Lessons from the Barn

At the Northern Kentucky Reading Camp, the sense that we are a group of special friends taking this wonderful journey together has become palpable. We’ve got this learning center thing down and are obviously working hard with our fabulous teachers all morning long. But today we found out that our learning doesn’t stop when we leave the centers.

After lunch we boarded our big yellow bus and headed from the city to the country over in Ohio. Since our theme is horses, it seemed appropriate to take a field trip to a local stable just across the river. The happy chatter and excitement as we debarked upon our arrival at Bridle Path Stables indicated that the campers were ready to have some fun riding a few kindly horses and learning a little more about them. No one was really prepared for any life lessons, but those lessons found us there at the stable.

Taz was one of the first horses we met at Bridle Path. He’s a small reddish colored Quarter Horse, small enough to be labeled a pony, not a horse. Taz and his horse-sized buddy Jet-Di demonstrated some lightning fast runs through the barrels and poles. It was thrilling to watch. Mary, our guide, pointed out that while Taz is smaller than Jet-Di, he’s equally as fast, sometimes faster. Taz was not limited at all, despite his small stature. We learned from Taz that your limitations only hold you back if you let them.

Spartan is a huge thoroughbred with incredible bloodlines and even more incredible muscles. This guy was definitely bred to be a world class racehorse. For many years, Spartan tried to please his trainers by racing, but it just wasn’t in him. Finally, someone let Spartan try jumping. We watched as Spartan took jump after jump like it was nothing, and could tell he was enjoying every moment of it. We learned from Spartan that we all have gifts, but sometimes it takes awhile to find them.

We got to see many different horses at the barn in all shapes, breeds, colors and sizes. Mary told us that it is important to understand how each of these things makes the horse unique, but also help us understand what they will need in terms of food, health care, exercise and training to thrive. Truthfully, the horses at Bridle Path all looked very healthy and very happy. Mary helped us to learn the importance of respecting and valuing our uniqueness and differences so we can also thrive.

After thanking the horses at Bridle Path by sharing some Reading Rocks with them, it was time to go back to Kentucky. The day was so exciting that we used up all our energy and slept on the way back to Trinity in our big yellow bus. It was a day for fun, meeting horses, lambs and a baby cow, riding horses and watching horses, and a day for some unexpected lessons. And that’s part of the beauty of Reading Camp – the learning is fun, meaningful and constant, even at a barn.

-Lucie Collier, a member of St. Andrew's in Fort Thomas, reports as a camp director at the Northern Kentucky Reading Camp.

Due to some unforeseen technical glitches, the blog postings from last week’s Reading Camps in Danville and Northern Kentucky were not posted in a timely fashion. The above post is one of a series of those belated entries from those camps.