RKTG Mid Summer Camp 2025 - Coxlake Day 2

Day 2 Saturday 21st June

It was an early start for most as they scooped out their corrals and fed and watered their fur babies. Cathy was the envy of all as she managed a hot shower before breakfast, with her portable solar shower and hot water from the farm's biomass fuelled hot hose pipe. Dani was in the kitchen with the larks and by 8am sharp had prepared a breakfast buffet fit for kings and queens. The main topic of conversation was whether anyone had managed to get any sleep! We were turfed out sharpish as we had to get ready for our "Creating an obstacle learning plan" session. Complete with demonstration on horseback of the gate obstacle. We all deconstructed the elements of the gate obstacle and noted them in our goody bag notebooks, whilst sipping water from our goody bag bottles. Many of the skills required in the gate were transferable to many of the other TREC obstacles, so this was a useful obstacle to study. We then took our ideas onto the cross country course with our horses and dabbled for the afternoon. Riders seemed to be growing in confidence and having light bulb moments throughout the morning. Lunch done - we were on a rotation of the Horsey Hide and Seek and Bridget's foot orienteering and mapping exercise. The horses were treated to 15 minutes each set free in the indoor school with a variety of scary objects all laced with treats. The horses really couldn't resist the temptation of the treats and their curiosity and boldness grew and grew as they weaved around the school, nuzzling, flags and binbags, shopping trolleys and hula-hoops, but the big hits were the tiny stuffed pony and the hemp oil taster bucket. The map exercises were created on two levels to suit all and expertly delivered as always by our map guru Bridget, what a fab learning and practise exercise it was, with everyone getting home safely. Dinner was a repeat of the feast the night before, followed by a camp fire for the rowdies and quiet gatherings for those not so inclined -guess which group Cathy and Diane were in!