Horse Riding Camp

This year, we took seventeen students to Billabong Ranch (located four hours away in Echuca) where they rode a horse and completed a range of challenging activities for the Year 9 Horse Riding Camp. 

On Monday morning, we made a long trek to Echuca before we settled into our cabins on the ranch. The group learnt how to lead a horse, where and where not to brush, and how to saddle the horses we would ride. Everyone fell in love with their horses, especially Lara who couldn’t get enough of Walnut. After lunch, half of the group went for their first ride in the arena, learning how to steer and trot, with the other half completing a scavenger hunt around the ranch before swapping activities. With the warm weather in full swing, we settled in for a cosy movie in the dining hall after dinner, under the nice air conditioning. 

On Tuesday, the hottest day of the week, our group did an hour ride in the arena and an hour on a trail surrounding the ranch. Our activity for this day was all to do with bush craft,.  For this, we learnt how to build and contain a fire (making sure we kept our embers contained and ensured it didn’t spread to neighbouring paddocks) before learning the art of damper making. As if it wasn’t hot enough already, we all got close to our fire and cooked our damper until it was blackened and cooked through. By this point, the flies were very interested in what we were doing, trying to fly into the golden syrup we put on our damper and, on occasion, getting eaten by someone. Finally, we learnt how to ensure our fire was out and not a danger any more before getting back into the tractor to head to our cabins, seeing the foals and camels on the way back. 

After our Chicken Schnitzel dinner, with something even better, a Parma, for Mr Elliott and Miss Thomson, we headed out in the slightly cooler weather for some sunset beach volleyball. Everyone was very competitive, diving for the ball and yelling at people to hit the ball (Mr Elliott we are looking at you). We had the tunes playing and everyone’s spirits were high! 

Wednesday saw the toughest day yet for everyone on the horse; taking on a 2hr trail ride up along The Goulburn River. We saw some other wildlife, challenged ourselves with our steering and trotted more than we have ever trotted before. When we got back, everyone was definitely sore but still having an absolute blast. In our activity off the horses, we did some indoor bouldering, a table tennis comp, and some indoor mini golf. Everyone was working up such a sweat that the onsite café got a workout with the amount of ice creams we were purchasing. 

Wednesday night saw us watch another movie; indoors again, because the flies had not left. This time we watched Men in Black 2 and had a never-ending line of people getting their hair braided by Miss Thomson or Maggie. Our snack game was also very impressive, with everything from Zappo’s to popcorn keeping us up! 

Thursday (set to be the best day yet) saw us split up. One group headed into the arena for some lessons before a shorter trail ride and the other group out on a long trail ride again; this time in a different direction, full of bushes at head height, which the horses could not get enough of. Those of us riding sure got a workout trying to pull the horses heads away and get them to move again. Those in the Arena got to work on their skills a bit more, with those who ride regularly even getting the chance to canter! When we weren’t riding, we were tackling the low ropes and commando courses which saw us getting down and dirty, going over and under tyres and ropes trying to beat our opponents. We then headed out the back to the hay bales, arguably the best part of the camp according to some of the students, where we climbed, rolled on, and jumped over them until our hearts were content. 

Our day was only getting better, with a delicious Lamb stew cooked over the fire for dinner and Damper with Jam and Cream for dessert! We soon got ready and headed over to the stockman show, which saw Roxy and her horse Cash take on Rick and his quadbike, to prove how great horses are. They first competed in a series of challenges, where Cash managed to balance on a seesaw and beat Rick in a timed race to get flags from some student volunteers. Rick then got out his Whip’s and gave us a few lessons in how they work and showed off his incredible skills, even getting a cup from in between a student’s legs without missing a beat. We ended our Stockman Show with some marshmallow roasting over the fire and some sunset photos before Miss Thomson gave the whip cracking a go. We then ended the night on a high with some line dancing and laughter! 

The last day, saw us exhausted and wanting to go home but not wanting to stop the fun. We all did a short one-hour trail ride and some frisbee golf where we got drenched before it was 30 and sunny. We said goodbye to our horses and incredible camp staff before getting on the bus for the long journey home, where most of us just slept to pass the time. 

The camp was incredible, and the student and Mr Elliott and Miss Thomson has an absolute blast! We can’t wait to see what next year’s camp brings 😊

Amber Thomson and Nick Elliott

Horse Riding Camp