The drive through the beautiful towns and countryside north of Mount Monadnock set a tone of quiet beauty. The setting at the end of a winding dirt road was quintessential New England: white cape nestled into a hill shaded by ancient trees, red barn, open fields on a windswept hilltop and horses everywhere! We settled in to a bunkhouse that brought back memories of childhood, only this time I got the coveted top bunk without an argument. My wife and I got our own room, by virtue of my being the only guy. Our horses, of course, each got their own rooms too, in a barn that was well kept & airy in spite of its size. We ate well for every meal and enjoyed the pleasant company of the kitchen staff. Throughout the day, but in the evenings especially, we enjoyed the company of the other riders & the sharing of our day’s lessons, our love of horses, and bits and pieces of our lives. The videotaping that was done throughout the lessons was shown after dinner and gave us a taste of everyone’s experience as well as insight into our own progress and challenges.

Three generations of women led this camp, and by the time we left, I felt they had given me a gift beyond compare. Their quiet and efficient completion of daily tasks and unobtrusive insurance that all went smoothly left me realizing I had been given the rare experience of having nothing interfere with the time I had to work with my horse. I could focus on nothing but developing our skills and relationship. Of course, they’ve had a little time to polish their act, as the camp is in its 38th season.

We advanced our skills in dressage, stadium and cross-country through twice-daily lessons, and watched others when we weren’t riding. I often felt I learned as much from watching as did from riding. Most lessons were in groups of four, with riders matched for skills and interests. We also had opportunity for individual lessons and the choice of trail rides as a break. My favorites were the cross-country sessions. My wife and I started riding in our fifties, and now in our sixties, are interested and able to compete in low level eventing. We want to improve our riding and to ensure we are riding safely, but most of all we want to have fun doing it! I believe we were successful on all three counts, in no small part because of the quality of the instruction. Suzi Gornall was awesome in her ability to almost instantly understand our horses and give us simple exercises for step-by-step improvements in each venue. Stephi Baird led us through an eye-opening gymnastic that radically improved our horses' balance at the canter. Training was rounded out by Betsy & Jen, regular instructors at the girl’s camp sessions and well able to teach us even more riding skills.

As I contemplate the possibility of returning next year, I think of Lisa Campbell, middle child of Natalie Sanderson, and now manager of a 200 acre farm, a girl’s camp, a U.S.E.A. venue, and whatever else is necessary to keep a family operation running in rural New England. Through her, I am linked to the Kingsbury’s, original owners of the land in the 1700’s and after whom the farm was named. Just as I am linked to the land through care and love of my horse, I am linked to the land and the history of New England through this experience.