Steam billowed out of the narrow opening just between the wall and low roof. The wall was just tall enough to see outside without allowing others to see inside. As the hot water ran over my head I watched the horses down in the valley grazing, the green grass beaded with morning mountain dew. I thought in that moment, “this is living.”
Our adventure began on a Tuesday. It was raining. And Hot (for a northerner conditioned to the 50s/60s, I suppose). And it was MUGGY. Moving felt more like swimming. You began to sweat if you thought too hard. We were packing the trailer.
Hay bags?
“How many bales should we bring? Shavings bags?”
Bridles. Saddles. Both dressage and jump.
“What color saddle pads are you packing?”
Matchy-matchy is important, you know, and we had to impress.
Boots. So many boots. Tendon boots. Cross country boots. Jump boots. Back on Track travel boots.
Scrim Sheet.
Brushes.
Linament, poultice, standing wraps, and bandages.
Extra halter.
Riding clothes. Night Clothes. Toiletries.
Meal Prep. So many ziplock bags. Four AMs, Four PMs, Pre-ride snacks and stress-free forage, Post Ride “Protein Shakes.”
First Aid, Omeprazole, others.
“What food and snacks are you brining?”
Oh right….the humans have to eat too.
Truth be told we did pretty darn good. We’ve traveled together enough times to know exactly what we need and where it goes. This time was different because we were taking both horses in the same trailer…and going for more serious riding than casual trails.
In the past when we’ve traveled for overnight stays we’ve camped in separate trailers…or only took 1 horse to a show. This year Stanley is making his entry into this life…or re-entry! We spent 2024 taking it low and slow and getting him more comfortable being away from home; mentally preparing him for the steps we’re taking this year. Western dressage allowed us to go down centerline and I was allowed to use my voice to chill us both out. This year we’re back in English tack (Back in Black (Tack)).
Finally, with everything loaded into the truck and trailer we hung the camera…a backup camera doubling as a trailer cam (review to come later this year). The horses were next. Stanley hopped in. Tiger was right behind him. We were on the road by 5:30PM and on our way to our first ever ADULT HORSE CAMP.
We arrived just before sunset. It was 8:30PM. We unloaded the horses into their respective stalls and drove around behind the barn to park and settle in for the night.
If you’ve been with me long enough, you’d know how much I enjoy camping with the horses. Since my first time in 2018 I’ve been hooked.
There are few things more enjoyable than being outside with your horse all day. Getting to ride trails, tie up for picnic lunch somewhere…usually looking at water, then ride back to camp. Enjoying a fire at night while the horses rest in a paddock. Sleeping with the crickets singing you a lullaby. (Bucket List!, Adventures With Tiger, More Adventures Oh, My are just a couple of posts related to our camping travels).
I have often wondered…how cool would it be to have a camp like kids get to do in the summertime where you camp but also learn throughout the week? Like an extended clinic. I love the downtime and freedom of traditional camping but sometimes I’d love to get away and have some structure, too. I halfway did this a couple years ago with the Tik Maynard clinic in Saugerties. Staying in my trailer overnight and also my first solo trip…fully on my own. What an experience! The only downside is I don’t have a single photo of myself at that clinic.
Ladies and gentlemen, these adult camp things exist. I did some searching and found Hitching Post Farm offers this type of situation (among a few others). No longer do I need to share my lesson as a weenie adult ammie with some kid who rides better and has longer legs than I do. Not that there’s something wrong with that…but I really enjoy “adults only” sometimes.
Hitching Post Farm is a family-owned farm located in the green mountains of South Royalton, Vermont. The farm has been run for 3 generations; Laurie is the granddaughter of the original owner, Joe McLaughlin: she’s been running the farm for 24 years. Hitching Post is home to a thriving boarding community and hosts many events throughout the year including recognized horse trials. You don’t have to be there long to realize how special this place is; you just need to stand back and look…and talk to the people there.
Every year Laurie and three other instructors host two adult camps (June and October), a Junior Horse Camp in July (ages 8-18), and two Kids Horse Camps (June and July). The website even allows you to DESIGN YOUR OWN Camp!
The adult camp extends through 3 days and concludes with a separate and optional schooling horse trials on the 4th day. In October the camp precedes their RECOGNIZED horse trials and schooling horse trials. Each day there are 2 lessons. Wowza! I haven’t done two-a-days before and I was a bit worried about our fitness going into it…especially having gone through everything with my dad earlier in the year.
But I decided to go anyway and just monitor how Stanley and I felt…being there and experiencing it was the goal. Not necessarily performance.
We got there. Mission Accomplished.
Wednesday began with our traditional morning walk with the horses; we like to give them their omeprazole first thing…30min before breakfast and let them stretch their legs and backs first thing in the morning since turnout is limited. They stretched their legs, looked around, and grazed by the stadium ring. They happily ate breakfast while I made eggs on the camp stove.
Around 10AM we navigated down the hill into a secluded valley where two dressage arenas hid and rode a lesson with Sally.
Both horses were exceptional; quiet and not overly tense. Stanley seemed pretty tight to the left. His left lead canter was more bouncy/vertical and more rigid than his normal good canter. Sally also pointed out that our bit was too big (oops). I bought a medium without ever having measured his mouth, he’s a big guy and has a big, beautiful head. I didn’t expect him to need a size small. I did eventually measure, and his mouth is a delicate 4.75″…cutie patootie. Hindsight is always 20/20.
The boys rested a bit and by the afternoon we were getting ready to ride again. I had a stadium lesson scheduled with Taylor and I was riding with a new friend, Emily and her horse, Chevy. It felt nice to hear Taylor say “I would have bought him sight unseen too.” I know he’s nice but it’s always great to hear. Stanley was a lot keener for this lesson than I was. He had energy but my fitness was not nearly at the level I needed to be in after having ridden dressage in the morning. My stomach was uneasy (I think it was the coffee to be honest). Stanley wasn’t out of control by any means, but he was pretty happy to be jumping and I need to actually ride and not just sit there in order to direct him. He didn’t mind being separated from his brother for 80% of our ride; until he saw Tiger approach for the following lesson. At that point he was a little less focused…but with jumping he seems to be more easily redirected.
Wednesday evening we met some ladies that were riding in camp with us for dinner at a local restaurant named Crossroads Bar and Grill. We all chatted and got to know one another. What a great experience!
Thursday began in a similar fashion. Morning omeprazole and walk. Breakfast for the boys, then for us. I opted not to have coffee as I feel it hindered my abilities the day before. My first ride of the day was again with our new friend Emily. We rode down the hill to work on pacing with a trainer named Lauren.
Lauren had measured a stretch of “track” in the giant pasture and marked it with step in posts. The track measured approximately 400m (I think?). We began by walking it to get a feel for the terrain and footing, and to warm the horses up. We trotted it next. Lauren timed us.
We went for a canter around the track. We were timed again.
For starter level the average course speed is 250m per minute (though a lot of pages on the internet will tell you it’s the same as beginner novice at 300-350mpm. Stanley was quite tense when we were out there. We had plenty of speed, but we lacked rhythm and consistency. Towards the end of our lesson he was quite a bit better, but I was feeling down. I ride him in the field once a week when the horses at home are on night turnout. I know what a dreamboat he feels like under me at home. But we weren’t home. We were in an unknown to him place and I was asking him to do some very new to him things. I reminded myself of that, but I was victim to the trap of knowing he’s capable of better and feeling bummed that we weren’t our best selves.
Stanley screamed for Tiger once we were back in the barn. He was inconsolable and I lacked the tools to support him and his big emotions. I grew more anxious as time went on. Stanley screamed, and my stomach churned. I was scheduled to do cross country with Laurie in a few hours.
That time passed rather quickly. I got Stanley prepared for our debut to cross-country. My first ACTUAL cross country schooling session. My safety vest still had a dirt mark from the accident I had two years ago at Larkin Hill. I zipped it up and got on. The PTSD from that day hit me; I was completely blindsided. I could feel my heartbeat through the thick foam of the vest. I don’t remember if I was shaking but I was certainly sobbing. I’m glad I got on early because I had 20 minutes to walk up and down the hill and regain my composure.
Oddly enough Stanley seemed to sense my emotional release and the need for him to play his part. He walked calmly and never once placed a foot out of place. When I met with Laurie I explained briefly the basket case (me and my baggage) that I presented to her. She was so compassionate. We didn’t dwell on it, we just moved into our lesson to work on it.
We began with water. I’ve wanted to work on water for YEARS. He wasn’t interested in going in right away, so Laurie had me walk back and forth over and over. He gradually began to dip a toe in the water’s edge. Eventually I was able to turn his nose and walk him right in. Once we were in he was completely content. We got out, walked back in. Got out, back in. A few more times. Before long we trotted right through.
Next to the water is a small bank. Stanley followed her up the bank confidently. I was not so graceful the first time so he was concerned about the next go. Once we ironed that out he had no further questions. The bank was nothing to him.
We then walked a bit to Laurie’s series of ditches. He confidently walked right over, no questions asked. We passed over a few times but he never seemed to mind.
Next we tackled some low jumps. A combination of logs in both directions. A small log going uphill. Another small log farther away from the barn but within his eyeline. We ended on another jump, reasonably close to the barn. Heading toward the barn was no problem. When we turned around he questioned it. We reapproached and I added more leg. No problem.
I was on top of the world. Thanks to Laurie our return to cross country was successful…and it was also FUN. We tackled some obstacles I’ve always wondered if Stanley would have issues with.
We wrapped legs, fed dinner, went for a brief walk, and finally let the horses take their deserved rest while we went to Laurie’s for a potluck.
Friday was the final day of the camp. ALREADY!
Laurie left the day for campers to voice what they’d like to work on. I asked for another cross-country session. We were here and it was a big opportunity to work on these things while the course was available. Plus, after my surprise PTSD visit I realized how much anxiety and control I allowed that fall to still have over me. Stanley and I were finally in a place I was hoping we’d be; granted we were tired but after I cried and after our Thursday session we felt more cohesive together. I needed to build that confidence just a bit more before we ended camp…to make sure he understood our Thursday education.
Our Friday morning cross country went well. He questioned the water but went in after only a few passes. We trotted through no problem. The bank was no problem. He stepped into the ditch and it was still no problem. We cruised over the logs again. No problem. We tried a few other, slightly bigger (starter) jumps. We also did well. The only thing we got caught up with was a distance question to one little grey coop. We added a step and lost a shoe. He was okay, so we continued our course since we were at the end of our lesson anyway.
Laurie’s brother happens to be a blacksmith so he gladly helped nail the shoe back on.
In the afternoon Suzanne and I decided to have a second ride but this time we took a loose rein hack around all the fields. A reward for two very good very tired boys; they could stretch their legs, take it easy, and also be together. We used that as an opportunity to pass through the water one last time, too.
Some of the campers left Friday, others stayed to participate in the schooling horse trials. We chose to sit out of the trials but we did stay. A couple of us went out to The Worth Burger for dinner. The food was delicious, and the company was even better! As it turns out all four of us have ridden or currently ride with Andrea Waldo!
Saturday morning we fed the horses and turned them out in the small hillside paddock. The paddock was available to campers but throughout the week we had to share with everyone else. That meant the boys were lucky to have an hour outside. Saturday, however, the horses that remained were all there to show…so our boys spent the day watching from that paddock, and we spent the day cheering our new friends on.
We watched dressage in the valley from the hill overlooking it. All of our friends were registered for Starter, but we missed the stadium rounds watching everyone in dressage. Since the stadium and cross-country rounds were only minutes apart we went right out to the field and stood in a spot that overlooks a majority of the course.
Once our friends finished riding we packed up and got ready to roll out of the farm to return home.
During the week of camp Suzanne and I stayed in her trailer. We slept incredibly well, the weather was ideal ad the bed was comfortable. We both agree that our minimum requirements for comfortable camping is a hot shower and a bathroom. The plumbed toilet at the farm had low water pressure but the porta-porty was clean and easy to access. The showers were rustic but hot and the perfect reward for a long day. In fact I LOVED these showers SO MUCH. There were two…located inside a small lean-to against the horse barn. It had simple but effective plumbing. The hook was outside the door and the doors only locked from the outside. The lighting didn’t work so you had to wait until dawn or shower before dusk. I showered at both side of the day but the morning was magical. While I conditioned my hair and worked a lather in I could look outside at the landscape. The horses were still grazing at the bottom of the hill as the sun rose over the mountains. None of the people had arrived yet so it was quiet and peaceful.
We got home Saturday night and I can say for certain that Stanley and I are forever changed. We had a great trip and we grew through so many challenges. I learned even more about myself. We dove in deeper to just how much Stanley senses my inner turmoil whether I realize I have it or not. He rats me out. This horse has become so precious to me more than ever.
I knew Stanley was a cross-country machine. I’ve known it for years, his second ride with Jazz was cross country. His first ride he cantered through a puddle without a care. I was, however, uncertain if I had what it took to event with Stanley. Now…thanks to Laurie and her team, I have hope that eventing IS a possibility for our future if we choose to pursue it. I am excited for our future and whatever adventures we decide to get into.
As we rolled out of South Royalton, we crossed a narrow bridge…and I feel like Stanley and I crossed one of our own. Our relationship further tightened, I left those old anxieties behind.
The Green Horseman 
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