Camping Life

For The Love of Horses–

Published on by Kathy Baker

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Dorothea Kelton loved horseback riding when she attended camp in 1940 and remembered she had to pay extra for the lessons. She had been on horses around town, but not like her experience at camp. “We would tie a towel around the end of the bunk bed if we were riding, and the counselors would wake us up early. I still remember the instructor—Nadine Bell.”

The riding was the main attraction for Kathy Sullivan (1961), who raised enough money babysitting so she could take the lessons at camp. She spent time with horses near her home, but just as Dorothea said, it was not the same as camp. The girls could ride days in a row.

Mardi Jo Link (1973-78) would save her babysitting money all year, so she could have the riding lessons at camp. “My bunk was the furthest from the stables and I can still see myself laying on the bunk during rest time, waiting for the bell to ring. I would have my riding boots on while I rested. I would race to get my favorite horse “Champagne”. That horse was like a horse out of the movies with its light colored eyes and coat. Now when I look back at the photos, it was not a horse out of the movies, but the saddest and ugliest pony,” she laughed. “But, it was a fairy tale horse to me back then.”

The horses that Shirley rode were very calm and she never fell. She always made sure she did go too far out or she would have to fight them to go farther.“It made it even more special that I had saved the money,” said Shirley Colbert (1941). “It was my parent’s way of telling me that everything doesn’t come easy.”

Anne Duffield (1947-50) was supposed to earn the extra money to pay for the lessons at camp, but never got around to it. “When it came time to ride, my name was on the list, so I took the lessons. When I got back home, my Mom made me sell my bkie to pay and as I recall, I didn’t care! I know later in life when we took our kids to a ranch in Colorado, they were surprised to see I could ride.”

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Hiding With The Horses–

Published on by Kathy Baker

 

“It was a transformational experience at camp because of the animals, “ said Nancy Weber (1962). “ I was a girl born in the fifties in the city and I should have been a forties girl born in the country. I was just ripe for Camp Maqua. It was the first time that I rode a horse and it changed my life. That began a life long love affair. My Dad bought me a horse in the ninth grade and I had one until 1990, but my daughter was the one who had the talent for horses. I was very tight with Ollie and Mel and would visit them all the way through college and beyond—-that is how much they influenced me. Horses made me poor for the rest of my life,” she laughed. “Ollie and Mel were very dear to me and were models.”

“Honestly, I could not spend enough time with those horses. I had extra lessons for horseback riding at camp. I wanted triple sessions, but had to settle for double, but I would beg to go to those horses on my free time. I remember we could go for a swim during our free time, and somehow I figured out how to leave for the free swim, go back to the barn and get back to the lake. I made the mistake of forgetting to turn in my buddy tag, and they were practically dragging the lake for me,” said Nancy.

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Meet Carol Wahl!

Published on by Kathy Baker

Carol Wahl was the riding counselor in 1974 and 1975 at Camp Maqua. “I had taken my horse with me to college and I ended up teaching a student who was a part time draftsman in Bay City for an architectural firm. His boss’ wife was on the board of the YWCA and that is how I found out about the job for the camp,” said Carol. “I was the riding instructor for two years and did not teach the year I was pregnant for my first child, since they considered it a liability. In 1977, I taught at another camp.”

“The first year I was at camp I met Pam Moore, who ended up as my college room-mate and was also in my wedding. I had transferred from Saginaw Valley to Central in 1974, so that was the summer between colleges. I met many of the staff at camp that also attended Central, where I joined a Sorority. I remember a girl named Mary Toburen.”

Her riding program centered on this philosophy—“ to teach good, applicable techniques of riding, including how not to get hurt on or around a horse, while still having fun”. She used general methods for beginners, intermediate and advanced riders, which included formal lessons, and competitive games that taught control and confidence for trail riding. She stressed good form and techniques and rules. but felt like the summer of 1974, she worked with horses that were in bad condition.

“My cabin was actually the staff house near the lodge on the screened in porch of the second floor. (Dutton) I have memories of good food in the lodge, ”S’Mores” at the many campfires and a lot of singing.”

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Tales of Tails On The Trail

Published on by Kathy Baker

 

 

Brooke Charland was the riding director in 1969 and left wonderful notes about her summer with nine horses to handle eight girls in each class. (The extra was for rest and replacement.) Mert and Ollie Webb saddled and unsaddled their horses with the help of the staff.

The horse shelter with stalls had been finished in time for the sessions and protected the horses from the strong winds and sun and provided a place for the hay and oats. There was an old trailer near the shelter that housed saddles, bridles, brushes, currycombs, fly spray, first aid kits and other items.

Gail and Lori were her assistants, and they helped with the division of classes into beginner, intermediate and advanced. The beginners had the morning classes when the horses were fresh. The intermediate classes learned to trot. Every advanced class is a joy,” wrote Brooke, who loved how quickly they learned. Most of the girls had either owned horses or had a genuine love for riding in the advanced class.

Across the road from the ring was Beaver’s Bend, where most of the beginners rode. The main path was behind the ring, tennis courts and riflery range. There was a flag beside the trail that indicated when shooting was in progress, and the lead rider was always instructed to yell “horses” before passing the range and again when leaving. The path went past the range and out into a hilly field, which was a big circle with side trails that ended at Explorer’s Hill. (Only the advanced riders could ride those steep, narrow hills.)

Donna Harwood was the activity director the summer of 1970, but her main responsibility was in the riding area, with Mary Swantek as her assistant. (Donna had been the the riding assistant the summer of 1968.)

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Sixties’ Riding Instructors–

Published on by Kathy Baker

23505_115400865153594_7428988_n“I gravitated to the horses right away,” said Cathy Hawkins, who admitted it was her only interest. “If they made me do other activities, which they did, I did it, but as a camper I was a goodie two shoes and it was so unlike me to do this, but I skipped the other classes to go back to the horses.”

“One of the summers I went as a camper and there was another counselor who was in charge of the horseback riding and it did not work out. They hired me as a junior counselor for $50 for the summer, plus my room and board and I worked under Mert and Ollie Webb. I became so close to them—I even sent them an invitation to my wedding!”

“My nickname was “Horse” and so many of the parents were in shock to see me, thinking I would be this big strong girl, when I was a skinny petite thing,” she laughed.

Although Cathy was not homesick, she did miss the feeling of having her family around. Her horse was part of her home and part of the deal for her to become a counselor was to bring her horse with her. “Carryback” and “Misty Moonlight” were two of her horses, but she cannot remember which one came with her or if both did at separate times. It was her horses she missed when she was a camper and she was always happy to go home to see them, but tried not to get too attached to them in order to “move up” in horses.

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Horse Crazy–

Published on by Kathy Baker

IMG_5700Marsha Immerman started riding horses as a very young child when her family went to BayView Stables on Sundays. There was a pony ring, and her favorite horse was “Dimples” and she never wanted to leave, because she felt riding was ‘heavenly’.

“The first time on a horse at camp scared the hell out of me, because the horse ran off with me on the road from the lodge, heading off to the meadow. I ducked under a tree branch and didn’t fall and couldn’t wait to get back on the horse again,” she said of her camper experience at Maqua.

Geri Fleming was her first instructor—a mass communications student at MSU and was only twenty years old. “It was love at first sight,” said Marsha, of her first girl crush, “especially since she was on her horse “Gay”. I learned all the basics of riding with her and never fell off until years later.”

“One year we used to ride into a meadow and down a hill, which we called “Suicide Hill”. The road came into the camp and went away from the camp to the right and everyone was terrified of it. There was another road that led to the lake and it was usually a one hour trip on our horses,” She and Molly Olson used to ride bareback through the woods and through a meadow. They would lean over, holding the horse’s reins and gobble up wild raspberries picked from the nearby bushes. To this day, eating raspberries remind her of those trips.

“I was so horse crazy that I brought some horse manure home in a suitcase and put it in my dresser drawer. After three days, my Mom came in my bedroom and asked what that terrible smell was and I had to throw it away.”

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