Other riders were not so brave. Brooke Sauve (1949-51) would rather have been on a horse than swim. Her parents purchased her first horse when she was four, but she fell and broke her arm. Then the fear set in, so they sold the horse. When she was twelve they bought her another one. “The horses at Maqua were very calm, but I was still afraid and I still am today,” said Brooke.

Coleen Gasta loved the outdoors and also liked the horseback riding in the early sixties, but she had a hard time controlling her horse. “I was too intimidated. I remember my instructor yelling YOU CAN MAKE IT DO ANYTHING YOU WANT! “ (She eventually got into horses later and ended up renting one.)

The “Loon” in 1953 had a “Bulletin” on August 14. “One horse plus one canter equals one broken arm. (Name is Marsha and she’s slowly mending,)” read the piece about instructor Marsha Immerman, who never gave up her love for horses.

During the same time period, her cousin Audrey Graff and friend Molly Olson, recalled the steep embankment on the camp property that was an adventure to ride. It was far from the corral. The three girls loved to ride, but Audrey always had a degree of fear and was not as comfortable with riding as her friends. One day their friend Sherrie Susskind lost her footing in the stirrup and was dragged by the horse, had teeth kicked out and had to have plastic surgery later.

Marcia Sherman, who was also a friend of Marsha Immerman, took riding lessons when she was old enough. “I wasn’t a very big kid, but remember how huge I felt the animal to be in relation to me. One day it threw me and I was knocked out or stunned for a few minutes. The counselor wisely told me to get back on the horse, which I did and made it back to the stable. I may have riddet a few more times that summer, but never became fond of riding as Marsha did.”

Although not a seasoned rider, Amy Falk (1971-74) enjoyed riding. If a horse acted up, she was instructed to get off, but she only remembered doing a dive from a horse that acted up! Pamela Hartz (1966-75) had never been on a horse until camp. “I’m not sure if I was adventurous, but after falling from the horse there, I never wanted to go back on. I didn’t mind being around them, and I liked to groom them, I just didn’t want to ride them.”

Michele Patterson (1971-76) had one event, involving horseback riding, stand out in her mind. She fell off a white horse on an overnight trip. The horse spooked on the trail and she slid backwards off the horse named Champagne. “I was scared to death and I knew you were supposed to get back on the horse, but I just couldn’t. I have spent time with horses in my life, just walking them, but I have never been back on.”

Did you ever fall from your horse at camp? Were you injured?