Roughing It Day Camp

There's one horse in the ranch camp herd that holds a special place in my heart. He's not the tallest, or the prettiest, or the fastest, or the best behaved, but still he's my favorite. I can't quite express why I love him so; I guess it s just that he makes me laugh. The little sorrel pony with a white heart on his forehead has stolen my heart over these past two summers that I have been at ranch camp, and I can't wait to see him again. This little pony, Petie, is probably the smartest pony that I've even known, and I've met lots of clever horses. His intelligence is rivaled only by his ability to be mischievous. I'd like to share with you some of his finer moments that have characterized his personality these past two summers.

At ranch camp the campers get to give the horses baths, and one thing you must know about Petie is that he loves water, however when it's not Petie's turn to be bathed, he feels excluded. So he will come over to the fence and bother the horses that are being bathed, until you douse him with water too. Then he holds his head up high and plays in the water as it rains down on him, as if flaunting his success of getting a bath when it wasn't his turn. Also, when we fill up the water troughs, in his paddock, or give him a drink at the trough by trail circle he loves to put his whole head in the water and shake it. Splashing himself as well as letting everyone near by enjoy the water too. He's just that thoughtful!

Another thing to note about Petie is that he is very attentive to what's going on around him at camp. On several super hot days this past summer, some of the campers kept cool by dunking their heads in a bucket of water. Petie, being the clever little pony he is, saw this and found his own way to keep cool. Seriously, it was not until the campers starting cooling off in the dunk bucket, that Petie was found wading in his water trough. He'd figured out how to maneuver his short little legs into the trough and back out again, and when approached, he looked at me with a smug sense of accomplishment, as if to say "what? I was hot too and the campers get to do it."

In addition to his aquatic antics, he has also figured out other ways to outfox the horses and people around him. On mornings that he was not being ridden, he would be left in his paddock outside which the other horses are tied up. He would then pester the breakfast club (the older horses who are feed grain in the mornings) by kneeling down on his two front legs and sliding his head under the fence to grab their feed dishes with his lips and drag them into his paddock, leaving Tilly and the others absolutely distraught, while he chowed down on his stolen bounty.

Ah, and when he is truly in his prime, is during the last day of camp when the campers share the horse cookies their groups have made with all the horses. That little pony is the first one to the fence, with his big, sweet, pleading eyes, gobbling down much more than his share of the sweets. However, for all his misgivings, Petie really is a delightful, charming, lovable little pony. He challenges every camper (and staff member) who rides him, and helps then each to improve their riding (and negotiating) skills. As troublesome as his antics seem, his true character is reveled only to those who look beyond these impish actions. It's truly fitting that he has white heart emblazoned on his forehead, he's the sweetest little pony I have ever known, and he has truly stolen my heart.

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