Longacres riders attend regular
shows at all levels, train young horses, do trail riding, are exposed
dressage and eventing/combined training, and just plain "hanging out
horses". It is a horse lover's paradise. And has been so for 72 years
the same family!
Paste this address into your e-mail to reach us
Where to find more Longacres
Riding Camp
information, below:
IF YOU ARE NEW TO
Equestrian Horse Riding Camp: First, you will
probably want to click on the "" link
We update that page very frequently and if there is something new in
our riding
camp program or a change in available sessions, it will be announced
Second, click on the "" link. This page has quite
descriptions of how our riding camp program works, and links to
articles of interest to new prospects, including "A Typical Day at
Longacres Riding Camp", and
Third, you will likely want to visit the "" link to check our rates and
availability of sessions. The
link here works, and there are links on other pages.
Fourth, you will surely want to visit the ""
page. This page includes e-mail addresses for a number of our
Instructors and
students who have offered to answer questions from people new to
Riding Camp. Many of them will also offer to talk with you on the phone
you have exchanged e-mails if you like.
& Meghan Kranz, directors
Click Below for:
Where else can you ride
horses five hours a day?!!?
1529 Mill Road
East Aurora, New York 14052
(716-652-9495)
Below is a copy of the text from some of our other webpages in
above links do not work for you. The following information is better
if you follow the above links.
How Many Hours a Day of Riding,
Sometimes I tell people that even
if we were
the worst riding teachers in the world at Longacres riding camp, you
still make a big improvement in your riding during your stay. You can't
by riding so many hours every day you just about HAVE to get better!
Fortunately, we also have some
pretty good teachers,
but nearly all of you have chosen Longacres riding camp for your riding
vacation primarily because of how much riding time we offer. Our basic
offers five hours of riding opportunity daily, and you often will
spend all five of those hours in the saddle. We ride from 10 until noon
of the 11am group until 12:45), again from 3 to 5PM and again after
every week day. And we keep about "one and a half to two" horses for
each riding camp student, so that under normal conditions there will
a horse for everyone.
But there are times when someone
may have to
"sit out" a lesson. There are a hundred things that can go wrong and
put some of the horses out of action for a few days. Horses pull
muscles, throw
horse shoes, step on sharp rocks, get saddle sores - you name it, and
during the summer, it will happen to one or more of our riding camp
Normally, we have enough extra horses to cover these losses, but
sometimes not.
"A" and "B"
(NOTE: Several of our
students have advised us to completely delete this “A & B Rider”
since we almost never run short of horses in recent years. But we do
system just in case we ever had a whole bunch of horses come down with
problems all at once.)
If we are short of horses for a
lesson, we
have an organized system for deciding whose turn it is to "sit-out".
Every riding hour, half of you are assigned as "A" riders, and the
other half as "B" riders. "A" riders always have priority -
if someone has to sit out or have last choice on horses, it will be a
"B" rider. Almost always, everyone gets to ride. Perhaps once every
four or five lessons, someone is required to sit-out. Rarely, more than
Voluntary Sit-Outs:
At least once a day I will see a
lesson where
one or more riding camp students have voluntarily decided not to ride.
hours of riding a day is A LOT OF RIDING, especially when you first get
Longacres riding camp, and it is not uncommon for someone to simply be
and want to take a break. As long as you are participating most of the
respect your decision if you ask to rest for an hour. Also, before an
instructor formally asks a "B" rider to sit-out a lesson, they will
ask if anyone would like to volunteer to sit-out. We also are doing
training of young horses every year, and some of you will be involved
work or other training certain hours.
"Tom, Can We go to the Mall?"
The most common reason for not
getting in a
full five hours of riding in a day, is when you riding camp students as
ask Tom for permission to take the afternoon off and go to the Mall! We
riding camp, and most of the time I expect you to work on your riding
advantage of the opportunity that you are paying for here. But it is
vacation, and we want you to have a good time. Once or twice a week, it
to take a break from riding camp and go into town. Usually everyone
agrees that
"it is time for a road trip". About the only time we have some
disagreements is during the July 7th to 21st session. By then the full
students are getting a little stir-crazy, and eager to take occasional
But the students here for only that two week session want to get in all
riding camp time they can. I try to balance those interests evenly.
I hope this article gives you
newcomers a
better idea of the time you will spend riding and how we ration that
Almost never do we have anyone complain that they aren't getting enough
time at Longacres riding camp.
Assign Horses -:
I'll tell you today a little about
assign horses in riding camp lessons. Your first few days at Longacres
camp we do a lot of swapping horses during lessons so that you'll get
number of suitable horses. We also post a chart on the wall of the barn
you can list your favorite horses. Often you will add to or change that
during the first four or five days of your session.
Horses for your lessons are
assigned by one
of the staff at the beginning of each day. The person doing the
assignments is
supposed to consider several things. First, they will check the
schedule to see
who is an "A" rider and who is a "B" in each lesson. They
should also look at the list of favorites that each of you has posted
riding camp barn. They will then do their best to assign one of your
or another of the most desirable horses to everyone who is an "A"
rider each hour, with next choices going to "B" riders. This may sound
a little complicated, and it is for the first few days of each session
the staff get to know you and the kind of horses you prefer.
In practice, the horse assignment
becomes very easy after the first week. We always have a few situations
two or three people have the SAME horse as their favorite, but most of
students find a favorite mount that is special only to them. Once that
sets up, my instructors will go out of their way to assign you your
horse several times a day. Because all the horses need breaks, you will
ride a variety of other horses during the day.
We also have certain riding camp
lessons that
are designated as "greenie" lessons, where we have everyone ride the
least experienced horses and work on training them. Other lessons will
designated as "show horse" lessons where you will be assigned the
horse you plan to ride in the next riding camp show.
You are ALWAYS welcome to tell the
instructors if there is a horse you would like to ride, but haven't
yet. Generally
I leave horse assignments to my assistants, but if you are never
assigned a
horse that you think you could safely ride, I am also very open to have
tell me personally. If I agree with you, I will mention it to the girls
the assignments.
Summary: You will often ride your
favorite horse at Longacres riding camp, but not every hour. It is
for you to communicate and let all of us on the staff KNOW who you want
ride. (The line between communicating well and being a pest is a fine
out of your way to get to know all our horses - you may be pleasantly
at how well you get along with some horse that no one else particularly
then you will be able to ride him much more.
At Longacres riding camp we try to
you with several things. First is the amount of riding, often five
hours a day
as explained above. We also offer you the chance to ride a variety of
including many that are real show horses, much more interesting than
average school horse you will ride at many stables. We also do our best
sure that you are supervised by responsible assistant instructors and
student-leaders during the day who have good judgement on what they can
you to do with safety, while giving you an enjoyable time riding and
But there is another very important
the equation that makes up the Longacres Riding camp program, and that
personal participation in your instruction and the evaluation of your
camp progress. I have been in the riding camp and horse and rider
business for many years, and our horses have been consistent winners at
New York shows during that time. One of the important benefits of
coming to a
small riding camp like Longacres is that in addition to your many hours
practicing with assistant instructors, you will have direct personal
from an experienced professional trainer.
I will get to know some of you very
during your time here. I pledge that I will pay attention to each of
you and to
be familiar with your riding progress and with what you should be
practicing to
Most days I will either monitor one
lessons personally or if I don't, I will either be video taping one of
lessons to discuss with you later or I will observe while one of the
instructors actually teaches the lesson. Either way, I will be very
your riding level, your progress, your strengths, and your weaknesses
rider. I will discuss your riding regularly with the other riding camp
assistant instructors, to be sure we all are doing the best we can to
I will be happy to answer your
about your riding during the day between lessons.
The barn manager and other
instructors assign
you horses in your daily lessons, but if you feel you are qualified to
horse that they do not let you ride, you are always welcome to speak
about your request. I tell my riding camp assistants to be conservative
careful in letting you ride horses that are at the limit of your
ability. They
would not be doing their job if everyone always got to ride every horse
barn that they requested, so I expect some of you to ask me for special
permissions, and sometimes I will say yes. I pledge to hear you out if
a special horse request.
High Standards:
Perhaps more important than
anything else, I
pledge to hold you to a high standard of horsemanship WHEN you ride
watching. I hope that some of you care enough about your riding to try
your best all the time, but we recognize that Longacres is not only a
camp, but your riding vacation, and you come here to have some fun with
When you are riding with assistant instructors or on trails, you will
numerous chances to ride more informally. While I’m watching you ride,
you will pay close attention, both to what your teacher is telling you
your horse and your equitation.
To give you an example from my
lessons, I
expect all my riders to be sitting up straight in the saddle with their
the horse and contact through both reins even while you are standing in
waiting your turn to ride a jump course. I am told that I have eyes in
of my head! When you are lined up at the side of the ring waiting your
want you to have your horse standing straight and square with the rest
line, his nose even with the two horses on either side of you. Part of
simply to keep you sharp and ready to perform well, but a big part is
you that a serious rider is "riding their horse even when they are
standing still". A horse loses interest in and respect for a rider who
slouching and not paying close attention. You will be very aware of
you ride with me.
High Standards in Return from me:
I expect a lot from you when you
me. I try to give you my best in return. I haul jumps all around the
set up interesting challenges for you. I don't get lazy very often and
throw a single rail on a jump for you to go over - I set solid jumps
ground lines. And I know my course design theory backward and forwards.
tell you a line of two fences is set carefully for a five stride
official horse
show distance, you can bet that it will be darn close to 72 feet.
I also care about the appearance of
and the jumping arenas. You'll often see me on my trusty old Ford
tractor or
with a weed trimmer in hand right before an important jumping lesson,
around the jumps just so they will look pretty for your lesson that
horse and rider doing a fine job over a jump course is a beautiful
sight, and
that picture deserves to be framed with well painted and maintained
jumps and a
well trimmed arena. I try to provide you that at Longacres riding camp!
Lots of Video:
We have many thousands of dollars
invested in
professional video equipment at Longacres riding camp, and we take many
of video of you riding during each session. We frequently meet at the
house after lunch or in the evening to review and comment on those
videos. This
video work and evaluation is another important personal contribution I
your riding progress at Longacres.
I try hard to set a standard of
excellence at
Longacres riding camp, and to praise and reward those who work hard
achieving that standard. I try to create an atmosphere where people try
their best in my lessons even if they are a relatively inexperienced
rider. And
the better you are, the more I will expect of you! At the same time, I
realistic enough to know that this is supposed to be fun for you, and
your lesson with me, you will have many more relaxed riding
opportunities.
You'll also have some FUN with me! I love to include surprise
gymkhana's and
mounted games and contests as part of my lessons. And because I have
responsibility for safety at Longacres, you will often have a chance to
little bigger in my lessons than the rest of the day. There are rewards
hard work.
Once last summer I was talking with
of students about the day's lesson, where someone had been chastised
paying attention. I said, "Yes, I'm kind of an old meanie."
One of the students responded,
strict, but you're not mean!" If you girls who are new to Longacres
year feel that way at the end of your stay with us, I will feel that I
done well.
Recreational Rider or a Serious Student?
Let me say first, that Longacres
riding camp
welcomes you either way! But it is important for us (and for you) to
you really want to achieve in your riding.
I like to classify riders in three
our riding camp.
First are riders who enjoy being on
and riding, but really have no interest in learning technique or going
any more advanced riding. I am glad to have girls with this attitude
Longacres and take advantage of the many hours you get to ride here.
would have to say that you are kind of wasting your money to pay to
place like Longacres if that is all you want to get out of horses.
that is your goal, you are welcome here. We will of course teach you
especially make sure that you learn what you need to ride safely and
with horses. But we will be less demanding in the way we teach and
Second is the group that includes
students who come to Longacres. Students who love riding and who do
polish their technique and learn to go on to more advanced riding and
showing. Riders who are interested in learning, but who want to show
mostly for
the fun of it. Riders who do not consider themselves highly
competitive. Riders
who like riding because they love horses and spending time with them.
who are interested in much of what we have to teach you, but who want
able to relax on their horse and not have too much pressure put on them
lessons. This is a fine attitude to have about your riding. I am
pleased to
have students like this at Longacres riding camp. Students in this
will get a lot out of Longacres, and will be pushed a little harder in
lessons, but I will go a little "easy" on you!
Finally, we come to the group of
students who
I will call serious, competitive riders. These are the girls who are
competitive by nature and who have ambitions not just to go on to more
horse showing opportunities, but to WIN when they do. These are the
who make a point of practicing good equitation even when they are on a
trail ride. The students who are sitting up straight and in full
control of
their horse even while they are standing in a line waiting their turn
course. The students who during a "free ride" session on the training
field are off in a corner by themselves doing dressage exercises or
practicing
clean lead changes while many others are riding casually with friends
about the day's events.
As I read over the above paragraph,
as though I think every student should be a "serious competitive
student". But that's not true at all! Riding is a great recreational
activity, and Longacres really does welcome students who are here more
fun and chance to learn a little more, than to win at all cost. I do,
want you to know which kind of student you are. If you set the highest
standards for yourself, I will have those same highest standards in
mind when I
teach you, and I will be the most demanding of your performance when
Favoritism
in the Longacres Riding Program
Favoritism - preferential
bad words around riding camp programs for children and young people.
preferential treatment exists at most institutions, and it exists in a
way at Longacres riding camp to an extent. By frankly discussing this
hope to avoid resentment and jealousy as much as possible when all of
here riding in the summer.
Longacres is a riding camp that
tries hard to
give all our paying students an equal chance to ride nice horses and to
they wish.
Longacres is ALSO a competitive
show stable,
with a long history of fielding very successful horse and rider
combinations in
western New York jumper competition. We have won every possible show
championship in western NY over the years with horses like China Heart,
Springs, Deamyn, Rameses, Tip-Off, Miscellaneous, Peppermint Patti,
Leather 'n
Lace, and Quantum Leap. And with riders like Julie Murray, Sue Bell,
Reading, Sarah Helmstadter, Sarah Pistone, Meghan Duthie, and Tovah
Number One Rider
I think it is good for our riding
program to have the excitement of some of our horses bringing home the
ribbons at a show. I think it is good for our program to have one or
extremely talented riders on our team as examples to us all. Because of
Longacres riding camp almost always has a student who is in the "Number
Rider" position, a student who often receives financial help from
Longacres based solely on their talent and potential as a show rider.
Being "Number One Rider" at
Longacres is pretty nice. And any one of you reading this article might
recruited to this position. I am always on the lookout for girls with
exceptional talent and ambition who might grow into this role in our
Whoever is our current top rider
some very nice benefits. They will ride our best jumper in the biggest
shows. They will get special private training sessions from me, and may
the top show horses extra hours in training. But heavy responsibilities
along with the rewards. If I am giving extra attention and benefits to
fine rider, I expect a lot of them in return. I expect them to help
students in any way they can. I expect them to ride any horse that
might need
training or be giving someone trouble. I expect them to be always
working to do
the best for our horses and to assist the barn management. And I expect
be NICE to the rest of our students and a good example as a person. Ah,
last sentence! By her very nature, a teenage girl who is a successful
jumper rider is likely to be an intense, competitive type "A"
personality.
I think that some of our most
successful top show riders have done very well at being supportive and
the rest of our riding camp students while riding to win for Longacres.
Sarah Pistone
was the "it girl" in 1997 and 1998. She was one of the best riders I
have ever coached. Meghan Duthie came to us for just two weeks in 1999
unpolished, but very gutsy and determined young rider. I was so
impressed that
I invited her to return for the big Hamburg Fair horse show at the end
season, where she fell off once - - - and then WON a big class! Meghan
in 2000 as my primary jumper rider, and was with me the following two
again as both a student and an instructor. She was a great help to me
Longacres. Tovah Abrams moved smoothly into the #1 rider role and our
trainer position in 2003 and 2004. More recently, Bethany Scarlata made
contributions to Longacres as #1 rider in 2010.
We try hard at Longacres to give
each student
an equal opportunity to learn, to ride nice horses, and to try new
things. It's
just that one rider is going to get just a little bit "more equal"
opportunity!
I want all of you coming to
Longacres as
students this year to know that those special "top rider" benefits
are not given as personal favoritism because someone is a good
brown-nose or
suck-up. They are earned benefits and a planned part of our program. I
that each of our students will benefit from being part of a riding camp
where excellence and success are nurtured and rewarded. And as I teach
you this summer, I will be wondering which one of you might be a
candidate to
step up to that "top rider" position when Tovah Abrams outgrows
and goes on to other things.
Hope this article helps you
understand more
about Longacres.
Get Along -
June 20th, 2005
As I get ready to open the regular
season, I am remembering that we are coming off one of the best years
Longacres riding camp last summer. We had a great group of girls who
high spirits all summer and worked together wonderfully. Many of them
returning. I have high hopes for another great year, but anytime we
success as great as we did last summer at Longacres I am a little
nervous that
we can't possibly quite measure up again. It will take effort and some
accommodation from everyone if we are to have the same spirit as last
We have the tools in place for the
of year. Wonderful horses, a great show schedule, and a good core of
riders from last summer.
Just about half our students most
returning from last year, and half are new to us. That's a good
combination for
creating a good riding camp group. But our returning students must go
their way to make all the new people feel welcome right away. There are
couple of things I do to help make that happen.
1) I try to put two girls who come
in the same bunk. But I also make sure that new students are evenly
between our two bunks. If four of our students are here for the full
weeks - to some of their slight displeasure, I will insist that only
them be in the same bunk so we do not have a "clique" of full season
riders at our riding camp.
2) Often when you get here, you
someone in "the other bunk" who you buddy up with and you might ask
to change bunks the first day or two. My answer will be "no". Part of
going to a riding camp is meeting new people and fitting into a group.
allow a bunk switch during a session. If I do it will be later in the
not during the first day or two.
3) We will have lots of "bonding"
activities during the first week besides our regular riding program. It
tradition at Longacres riding camp that someone will ask for a
ice cream stand" trip after a day or two!
First - Though we frequently do ride
five hours
in a day, we sometimes ride less, at the choice of our students. It may
for you to believe sitting at home in the winter if I tell you that our
often come to me and ask me if they can "take the afternoon off from
riding" and go the mall for a relaxing afternoon! But it does happen -
amount of riding Longacres offers is A LOT, and if you come here, you
sometimes choose to ride less in a day than we offer you. Especially if
here for a longer riding camp session. That sometimes creates problems
occasional student who comes to Longacres for only one week and wants
every possible minute while the rest of the students here for longer
stays want
to ease up from time to time.
Second - I like mentioning that we do have a few other things you could
Longacres besides ride, but in practice almost never does anyone do
but ride and work with the horses.
So, with the above few qualifications, the following article on a
Day at Longacres" will be useful to you. Read on!!
TYPICAL DAY AT LONGACRES:
One of the most often asked questions
people talk with me about riding camp is "What's a typical day
like?". I thought it would be helpful to write up this detailed
description of a normal day and send it out to everyone who's inquired
the Longacres Riding Camp this year.
Everyone has to be at the barn to help
horse care at 8:00 AM unless it is one of our occasionally popular
"sleep-in mornings"! Some people get up quite a bit earlier to take a
shower and relax on the way to the barn. Others fall out of bed at 5
minutes to
eight and stumble up to the barn rubbing the sleep out of their eyes!
horse care everyone helps on one team or another, watering and feeding,
out, or cleaning up the barn. On hot days, one group of riders
sometimes has an
early morning ride at 7:00 AM before horsecare.
Breakfast is at 9:00 and at 9:20 you report to the dining hall patio to
with "capers" which are camp chores for everyone. Your bunk is stuck
with wiping down the sinks at the showers today, while others sweep the
or the dining hall. With a willing smile you (cheerfully ??) do your
chores for 15 minutes. You then have some free time to clean up your
your riding camp bunk mates. You have to hurry, though, because your
assigned riding lesson is at 10:00.
You ride in your assigned practice lesson from 10 to 11. Our formal
the day when Tom teaches or observes your ride is between 11 and 12:45 .
An important part of the riding
instruction plan
at Longacres has always been the promise that I will directly teach or
personally watch every one of you ride every day. I have high
standards, and
part of what you are all paying for is being exposed to those
standards. We
split our riders between two groups who have their most formal lesson
day at either 11 to 11:45 or 11:45 to 12:30.
With only half of you mounted at a
will all have a good choice of horses for this most important lesson of
day. You will spend less time waiting your turn. I will have more time
personal attention to each of you.
The first 11AM group starts horsecare
and the second has to get ready for lunch when they get off. It's a hot
and if there is time, you and a couple of friends may decide to take a
lap in the canoe or go "sneaker-creeking" down at the Cazanovia
Meghan put together a lunch for each bunk and packs it in a wicker
basket after breakfast every day. You get together with the other kids
in the bunk
and decide each day whether you want to eat at your bunk, take a hike
river, or have lunch on the patio next to the dining hall. You pick up
wicker basket and box of goodies from the refrigerator, have your
picnic with
the other kids in your bunk, and start back to your cabin for rest
(Reality Note from Tom Kranz: Though Longacres these days is a riding
with no "nature walks" or other traditional summer camp stuff, I have
fond memories of many years ago when we did these things as part of the
camp program. For this reason I encourage students to take these
picnics, but I don't insist, and 90% of the time everyone plops down on
patio outside the dining hall for their lunch rather than taking the
picturesque picnics I'm so fondly describing here. Oh, well!)
You meet some of your friends from the
to yours who are climbing into Tom Kranz's or Meghan's car to go to
ice cream. You ask if you can go, but there's no more room. You're a
little mad
that you can't go, but remember that Meghan brought snacks to your bunk
pizza party two nights ago.
Yesterday you took a regular rest hour, sleeping in your cabin, but Tom
video's of your riding lesson this morning, and he's asked your riding
and your instructor to go up to the main house and review your videos
rest hour today. (We take about 20 solid hours of video tape every
summer, and
all of it gets reviewed while our students are here at Longacres.)
At 2:45 you go up to the barn to tack up for afternoon riding. You have
assigned for both riding periods. If you hadn't already ridden two
hours, you
might ride straight through, from 3 to 5, but the three o'clock ride is
informal trail ride, it's hot, you're "B" group this hour and the
horse you're signed up for wasn't your first choice today. You are
forward to your second formal lesson at four when you're an "A" and
one of our frequent guest instructors is teaching, so you decide to
pass up the
ride this hour and go back to the canoeing pond and snooze in the sun
dock for a little bit! On your way you meet a friend who asks you to
her to try fishing in the pond. You've never fished in your life, but
with her for fun, and come back to the barn in time to be ready for
You ride from 4 to 5, working in the
of the hour, and taking a fifteen minute trail ride to cool out at the
the period. You help put the horses away at 5.
After dinner you go back to the barn and work on drill team practice.
evenings, groups may have a lesson, go on a trail, work with green
horses, or
take a longeing lesson. You've just ridden your fourth hour today, and
could have ridden five if you'd felt more eager at 3PM. You help put
the horses
out to pasture for the night, and go back to your bunk to get ready for
Your bunk counselor asks you about your day, but right after everyone's
she has to leave for a staff meeting to help make riding camp horse
show plans
for this weekend. Some of you take this time for a shower and others go
to bed. After lights out you whisper with your cabin mates about the
horse you rode today. By the time your own counselor comes in from a
staff meeting at 10:30, you're all asleep. (Maybe!!! - tsk)
THE LONGACRES RIDING CAMP; 1529 MILL ROAD; EAST AURORA, NY 14052
(716-652-9495)
Is Longacres Right for You?
I wish that Longacres was the perfect place for every girl who loves horses to spend her summer, but unfortunately, we can't be all things to all people. What we ARE is a place where you can spend more time actually riding than perhaps any other riding camp in the United States!
What we ARE NOT, is a well rounded summer camp that happens to include horses. There are riding camp s like that, good ones. Places where you can ride an hour or two every day while still doing waterfront sports, crafts, drama, etc.
Longacres has NONE of that other stuff. We keep approximately two horses for each of our students, and you will ride and ride and RIDE some more, every day but Sunday. Read the article on
to get a better idea of what it is like here.
Choices to Make:
You have to be pretty sure that total immersion in horses will make you happy before you decide to sign up for a riding camp session at Longacres. You should also know in advance that we take only a very small group. We try to have between seven and ten riders here at a time so that we have plenty of good horses to go around. That small group works pretty well for us. It is like a family farm, with the older riders helping the younger. You have very personalized instruction, and our many professional guest instructors work closely with each and every one of you. Every time we video tape, ALL of you are taped! Those are some of the advantages of a small group.
But a small group is not to everyone's taste. Some people looking for a summer riding camp program will prefer a larger program that offers more opportunities for big group activities and the chance to make more new friends. And I can't promise you that there won't be somebody in our small group that you simply don't like. That is part of life. In a larger group setting, you can simply choose to be around a different group of people and stay away from someone you don't hit it off with. At Longacres we are forced to confront personality conflicts and deal with them. That's not ALL BAD, but it is something that you should consider before choosing a small group program like the one we offer at the Longacres Riding Camp.
How to Sign Up:
Well, I'll be quite happy if after just browsing through these Website
you decide to put a $250 check in the mail to me and ask me to save you
space! But I'm sure that most of you will have talked to me on the
telephone by
that time and had me answer more detailed questions you might have had
you a regular enrollment form via US Mail! Remember, MANY SESSIONS
Christmas last season. Check the
to go to downloadable
enrollment form.
Big Jumping at Camp
The following is a reprint of an article I wrote for the Longacres Log
newsletter late last year. Although this article is more concerned with
advanced riders, our basic attitude towards teaching outlined here
applies to
all levels of riding at Longacres riding camp. Campers and parents
considering
Longacres for 2005 may find it an interesting look at our concern for
excitement and opportunities for advanced riding to individuals, while
maintaining a safe program. It's more complicated than you might think
sometimes. Read on!
Excitement, & Safety
wanted to write to all of you for some time about something that has
me from time to time - how upset some of you sometimes get when we jump
than usual and you have problems. I hope you all can show this article
parents and talk with them. I think it will be helpful to you and to
parents in understanding how I try to balance your fun, your advanced
instruction, and your safety at Longacres.
think we do a good job at Longacres of giving you all a lot of jumping
of variety in jumping conditions, courses, grids, etc. But I have to
standards in regular riding classes that will keep you safe as
possible. That
means that some of you always have an itch to jump a little higher than
in most of your lessons.I think that jumping bigger jumps is good
training for
those riders who are properly prepared and who are on a suitable horse.
Obviously, jumping higher is also exciting and fun. Riding and riding
should be fun, so long as you are still safe. To give you this kind of
opportunity at riding camp, from time to time I personally hold a
"bigger jumping" opportunity, either in one of my classes, or as a
special event, such as we held on the last day of camp when I let many
jump Peppermint Patti and some of the other better horses. Whenever I
some of you have wonderful experiences - it is very good for you. But a
alw some very much so. T not good
are unhappy, and certainly not good if it really lowers your self
parents who don't know how I hold these special jumping sessions, let
explain. I will usually set up several carefully spaced jumps that help
horse's striding to make the bigger jumping as predictable and safe as
possible. Then I gradually raise the height of the jumps as the riders
turns jumping. Using my knowledge and experience with horses, I set
the height each individual rider can attempt, depending on many
factors, not
all of them at all related to that rider's personal ability. And that's
we get some unhappiness and disappointment. As long as any particular
rider combination looks safe and in control, I'll let them jump. But
when I see
the rider having trouble controlling the horse, or even if I sense any
insecurity that could result in an unsafe jump, I say, "That's enough
you today."Because some riders jump higher than others, it's easy to
that there is potential for disappointment and unhappiness. What is
IMPORTANT for you campers to understand, is that it is NOT a reflection
when I tell you can't jump higher. My decision is based on many things.
Obviously the horse you're riding has a lot to do with it. Someone
very talented horse like Patti will usually be safe jumping higher
than, let's
say, someone riding Gary. The same horse may even be going in a safer
reliable way one day than another. Sometimes it's obvious that you
should stop,
say when your horse begins to try to refuse the jump, or knocks the
jump down.
Other times, you may feel you're doing wonderfully, but I think the
nearing it's limit. Several times this summer, I remember stopping
Lindsey from jumping higher, and Sarah is in my opinion, one of the
best jumper
riders we've got. But Sarah likes riding Lewis, who has an excitable
going, and at a certain height, I just don't think he's safe anymore.,
when he seems to be clearing the jumps perfectly.
easiest way to keep you all from having your feelings hurt or getting
by thinking that, "Tom doesn't think I'm good enough to jump as high as
`so and so did.", would be never to jump higher than you do in day to
lessons. Keep all jumping to the lowest common level of the group, so
could do the same thing. But that wouldn't be Longacres. Longacres'
riding camp
program is great partly because we do have the horses, the jumps, and
teaching experience to take each and every one of you as far as you are
of going as an individual. I want to challenge you - safely. I want to
an exciting reward for your hard work - a safe reward. And I want to
home with stories to tell about that day at camp when you jumped a
bigger and
more exciting jump than ever before! - - - But I don't want you to be
that story with a cast on your broken leg!
no means do all of our campers ever try special bigger jumps. We teach
equitation and hunter style riding here, where the height of the jump
important. But I have a lot of personal training and lots of interest
"Jumper" riding, where quick turns and the bigger jumps are the
challenge. Longacres will always offer that kind of training and that
challenge to those who are interested and ready. But you have to
understand
that for safety's sake, eventually all of you will hear me say, "that's
enough for you today." It will often come after you've had a less than
perfect jump, when it's clear that you are reaching your limit for that
particular day on that particular horse". Your job is to do your best
to take that event as a put-down of you and your ability. You should be
that I think enough of your riding ability to let you attempt the
bigger jumps.
You should be aware that the horse you've chosen for the day has a lot
with how high you can safely jump.
one more thing to say about this. I have to make judgments on how much
do safely, and then stop you BEFORE you do something you can't handle,
AFTER you do something you can't handle. Although I have many years of
experience at this, I'm not always right. There are many times I've
riders from jumping higher, when they probably could have gone on and
more. Unfortunately, there are a few times when I haven't stopped
someone, and
they've had a crash. I'd rather be wrong fifty times and have you a
disappointed, than wrong once and have you hurt. Please understand
Riding Camp
Mill RoadEast Aurora, NY14052
716-652-9495
links: Below are links to several web pages that exist only to help
potential new
students find Longacres when they use differing search terms in Google,
etc. The information on these pages duplicates what you have read
above, using
very slightly different terms, such as "equestrian camp" or
"riding camps" in place of "riding camp". There is no need
to visit the following pages if you have read what's on this one.}