Horse Camp

At the beginning of March Ongarue School and Ohura School joined up for a horse camp at Hikumutu Lodge. The horse camp was lots of fun and the seniors learned heaps about grooming and riding horses. Most of us had never ridden before but by the second day 8 of us trekked over the farm, up and down hills, through the bush and over a creek without being led. What an amazing achievement!

When we came back from camp we talked about different ways we can remember things we have learnt and experiences we have had. We came up with 10 options to chose from, and each option was worth a different amount of points if it was completed. Because we are a multi level classroom, we all had different amounts of points that we had to complete - but in the end most of us exceeded the set amount by miles.

Here is a sample of some of the activities we completed to help us learn and remember:

One of the best ways to record and remember is with recount writing. Instead of writing about everything, we chose one aspect of camp that was important to us to write about in detail. 

The Horse Trek

I woke up in the morning with my heart beating like a drum. “Today is the day! It’ll be my first time! I’m going to go on a horse trek!” I thought to myself.

In my rush to get out of bed I hit my head on the top bunk… that made me a little bit less excited (I think I might need to wear a horse helmet all the time). I scoffed my breakfast and impatiently waited for Miss Riches to say we could head down to the horses. It felt like it had been an hour when Miss Riches finally sent us to groom the horses.

When we finished grooming and saddling up the horses, Miss Riches gave everyone a partner because there were only four horses for the kids to ride on but there were eight children chosen to go on the trek. My partner was Kahu, we rode on Goldilocks. Kahu rode first, I had to walk. When we got to the end of the trek we stood with our horses and waited for all the juniors to come so we could light a fire and have a picnic. But it didn’t take long for them to show up.

Once we finish our picnic the juniors had a little play with the horses then we started to head back to camp. It was my turn to ride on the way back. As we walked down the first hill I saw a little stream… and the track was leading right to it! “Oh dear” I thought to myself. “Are we going to cross that?” I sat on my horse waiting for my turn. Thoughts began to pop into my head. “What if my horse slips? What if my horse freaks out? What if I fail?” Well it was too late. It was my turn. My heart began to thump faster and faster, but within seconds we were across. “Wow” I thought, “That wasn’t bad at all”.

As we rode over the hills and through the trees we came to a place that I had recognised. It was the glow worm track! We had gone there on the first night.

When we had gone past the glow worms there was a bit of a hill. I heard Miss Riches call out “get ready to trot!” we trotted up the hill bouncing up and down up and down, then we finally reached the top. I could see the beautiful sight of camp. We slowly but excitedly walked down the hill and through the gates to the tack shed, then we took off the saddles and groomed the horses.

When we got back to camp I took off my boots and lay on my bed. “Wow” I thought, “That was the best experience with horses I have ever had”.   

By Grace 

Grace and Goldilocks entering the stream

MEETING MAX

I slowly walked through the gate into the round pen. But I stopped- something caught my eye… He was as big as a giant and as brown as a chestnut; his nose was as pink as a pig. He stood tall and proud staring intensely at me as I moved towards him.

I had been given this stunning specimen to saddle. He was the last one left, because he wasn’t being so quiet. I crept towards him and slowly ran my hand down his silky neck towards his muscular shoulder. He took a deep breath of my scent in and slowly started to detense his muscles and relax.

I had saddled many horses before but none as tall as him. I plucked every ounce of strength out of the depths of my body, just to put the saddle on his back! I pulled up, up, up until my hands were touching the sky! I plopped the saddle on his back. But? I still had the grim task of doing up the girth! I pulled, and pulled, and pulled! Until… My face was dripping with sweat; my fingers were cramped from holding on so immensely!

The buckles were clenched, the girth was up. But,the hard part wasn’t over yet! I still had to get on this mountain like animal.

I felt terrified to hop on him but, with the help of Mr. Peters I slowly climbed on and took control. We walked, turned and stopped; we did the lot.

Now, I have a new favourite horse. Max.

By Sammie 

Sammie and Max (left) preparing for the steep hill

Horse Trek

On the last day of horse camp we went on a horse trek. My heart was pounding as I raced out of the door, I quickly scoffed down my breakfast and raced the others down to the yards where we would meet Miss Riches.

Before we saddled up the horses we had to chase the horses down into the yards. Miss Riches split us into groups of two and gave each group a horse to ride. Once we had given a horse, the groups had to catch the horses that they were given. After we groomed them we saddled them up and started the horse trek.

To begin, we climbed a large hill and dropped down the other side. At the bottom of the hill we entered the bush where the glow worms shone the day before. In the daylight I could see a bank blanketed with bushy ferns and plants. Trees towered over us as we rode through the bush. The chatter of birds made me look up and see them playing in the tall trees. As we exited the bush the sun shone brighter. We wondered through the long wispy grass, populated with little white and grey moths fluttering through the paddock. The horses marched through the clear streams; well the streams were clear until the horse pooed in it!

Once we went through the stream Miss R said, “You guys have been amazing so let’s try to trot.” I was very excited. Miss R trotted first so all the other horses trotted and when Goldi started trotting I started laughing. What a fantastic way to end the trek.

The horse trek was fun and I hope I can do it again sometime.

Kahu 

Kahu and Goldilocks with the camp in the background.

Procedural text

How to Saddle a Horse

This article will explain how to saddle a horse.

Things you will need:

    Brush

    Hoof pick

    Saddle Blanket

    Saddle

Step 1: First brush the horse only where it is needed; underneath its stomach where the girth goes and on the horses back where the saddle sits. Make sure you brush with the hair and not against it.

Step 2: Now it’s time to pick up the horses feet. Start from the top of the horses shoulder and run your hand down the horse’s leg to the horses hoof and pick it up. Make sure you steer clear of the horse’s frog when cleaning out the horses hooves.

Step 3: Once you have brushed and cleaned out the horse’s hooves it’s time to put the saddle on. First, put the saddle blanket on to stop the saddle rubbing on the horse. Next put the saddle on the horses back just above the shoulder blade.

Step 4: Now its time to do up the girth. First you put the girth straps through the buckle and use all your strength and pull it up and get it to the right size for your horse. Check that it’s not too tight by being able to fit a couple of fingers between the girth and the horse.

Well done! You have now saddled a horse your next step is too put the bridle on and then you can ride.

By Sammie 

Herewini supervising Robin (the horse) being saddled up. 

Horse related labelled diagrams: 

All of the 'horse talk' inspired this poem about Night Owl, one of the Hikumutu Horse Camp horses... 

The three old Horses

I live on a farm with a horse of my own

I’ll saddle her up and off we roam.

Her name is night owl and she is my best pal

We ride over the hills and through a creek

And we keep on walking until night owl will meet

Three old horses so solid so proud

But then came a very very loud sound

Three loud bangs all in a row

 For the mighty old horses had to go

They all fell down one by one

My heart was broken but their time had come

I got off my horse and fell to my knees

Then woke up in tears, thank God it was just a dream.

By Grace 

The students pointed out that the tasks were mainly literacy based so we added a statistics task. Students surveyed the whole school about their favorite camp activities. 

The horses weren't the only aspect of camp that the students enjoyed. This is Toa's recount of his favorite part of camp. 

Some of the Ongarue Seniors enjoying the waterfall. 

Here are some more more photos of our exciting time at camp:

Miss Riches showing Kahu how to check his stirrups.

Dawni showing off her prefect horse riding position on Rove. 

Martin and Max, Dawni and Rove and Kahu and Goldilocks waiting for the others.

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Dawni and Herewini riding into the bush on Rove and Ghost. 

Martin leads the way on Max, with Kahu and Goldi following behind. 

Through stream number 2; Mrs Vickers, Herewini, Kahu, Dawni and Martin. 

Nirvana, Sammie and Grace - homeward bound. 

Walking to the waterfall.

Cooling off in the waterfall after a hot day.

Lunch on day two; a campfire by a stream. 

The horses have a snack in the shade while waiting for their riders to come back from lunch.