Summer at Work!!

For those of you who don't know I have been working at Hunkapi Horse Programs since February. And I'm having a blast! I get to work with kids and horses, what could be better. Anyway, here is a little about what this summer has been like.... First it's been very hot and I am getting a wonderful farmers tan. June was a normal month and luckily not as hot as I thought it would be, but then came July...
In July we cut back on our lessons. So I only worked a couple early mornings and some evenings. And our barn was closed for August, it is just too hot and the horses needed a break. Even though the barn was closed in August I continued working on my own riding skills and exercise the horses occasionally. I've been learning to post-trot, canter/lope, and all that good stuff. Wow has this been a leg workout. I am preparing to become a therapeutic riding instructor through an organization called NARHA. There is a workshop/certification this September where I will have to past a lesson and riding test. Wish me luck! In July most of our horses went up to camp. We took 11 of our horses up on the Mogollian Rim. There we worked with Camp Colley, a camp for kids provided by the Phoenix Parks and Recreations. We had week long overnight camps all through July. I was able to spend part of one week up there. Camp Colley had a group of 17 kids from the city there and we brought 13 kids from our program that have special needs. The time I spent up there was great, but a lot of work. One thing I really enjoyed was seeing how welcoming and accepting the Camp Colley kids were to our kids with special needs. The interactions and fun they had together was great to see. I feel so lucky to be a part of a program that can help so many individuals. I don't have any pictures of camp right now, maybe later...