The end of summer camp - and we sure will miss that pond

We finished our stay at Brandt’s on a high note. Both JP and I had really good rides. Chambord was very distracted because his girlfriend was calling him, and one horse banged loudly at the walls in the barn. Brandt explained that it is key to keep Chambord occupied with lots of varied exercises. JP and Chambord hit their grove and cantered happily in the field.

As soon as I got on Remy felt great. He was attentive and focused. We tackled the noisy bridge, even crossing it at the trot, flawlessly. The basketball play we skipped, after ..umh… I had accidentally hit Remy in the head with the ball the other day. It reminded me of what Isabell said when she got off course in Aachen: “It’s not the poor horse’s fault that he has a blonde on his back”. Sorry, Remy!

Brandt took us to the trails in the woods, but to get there we had to go through a narrow path between corn fields. That was made more interesting by the dog darting in and out. Remy really had to pick up his feet in the woods as it was quite the obstacle course weaving around trees and over downed branches, roots, etc. It made him really focus and we truly enjoyed it.

We finished in the pond, perfect on a 90F day!

 

Note to JP: The boys want a pond!! And what the boys want...

"Not spectacular - but solid" - as summer camp draws to an end

We conquered the noisy bridge today. On Sunday I didn't insist when Remy balked as I had images in my mind's eye of us sailing over the metal rails and into the brook. Brandt explained today the importance of moving Remy's hindquarters, not worry so much about the front. And sure enough, it worked.


The pond provided Remy with a new experience: He caught sight of a flock? of fish (actually, a group of fish is called a school, if you really want to know). Remy was fascinated and stuck his nose right into the water. "Hi, my name is Remy, and who are you??"


Walk, trot, canter: Check. 10m canter circles: Check. Leg yields: Check. Shoulder in: Check. Half-Pass: Room for improvement. Transitions: Check. And all that in the great outdoors, no arena in sight.


As our time at "Camp Brandt" draws to an end this week I can honestly say that all four of us greatly enjoyed it and made significant progress. Especially Remy and I gained a ton of confidence. So I guess when JP pronounced our ride "not spectacular but solid" it was a confirmation that we accomplished what we had set out to do.


And really, I take 'solid' over 'spectacular incident' any day!