DuBois Center

Tag: horses

  • We’re Looking for a Few Good Horses

    We’re Looking for a Few Good Horses

    As we prepare for Summer Camp, we want to add a couple horses to our herd. We’re hoping someone out there knows of a horse or two that might be a good fit for camp that could be donated or purchased at a reasonable cost.

    Here’s what we are looking for:

    • Reliable kid-safe trail horses – walk, trot and canter with good brakes.
    • Not too young and not too old – our preference is for horses between 5 and 15 years old.
    • Large and sturdy – at least 15 hands tall and well built. They will often be carrying children, but they also need to be able to carry large adults.
    • Healthy, easy keepers – our herd spends much of their time living naturally in our pastures and woods. No horses with special dietary or health needs.
    • Good temperament – they will be working with kids much of the time and need to be patient and easy-going.
    • No bad habits – no bucking, rearing or cribbing

    If you know a horse that is available and might be a good camp horse, please contact Scott Kuether at sekuether21@gmail.com.

  • Thanks to all the Fall Festival horse volunteers!

    Thanks to all the Fall Festival horse volunteers!

    The ticket count shows that we provided 450 arena rides for our guests this year. That’s 1,350 laps of the arena over the six hours of Fall Festival. It takes a lot of people to make this happen smoothly and successfully. Our volunteers took tickets, fitted helmets, helped riders mount the horses, and walked the horses. We also have a volunteer monitoring the arena at all times to make sure our riders, walkers and horses are safe. Another assists with any issues that come up in the arena and helps swap out horses as needed. Hours before the gates open, volunteers bring the horses in, feed them, groom them and get them ready for the day.

    And we can’t forget the horses. This is a long, probably boring, day of work for them and they all handled it very well and without any issues.

    Many thanks to everyone who helped in the barn and the arena this year.

  • Hay is for Horses

    Hay is for Horses

    On Friday afternoon, DuBois Center staff and volunteers worked along with a local farmer to bale some of the hay from our fields into square bales for our horses. In about three hours, the group baled, loaded, unloaded and stored 369 square bales. About a third of the bales were sent up our new (to us) hay elevator into the barn. The rest has been stored in the hay shed. Using our own square bales to feed the horses in the barn is healthier and saves us money.

    Great thanks to Tom Karhoff for coordinating the cutting and baling of the hay. Thanks to Josh Meredith for working with the baler to load all those bales onto wagons. And thanks to the rest of the staff and volunteers who helped to unload and store the hay.

    Photo above (l to r) Rylee Hodges-Stone, Sharon Murphy, Sandy Kuether, Scott Kuether

    Group photo below (l to r): Meredith Malone, Mary Wagner, Tom Krueger, Tom Kahrhoff, Rylee Hodges-Stone, Josh Meredith, Jonathan Copple.

    Larry Reeble also helped out, but didn’t end up in any of the photos. Thanks to all.

  • Welcome Nevada and Sierra

    Welcome Nevada and Sierra

    Today we welcomed Nevada and Sierra to our herd.  They were donated to camp by friends of one of our regular horse volunteers.

    Nevada is a 19-year-old dun mare.  She has a lovely tan coat with a dorsal stripe and black mane and tail.  Sierra is a 17-year-old paint mare.  They are both very friendly and were excited to explore their new surroundings.

    We’re looking forward to having them find their place in our herd and learn the routine at camp.

     

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  • DuBois Center Awakens

    DuBois Center Awakens

    On Saturday, March 27, DuBois Center sponsored their first events since March of last year. The Girls Scouts of Southern Illinois, under the leadership of Anne Townsend, brought small groups out to the camp for their “My Brownie, My Pony and Me” and “Mommy and Me Paint a Pony” day programs. They have had these programs on their calendar for a year, hoping we might be able to accommodate them this spring. Thanks to the amazing work of the Outdoor Ministry Team in creating good safety protocols and procedures, to the Horse Team who generously volunteered their time and leadership, and to amazing DuBois staff members, the day was a big success.

    Anne shared some of the comments she heard from the event:

    • “This was one of the best-organized events I have ever gone to. My girls had a blast!”
    • “My girls had so much fun they don’t want to leave. Do you want to keep them here?”
    • “My daughter has autism and ADHD. She has a hard time interacting in a group setting and sometimes is disconnected, but not today and while she was around the horse. She and I would love to come back and do more programs like this. Today was one of the few days where I got to see my daughter shine.”

    While this past year has been a difficult year for DuBois Center with countless hours the Conference leaders have spent in designing several contingency plans for programming and creating best practices in order that groups might be able to enjoy DuBois Center this spring and summer, it has been completely worth it!!

    Please continue to hold your camp, DuBois Center, in your thoughts and prayers. With your support, we know we can bounce back from this past year even stronger and ready to give everyone who experiences DuBois Center a sense of the special, sacred space it is.

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    Girl Scouts4

  • We’re Looking for a Few Good Horses

    We’re Looking for a Few Good Horses

    As we prepare for Summer Camp, we want to add two or three horses to our herd. We’re hoping someone out there knows of a horse or two that might be a good fit for camp that could be donated or purchased at a reasonable cost.

    Here’s what we are looking for:

    • Reliable kid-safe trail horses – walk, trot and canter with good brakes.
    • Not too young and not too old – our preference is for horses between 5 and 15 years old.
    • Large and sturdy – at least 15 hands tall and well built. They will often be carrying children, but they also need to be able to carry large adults.
    • Healthy, easy keepers – our herd spends much of their time living naturally in our pastures and woods. No horses with special dietary or health needs.
    • Good temperament – they will be working with kids much of the time and need to be patient and easy-going.
    • No bad habits – no bucking, rearing or cribbing

    If you know a horse that is available and might be a good camp horse, contact Scott Kuether at sekuether21@gmail.com.

  • Fall Festival Challenge Update

    Fall Festival Challenge Update

    Thank you for your most generous support of the DuBois Center 2020 Fall Festival Challenge. Being a major fundraiser for DuBois Center, we knew that the necessary cancellation of the annual Fall Festival due to COVID-19 safety concerns would produce a financial hardship. The negative impact was reduced thanks to the extravagant gifts of those of you who responded. A portion of the proceeds from this challenge has been used to purchase much needed helmets and saddle blankets for the vital ministry of our equestrian program.

    Nancy Wagner, Outdoor Ministry Team Chairperson

    Matthew 6:21: For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

  • Back in the Saddle

    Back in the Saddle

    This past weekend, DuBois Center and our horse volunteers welcomed the first guest group riders since March! It was a beautiful day to make new horsey friends and to be out and about. As you have seen in regular posts, the horse team has been busy caring for and tending to the horses, barn and trails, but THIS is why they logged all those hours! Four family groups took advantage of the great weather. In addition to riding, they brought picnic lunches, explored the hiking trails and played in the leaves.

    Dates are available in November for family and small group rides. Minimum number of participants is 4. For more information contact DuBois Center at dcinfo@DuBoisCenter.org or 618-787-2202.

    Sunny

  • The Great Escape

    The Great Escape

    The horses at DuBois Center are the most memorable part of camp for many. Some past campers, who are now in their 40s and 50s, can remember the names of their favorites and even which ones they rode each year. We love them, but just like children, they can be mischievous.

    Last Sunday morning, a neighbor called to alert us of “The Great Escape.” The herd was found enjoying a leisurely Sunday morning brunch in our north fields. The fields, which had been freshly cut and baled, presented a smorgasbord too tempting to resist. Calls were made to semi-local camp staff and volunteers, and the horses were soon back inside the safety of our fences.

    THANKS to Josh, Ryan and Tom for their extra effort!

  • Doggie Day Care for Horses?!

    Doggie Day Care for Horses?!

    Doggie Day Care is a familiar concept for many. Thanks to volunteer Sharon Schafer, we have a similar but enhanced version for our horses. During a typical season, summer staff work with our herd six days a week. The horses come into the barn daily and are assessed and fed. During a COVID year with limited staff, this amount of attention is just not possible. A couple of our horses were looking too skinny. They were tested for worms, medication was prescribed, and their diets enhanced. To be most effective, treatment and extra feed was needed daily, sometimes twice a day. Sharon and her husband volunteered to care for the horses at their home and provide the extra TLC needed.

    Classy and Thunder returned to camp last week – healthy and happy. In their place Apache and Sunny headed to “the spa” for their tune-up. Thanks so much to all our equestrian volunteers for the hard work, and especially to Sharon for this extra TLC!

    Thunder