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Kids take the reins at YMCA horse camp
Published 5:08pm Friday, July 9, 2010By JESSICA SIEFF
Niles Daily Star
A summer camp program offered by the Niles-Buchanan YMCA is giving kids the opportunity to get away from the TV screen, out in the great outdoors – and into the saddle.
The four-day summer camp takes place at Egan Stables on Bakertown Road in Buchanan, and teaches kids about horses – from grooming and bathing to riding.
Karen Lukkarila, manager at Egan Stables, say kids taking part in the camp also get a chance to play games, including a water relay and catalog race with the equines and prizes.
“You go from Monday, with a whole set of kids,” in which sometimes three out of five have never been on a horse before, Lukkarila said. By the end of the week, “two of those three are riding on their own – in four days.”
Egan Stables holds four of the four-day camps for the YMCA during the summer, in addition to sessions held throughout the year and private individual and group lessons offered independently.
For the summer camps, groups are limited to 10 kids between ages 7 and 13.
The independently offered lessons are available to children at any age.
Staff is on hand for hands on help with each rider, if necessary Lukkarila said.
More than just an opportunity to get kids outside and away from the video games, these camps give children a chance to grow by working with the animals.
“The kids are learning how to handle horses, how to behave around horses and above all, safety with horses,” she said. “They need to be cautious no matter how nice they think the horse is.”
For children, that can mean learning to get over fear about the large animals and get a little trust in themselves along the way.
“It gives them confidence and it also teaches them how to pay attention,” Lukkarila said. “How to follow direction and carry out direction.”
At the end of the four-day camp, kids get the chance to take part in a show with the horses, as they did Thursday.
Two more camps are scheduled for this summer, July 26-29 and Aug. 2-5.
Lukkarila said there is still room in the final two camps of the summer.
The cost for YMCA members is $145 and $175 for non-members. The camps run from 9 a.m. to noon.
For more information on the camps, contact the Niles-Buchanan YMCA.
To learn more about Egan Stables, visit www.eganstables.com.
