Welcome back to the Terrific Tollgate Tour! I’m your guide, Coltrane Turtle, and today I will be walking you through the second day of both Animal and Horse Camp. It’s another beautiful day, so buckle up and get ready for another day of adventures!
Excuse me. Just getting my morning tanning in before we start for the day
Also, please remember that camp is a NUT-FREE ZONE, so no peanuts/tree nuts are allowed.
First up, we have today’s block of animal chores! As you can see, right now peppers are giving some attention to the goat kids and the chickens.
Two chicks
Just a group of “kids”
Then if you look to your left, you’ll see an intense game of bacteria tag is in full swing. I’m a little too slow to be successful at any sort of tag game, but it sure is fun to watch!
Run, bacteria, run!
You’re it!
And now, if you’ll direct your attention to the horse corral, you’ll see the horse campers are showing the animal campers how to groom Red, Zoey, and Sesame! It looks like they are really getting the hang of it!
Zoey is pretty new, so campers are giving her a warm Tollgate welcome!
Horse hugs
Sesame smiles
And beautiful braids!
What a busy morning! Let’s take a minute for lunch. Next up is something really exciting– oh look, they’re starting already! Let’s get over to the docks to watch the campers FISH! I wonder if they’re biting today. . .
Indeed they are!
Kiss the fish!
Fishing & happy about it
Now, please direct your attention to the pepper spots, where peppers are working hard on their STEAM nest building project. Today, campers got to collect materials and begin construction on their nests; they’re looking great so far, and I’m wondering how hard it would be to get my hands on one to spruce up my tank.
Making the best nest!
A beautiful home for any creature!
And now, we’ll travel over to the pavilion because I’m smelling something great: soap! Campers are making colorful soap with Tollgate goat milk and using essential oils to make it smell extra yummy. Use some in the shower tonight! (More info on goat milk soap)
It’s a little messy before it’s used to clean
Frosty the soap-man
And a soap narwhal!
For more photos from the Animal Camp portion of the tour, click here!
Now I will show you around Horse Camp! At the arena, horse campers are enjoying horse time! They are practicing trotting, stopping, and riding in a straight line between cones. They are riding Friday, Jade, and Tulsa today.
Concentration!
She’s riding the Jade!
Look at him go!
Next, I am passing campers learning about tack. They are learning about English and Western saddles. What are the differences? You will have to ask your camper!
Practicing tack in the grass
Saddling Sesame in the barn
Over here at the black walnut tree, campers are playing a game. They are leading each other through the maze to identify tack and grooming tools.
They are starting the course
She says this is a bridle!
She has the saddle pad
In the pasture, campers are helping with animal chores. It is important to keep the troughs clean for the horses to drink water. I think they are very thorough. Maybe they can clean my tank when it gets dirty.
Cleaning the horse trough
Cleaning the trough for Jade and Tulsa
Scooping up the dirty bedding
Over here the campers are feeding Max and grooming him. It takes a lot of horse food to feed a Percheron this big!
Feeding Max
It’s time to wrap up the day! At the tent, campers are reflecting in their journals. The prompt today: Create your horse farm. Where would it be? What animals would you have?
Writing in journals
I love spending time with the horse campers. That concludes the horse section for today! You can find additional photos HERE!
And of course, we HAVE to stop by the AC for Garden Kitchen! My friend Ms. Leah said that she’s serving up two delicious salads today, and judging by the looks on the campers’ faces, she wasn’t lying about the delicious part!
Shout-out to this camper, who I know is a daily blog reader!
Tie-dye salad because tie-dye is not just for shirts anymore
Some chopping assistance
That’s one scrumptious salad
Need a side dish with dinner tonight?
A look at the day
That’s it for our Terrific Tollgate (Tuesday) Tour! But the week is just getting started, and I have a feeling that tomorrow will be just as fabulous! If you want to follow camper adventures throughout the day, check out our Instagram (especially our stories!).
See you tomorrow!