As the summer rolls to a close for campers across Newtown, Mary Ann Rudolph, the owner of Sunny Brook Farm, and Pat Gregory, the owner of Fox Ridge Farm, both agree that their horseback riding camps went very well.

“We had about 13 or 14 campers each week,” said Ms Gregory. “This is the most successful camp we’ve had in probably seven or eight years.”

“Riding is a privilege ladies, let’s look important while we do it,” Ms Gregory said to the three beginners she was teaching on Friday, July 31. “We’re trying to teach them how to steer right now.”

“Watching children learn to trot, canter, or jump, and master the skill of riding is never tiresome,” said Ms Rudolph. “Sharing in their excitement never grows old.”

Both camps ran for a majority of the summer, but riding was not they only thing the campers learned how to do.

“There’s a different horse-related activity each day,” said Ms Gregory. “Things like identifying different pieces of equipment or learning how to wrap a horse’s leg by practicing on each other.”

The campers at Fox Ridge get to go on a trail ride each day later in the afternoon, and the campers at Sunny Brook got to go on field trips to swim with their horses.

One of the campers at Fox Ridge, Lexi Ferrara, 10, said, “It was fun, I really enjoyed it. But the hardest part was learning how to go over jumps.”

Sammy Dyson, 15, is a counselor at Fox Ridge.

“Camp went really well,” said Sammy. “The kids seem to have a lot of fun, and they learn a lot.”

Both farms offer summer camp programs as well as year-round lesson programs. Information can be found online at sunnybrookfarmct.com and foxridgefarmct.com.