Water Camp + Horse Camp: Day Two

Day two of freedom

Hello everyone and welcome back to Experience Tollgate, a log of my time away from my tank. Today, I decided to wander to the barn first thing because I know that those campers are quite fond of animal chores in the morning. And sure enough, there they were, holding chickens and feeding goats.

Next, I made my way to the gardens to see what was going down over there. It turned out the campers were doing something a little different today: painting rocks! Although they may have gotten a little messy, the finished rocks really blew me away!

On my way back, I noticed some campers running around holding sponges, so I went to see what was going on. The peppers were actually playing a  game called Common Water, where different size sponges represent animals, people, and factories, and the game allowed them to see the differences in the amount of water used by each.

After that busy morning, we had a break for lunch to eat and chat with each other. Then, it was off to the races with boat building! You may recall that yesterday, I noticed campers sketching out ideas. Well today, they put those ideas into action and started building their boats! We will be testing them later in the week to assess their functionality, but for now, just admire their beauty!

Next up was a really great activity where campers got to read a story about a fish named Freddy who was swimming along when all of a sudden a bunch of pollutants infiltrated his home. Peppers got to add materials to the tank to represent the pollutants in the story.

Then I decided to go to one of my favorite places on the farm: the pond. Here, I saw some peppers practicing their fishing skills! I heard some whispers about actual fishing tomorrow, and I for one can’t wait!

We also did Garden Kitchen in Water Camp; check out the end of this post for pictures from that! Also, be sure to view our Google Folder for additional photos– I have plenty!

Horse camp was also in full swing today! As I was crawling around the farm, I noticed horse campers searching through magazines. I was curious what was so interesting in these magazines, so I crawled closer and saw that they were discussing color markings on horses! They identified grey, black, bay, chestnut, and buckskin.

Of course, it wouldn’t be horse camp if there wasn’t riding involved! Campers took turns riding Max and Scout in the arena today.

After lunch, I took a stroll to the horse arena. I saw campers learning to tie quick release knots. I don’t know much about knots… but it must be for horse safety.

Then I saw campers leading the horses around the arena. I learned that it is important to hold the lead rope under the clip and hold the extra rope in their left hand.

Have you heard of the 5 animal welfare freedoms? Well, as a turtle, I think these are incredibly important. I have the 5 freedoms in my tank- freedom from hunger and thirst (I get fed once a day), freedom from discomfort (I have a sunning rock and water), freedom from pain or disease (no shell rot here!), freedom to express normal behavior (turtle turtle), and freedom from fear and distress (no turtle predators in my tank)!

Apparently horse campers enjoy scavenger hunts. I saw them out scavenging in the compost pile and around the farm to find natural materials to make nests. They tested their abilities to make nests by dropping an egg in their nest from a high platform.

As you can see, I had a very busy day meandering around the farm. These campers enjoyed so many great activities today! Here are more horse camp photos: https://photos.app.goo.gl/ym64nnDy2jzg4Pzt7 

**Horse Campers** Please do not bring electronics or valuable items to camp**

And one of  my favorite parts of the day is when all campers come together for Garden Kitchen. Today’s Kitchen was very colorful, as we had all kinds of veggies– many of which came straight from Tollgate!

Until tomorrow, dear readers!

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