If you haven’t already, please visit our main About Camp  page

to get a feel for our camp philosophy, history and the scope the Ekone Summer Camp program

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The All-Level Horse Camp sessions have a maximum group size of 24 and a minimum staff:camper ratio of 1:5. 

The emphasis during Horse Camp is, of course, horses!  With our small camp sizes, awesome horse staff and wonderful herd of horses, some of whom were born and raised at Ekone, campers get in lots of riding time. 

 

Our approach to horsemanship is unique, emphasizing the special relationship between children and horses.  Everyone spends time grooming and caring for the horses from the ground, and learning safe ground habits.  We ride primarily bareback, especially with beginning riders.  This may seem counter-intuitive, but 30 years of experience have taught us that children learn to ride much faster bareback, gain their balance more quickly, develop a closer relationship and better communication with the horse, and are actually safer without the trappings of tack to get tangled in and distracted by.  

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Other activities vary widely each session, depending on the skills and talents of the staff and volunteers, and the interests of the campers.  On the first day of each session, we all circle up and create our “Possibilities List” for the week—all the things we hope to do together.  All the campers are invited to share their ideas, and then we try to do as many of those things as possible!  Hiking, nature crafts, games, campfires, ranch projects, “secret pals,” garden and cooking projects, salve-making and herbal medicines, swimming in the pond, mask-making, and art of all kinds are typical.  We work hard, play hard, eat well, take a siesta after lunch, and sleep under the stars many nights.