as we got to do all 3 disciplines – show jumping, dressage and cross country (my favourite!!) We also got to hack round the land at Judgewood Farm – there were some massive hills and of course we just had to GALLOP up them! We had to get up very early (which was hard as we were so tired after staying up so late), to muck out our ponies and do team chores – these earned points, which were added over the week to decide who would win “Best Yard Team”. In the evenings, when the horses were tucked up, we did activities without the horses, such as “chase me charlies”, water slides, swimming and of course a trip to MD’s and we also played a game which involved hunting for number within our team colours – first back to camp without cheating (Loui)! Before bed we always had cake and hot chocolate (yum!). We had a real treat as a lady came in with a driving horse called “Mo-Jo” and she taught us how to drive and we even got have a go ourselves! On another day Luke’s mum arrived with her western horse and showed off all her movements which were amazing! But she didn’t let us have a go – I wonder why? We also took part in mounted games in our teams which was so much fun as we rode other peoples ponies! Ben (my pony) learnt SO much from the week, we both gained so much confidence and bonded in all disciplines – I cannot wait to go again next year and neither can Ben! You can really tell that SO much effort goes into this camp to make it the funniest it could be – so thank you to everyone that put so much into it for us, and the older Pony Clubbers who always were there to help us with our ponies. If you have never been to camp – it is definitely something you must do!