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Class Information
Beginner Riders
Beginner riders come to the ranch having never ridden before or, maybe only once or twice... or even having ridden at a summer camp beginner week! If you have always wanted to learn to ride, but are afraid of horses, or if the extent of your riding is pony rides at the fair or a ”pay per hour” trail ride, this is the level for you.
Intermediate Riders
Intermediate riders come to the ranch having ridden at least 5 times, and have experience at the walk, the jog, and possibly even the lope. (That’s the walk, the trot and the canter for you English folks!) These campers are not afraid of horses, they have ridden in a ring, on trails or both, and may have quite a bit of contact with horses on the ground. They probably already know the basics of grooming, parts of the horse and tack, and how to take care of a horse.
Advanced Riders
Advanced riders come to the ranch having ridden a lot. These are the campers that may own their own horses, have participated in a 4H horse program, gone to riding camp, or have had actual professional lessons at a barn somewhere. These campers have ridden at the walk, jog and lope, either in a class, at a camp, or in some other controlled environment, ridden in a horse show or amateur rodeo or possibly at a dude ranch. (If they have ridden English they have ridden at the trot and canter, and may have gone over some small jumps or ridden in a gymkhana).
You will be amazed at how much you can learn in a week at HorseCamp at Camp Pinnacle!
Beginners become comfortable with horses on the ground and in the saddle, learning how horses think and relate to each other and to us. Intermediate & advanced riders stretch the limits of their comfort in many ways as they ride and handle the horses, learn to communicate with them in ways that the horses can relate to (based largely on Pat Parelli’s “Natural Horsemanship” technique), and have a hand in training horses to accept different situations and become more comfortable with horses as the horses become more trusting of and comfortable with them.
The ground work (at all levels) includes: safety of the horse and the rider, grooming and bathing, parts of the horse and tack, basic health and nutrition issues important to any riding student, care and maintenance of the horses’ home, research into current horse issues, techniques, and much more.
The saddle work is much more dependent on comfort level and experience than is the ground work, and it’s name is a bit misleading as we usually start the kids out bareback!
The beginner rider usually starts in the round pen on a longe (“lunge”) line and progresses from there through riding with a leader (that’s where our RanchHands come into the picture!), to riding alone in the ring. By the time Beginner week is over campers possess a level of comfort with horses based on a knowledge of how horses think and why they react the way they do.
The intermediate rider also progresses by leaps and bounds during HorseCamp, focusing on becoming comfortable in the saddle. Depending on their riding experience and comfort level they are most likely to start right out in the ring, progressing through walk to trot, (posting and sitting) they will learn to find diagonals and guide their horses through patterns of increasing difficulty.
The advanced rider will spend time learning how to relate to the horse in a way that makes the horse respond naturally and go out of his way to do what the rider asks. The advanced rider learns the right cues using their legs, weight, voice and hands, as well as guiding their horses through patterns of increasing difficulty with cavalettis (bars on the ground that simulate jumps) and other obstacles.
We have plans for rainy days as well for HorseCamp. There is nothing stopping a camper from riding in the rain... with the exception of thunder and lightning! If there is a storm brewing we will not be riding. We have many indoor things we can do, however, such as: cleaning tack, watching a movie, reading equestrian magazines & reporting on what we’ve learned to our friends, and playing a game of Horse-opoly!
Friday HORSE SHOW
Our camp week begins on Sunday afternoon and ends on Friday night. Each Friday evening Camp Pinnacle has a special dinner for campers’ families (at 5:00) followed by our closing ceremony (at 6:00).
HorseCamp does something special before dinner Friday afternoons... each week of HorseCamp ends with a horse show on Friday afternoon at 4:00 before dinner and the closing ceremony and all HorseCamp families and friends are invited to attend. Weeks 1 - 5 will be a pleasure show with campers competing for ribbons as a class. Week 6 will be an event-based performance to show off what the HorseCampers have learned during GamesWeek.
There is a lot of preparation that goes into a horse show. Campers will learn about the difference between grooming for a ride or a lesson and grooming for a show. Ribbons will be awarded for all places, and certificates will be given with what each camper has learned and how they have progressed during the week. The show classes will be judged by at least three people including - Miss Ellen, Casey, the RanchHands for the week, and the visiting judge.
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