Dear Parents and Children,
We thank you for your interest in our summer camp program. We truly love sharing all we do with the children and value each one in our camps and in our lives. We believe our lifestyle and commitment to the healing of our planet Earth  is unique to our camps. We have been blessed with a remote and peaceful ranch that nurtures the body, mind and spirit of all that touch the Earth here. We have endless riding trails through open pine and oak forests, wildflower meadows and magnificent canyonlands.

By experiencing a close bond with the Earth as well as with animals, children discover their own creative energy and the beautiful gifts within, building self-esteem and giving them a purpose that we hope continues to grow throughout their lives.The realities of ranch life necessitate a healthy work ethic, which we embrace, and encourage in our campers. Everyone who comes to Ekone, young and old, works together to make the camps possible and improve them every year. Campers participate in many aspects of everyday operations, from feeding the animals to fencing repair, and a myriad of other common sense living skills.

At the heart of the program is the work we do through Sacred Earth Foundation, our land trust, to teach the necessity--and sacred duty--of protecting our planet's environment for future generations. Over the years we have worked hard to restore abused land. We now preserve over 1000 acres of open space as wildlife habitat. We teach conservation and environmental awareness. Projects have included improvement of springs and water resources, and green construction using sustainable and earth-friendly materials such as straw bales and ecologically harvested timber. If you would be able to contribute to our land saving efforts in any way, please let us know.

For the beauty and health of our forest, we work hard to remove diseased and dead trees from the land. We leave the biggest and healthiest trees to ensure the vitality of our eco-system. This allows us some timber to cut on our bandsaw mill for building everything from barns to birdhouses. We enjoy explaining this process, termed eco-forestry, to the children.  From our large organic garden we teach the nutritional values, beauty, and joy that comes from working with our hands in the soil, growing and preserving our own food. Please be clear with your children that chores and work projects will be part their camp experience.

Undoubtedly, the children's biggest love and joy is for our precious horses! We have raised and trained all twenty-six of them over the last decades, and they are each special, just as each child is! Campers learn basic horse handling skills, care and feeding techniques, as well as the best and simplest training skills. Many campers find that the unique opportunity we offer for bareback riding is an adventure they will always remember! We also provide Western tack and individualized instruction tailored to each rider's ability and interest. Our emphasis on safety begins with our gentle and loving horses. We can tell the horses enjoy the children as much as the children love them!  Our large staff includes former campers and parents, as well as professional teachers, counselors, builders, artists and others, all of whom have in common their experience and competence working with horses, lots of love for children, and a commitment to healing the Earth through education and sustainable living.

• FIRST SESSION: For first time and younger campers: One or two weeks, $740 per week or $1360 for two weeks.
  First week: June 22nd to June 28th. Second week: June 29th to July 5th. 
  
• SECOND SESSION: Two weeks only: July 6th to July 19th. - $1360
  
• THIRD SESSION: Two weeks only:  July 20th to Aug 2th. - $1360

Our camps are small and intimate and seem to fill up faster every year, so please register as early as possible. We are glad that the Creator made it  so big horses and small children can be friends! We greatly appreciate your family's trust and support and look forward to making this season's camps the best ever! If your child has had a special experience at camp, we would love and appreciate you sharing this information with us, to help inspire and develop our program.

Sincerely yours for the children!
Ray Mitchell