“God comes first, safety second.”
This is the cornerstone of what our EWALU Ranch Camp program is based upon. I will attempt to give you a brief overview of our summer. I’ve been involved with horses since I was four years old, matching cow-calf pairs riding with an uncle who loved his horses too. I’ve been involved with them in various ways ever since.
An important component of the program is instilling life skills that not only are relevant to working with horses but present and future interactions with people too. An example would be ” running and using loud voices/yelling is not acceptable.” Another rule is, ” put all of your grooming tools and horse equipment away at the end of the day.” In other words, keep things neat and tidy! Our last rule, but not the least important, is SMILE!
Integral parts of the horse program include learning about proper grooming, horse care, basic horse anatomy, horse psychology and knowledge of parts of riding equipment (saddles, bridles etc.). We even learned about what it’s like riding in a horse trailer!
Skills attempted and mastered during each week included learning how to lead, tie and saddle a horse. Once on the horse or pony, campers learned how to ride; steer, go forward and stop (control). Moreover, ranch campers were taught the four ways to control a horse: hands, legs, voice, and body. All ages of campers gained confidence and self-esteem from skill mastery.
Older campers gained valuable experience in the form of show tips from our wranglers if they were planning to show at a local 4-H or open shows. They also were exposed to riding bare-back and English riding.
We also incorporated “horse scriptures” from the Bible. However, we don’t have chariots at the horse farm yet! We prayed together every morning as we started out our day with the horses. We felt very strongly about having this as a regular part of ranch camp. It is God-centered.
Our Advanced Ranch Campers rode on the trails at EWALU and Clayton County Park ground. We had Alpha in the middle of a beautiful meadow, with our horses. It was an awesome experience! We also had Dr. Janet Sears DVM, demonstrate ultrasound, and answer questions about horses.
Our wranglers, Cassidy, Catie, Mary, helper Hailee, and EWALU Ranch Coordinator Emily were great with the campers! We had former wranglers Morganne and Halicia guest instruct, and Ila, a trainer from California, work with campers too. She has a wealth of equine knowledge to share.
We do sincerely thank everyone for their support of this program! We’ve been blessed with a growing number of campers since it’s beginning in 2007. We look forward to where God will lead us next with this “horse endeavor” in 2018.
Matthew E. & Jana L. Hamlett Hamlett-Hill Holsteins
Pr Charles & Bev Ager
Liz Albertson
Curtis & Joyce Anderson
Prs Keith & Virginia Anderson Larson
Anonymous
Michael & Kathryn Babcock
Kimbra Bader
Roger & Sue Bahe
Clark & Shiloy Baldwin
Dennis & Doris Barnaal
Elenor Bentrott
Bethany Lutheran Church, Elkader
Marilyn Bigelow
Beth Bird
Mark & June Birdnow
Robert (Edwin) Bishop
Don & Anita Blaker
Pr Karla Wildberger & Dean Boles
Walter Chip & Ramona Bouzard
Melbert & Jean Butikofer
Calmar Lutheran Church, Calmar
Calmar Lutheran WELCA, Calmar
Brent & Cheryl Carlson
Christ the King Lutheran Church, Iowa City
Keith & Dawn Christensen
Dan & Robyn Clark-Bridges
Leo & Jen Clougherty
Johanna Crawford
Crowning Revelations
George & Diann Curtis
Marvin & Annette Dahling
Dan & Carolyn Dauner
Madeline A Davidson
Linda Dettbarn
Dwight & Bev Diercks
Elaine Dove
Greg & Barb Drew
Elgin Lutheran Church, Elgin
Henry & Carol Elwood
Emanuel Lutheran Church, Strawberry Point
Darlene Esmoil
Faith Lutheran Church, Andover
First Lutheran Church, Decorah
First Lutheran Church, Maquoketa
First Lutheran Church WELCA, Decorah
First Lutheran Church, Cedar Rapids
First Evangelical Lutheran Church, Manchester
Kelley Foehrkolb
Ronald & Melodie Foelske
Kara Franke
Rick & Jean Gage
Paul & Nancy Gauche
Michael & Diane Gohl
Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, Decorah
Richard & Linnea Graen
Daniel & Allie Grainger
Larry & Diane Grimstad
Robin Gudenkauf
Norman & Gwen Gunderson
James & Julie Haage
Darvin & Norma Hacker
Jim & Sue Haemker
Valene Hautekeete
Wanda E Haverkamp
Joan E Hazell
Dr Charles & Anne Hesse
Darrel & Marlene Hicks
Thomas & Susan Hoey
Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, Dubuque
Nancy Jones & Mike Hovland
Howe Printing Co., Inc.
Immanuel Lutheran Church, Cresco
Immanuel Luth Endow Mem Fund, Cresco
LaDonna Jetter
Pr Dennis & Susan Johnson
Kenneth & Mary Jones
Norma Kappmeyer
Ruth Kittleson
Elsie Kittleson
Michael Wilker & Judy Kittleson
Mark & Laura Klingner
Pr Jim & Laurie Klosterboer
Don & Elaine Koss
Sheri Kuester
Tempest Kuykendall
Carma Kvidera
Zachary & Kristin Larson
Pr. Matthew & Pr. Amy Larson
Joanne Laxson
Rev. Duane & E. Mardell Lindberg
Mitchell & Cindy Lindgren
Paul & Regan Little
Brita & Tim Loynachan
Lutheran Church of the Good Shepherd, Waterloo
Lutheran Church of the Resurrection, Marion
Edward & Janet McEvoy
James & Sarah Meehan
Debbie Merrill
Corey & Renee Meth
Charles & Ria Meyer
Alton & Sharon Midthus
Craig & Carol Miller
Margaret Monson
Garry & Delores Moose
David & Orla Nelson
Jake & Carrie Nimrod
Dona & Carey Noble
Michael & Sheryl Sturdivan O’Donnell
Jim & Linda Oelrich
John & Shannon Olson
Al & Dottie Persson
Marilyn Pinkley
Jeffrey & Hildegard Radke
Karen & Tom Rietz
David & Bette Rod
Michael Roepke
Rick & Linda Rogness
Myrna Ross
Jean Sandrock
Frank & Mary Scamman
Joel & Susan Schlatter
Russell & Mary Schuchmann
Steve Schuchmann
Cary (Carolyn) Scott
Arne & Ruth Sorenson
Pr Ron & Patricia Spears
Cyndi Spears
Paul Specht
St. John’s Lutheran WELCA, Guttenburg
St. John Lutheran Church, Farmersburg
St. John Lutheran Church, Arlington
St. John Lutheran Church, Bellevue
St. John Lutheran WELCA, Dundee
St. John’s Lutheran Church, Dubuque
St. Matthew Lutheran Church, Dubuque
St. Paul Lutheran Church, Hampton
St. Paul Lutheran Church, Volga
St. Stephen’s Lutheran Church, Cedar Rapids
St. Timothy Lutheran Church, Hudson
Donald & Shirley Stange
Daniel & Kimberly Stieler
Roger & Oline Stigers
Heidi Sundet
Wally & Marie Sundet
Swales Precast Inc
Pr. William & Marilyn Thalacker
Jon & Peggy Thoms
Carolyn Laxson & Richard Tiegs
David & Shirley Titman
George & Bonnie Tobiason
Pr Larry & Lois Trachte
Trinity Lutheran Church, Walkford
Trinity Lutheran Church, New Hampton
Trinity Lutheran Church
Kyle Lechtenberg & Kara Ullestad
Betty Urlaub
Kent & Elizabeth Urness
Tony & Jennifer Utley
Richard & LaVanda Vagts
Dave & Brenda Versteeg
Ron & Cheryl Wilms Versteegh
Mary Walters
Wayne Zion Lutheran Church, Monticello
Barbara Wedge
Andre & Amy Wehe
Kenneth & Shirley Wellnitz
Denis & Dianne Wemark
Arol Westervelt
Mitch Wieben
Michelle Wikner
Edgar & Verona Zelle
Burkard & Marina Zellner
Zion Lutheran Church, Iowa City
Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church, Waterloo
Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church, Dysart
Zion Lutheran Church, West Union
Zion Lutheran WELCA, West Union
Zion Lutheran Church, Davenport
Bruce & Sharla Zwanziger
