Sport Horse Tounrament Time
Thursday, October 26, 2006
The farm is slowly recovering from the storm. The branches and limbs that have fallen down are slowly being removed and the bigger limbs will be used for next years camp firewood. For those of you who are interested I got my power back 7 days and 1 hour after it went out. Woohoo!
Next week Forrestel Farm Riding and Sports Camp will be heading off to the Syracuse Invitational Sport Horse Tournament. We will have a stand there all week and if you are going to the show we wouldd love you to stop in and say hi, bring your friends along as well.
The Syracuse Invitational Sporthorse Tournament is a not-for-profit organization that benefits Cornell University Equine Hospital and Vera House. The tournament has a wide selection of events including Budweiser World Cup Qualifier Grand Prix of Syracuse and the Animal Planet Sporthorse Cup as well as clinics that include Tips for Improving Your Jumping Round and Equine First Aid. You can visit the website at http://www.syracuseinvitational.com.
Horse update: - The horses are doing well. Bonnie, Jazz, Biscuit and Blaze are all doing well. Bonnie had an abscess in her foot but that has all cleared up after a few nights in a stall and some TLC. Do you have one of our horses? How are they doing? We would love to know how they are enjoying their winter homes. Leave us a comment or you can send a picture to keith@forrestel.com and we can put it up on the website.
The Storm of Friday 13th
Thursday, October 19, 2006
On Friday 13th the people of Buffalo and the surrounding counties woke up to massive devastation caused by a freak overnight snow storm. Power went out for over 200,000 homes on Thursday night and as I write this there are still 60,000 people without power, including me! The snow storm was caused by what is called the LAKE EFFECT which is the arrival of cold air from the north sweeping across the great lakes of North America. This Lake Effect can cause sudden and heavy snowfalls.
Most of the destruction was caused by falling branches from trees. Most trees in this area have not succumbed to fall yet and still have their leaves. When the snow came it built up not only on the branches but on the leaves as well. This added weight caused hundreds of thousands of branches to snap. The damage at camp was luckily only tree limbs. No people or (some would say) more importantly horses were injured. Camp regained power on Sunday and the clean up effort is expected to last more than two weeks.
What were you impressions of the snow storm? Did you see it on the news? Did your power go out?
Facilities Update
Thursday, October 12, 2006
Hello again, since camp finished we have made a lot of improvements to our facilities. Firstly Keith, Justin, Anne and Chuck painted the west side of the barn. It is now a brilliant white, with hunter green trims above each door. We have also had the tennis court relayed, so that in the 2007 summer Chris Horgan, our resident tennis pro, will be able to instruct more effectively.
In addition to the barn and the new tennis court Dennis has built two new tent platforms. Gone are the days when the campers of Tent 10 will live in a small tent since it has now been upgraded to a large tent which can accommodate 6 campers and two counselors. As well as an upgraded Tent 10 we also have a brand new Tent 16 as well.
The counselors at Forrestel are the heart of our camp. They work all summer to make camp the special place that it is. Our counselors come from all over the world to work at Forrestel and this year was no exception. This year we had 5 different nations represented; The United States of America, England, Scotland, Australia and Canada. What was your favorite moment with involving a counselor this summer? If you have any funny stories please share them with us by clicking on the comments link on this Blog.
Exclusive registration for retuning campers will be available until October 15th. After October 15th registration will be open to any new campers. So get your applications in soon.
A Forrestel Blog
Monday, October 09, 2006
Hi everyone and welcome to Forrestel's brand new weekly blog. Check back here each week to find out what is happening at camp during the winter, as well as fun stuff about Forrestel.
I'm sure your all wondering what has happened since camp finished. Well, we peaked at 52 horses and ponies during the summer and now we only have 4 left. Blaze, Bonnie, Biscuit and a new pony called Jazz are all enjoying life out in the horse pasture.
Exclusive registration for retuning campers will be available until October 15th. After October 15th returning campers will be guaranteed a place in the session of their choice. So get your applications in soon.