Christian Church
(Disciples of Christ)

By MELODEE HALL BLOBAUM - Special to The Star
July 5, 2000

Ben Howard started attending summer Bible camp at Tall Oaks Camp and Conference Center when he was in elementary school, and has been a camper ever since.

What could draw the high school sophomore back to the same camp he's attended for years?

It's not the games, the camp fires or the Bible studies. Nor is it the swimming pool or the miles of hiking trails spread over more than 300 acres near De Soto.

Howard returns to the camp each year because of the center's 10 year-round equine residents. And he's not alone in his enthusiasm for the horses.

Camp leaders say the animals are the main attraction for students from kindergarten through high school. The equestrian program offers a different perspective on biblical concepts - one which stays with young campers for a long time.

"I came to primary camp when I was younger and rode for 20 minutes three times, and fell in love with the horses," said Ben, who will be a sophomore this fall at Shawnee Mission South High School. "I come to camp for the chance to work with the animals and learn more about horses and go riding."

In June, he attended one of four equestrian camps being offered this summer at the center. The three-day camps, limited to a dozen students in each session, blend riding instruction and Bible study in a community and faith-building program for students in sixth grade through high school.

The Tall Oaks steeds also play a role in the summertime Bible camps offered for younger students through the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). Youngsters in kindergarten through second grade who attend day camp at the site are offered a brief ride on a horse led by an equestrian camper. Older elementary-age youngsters take a solo stroll around the paddock, and middle school students are treated to a trail ride.

Though the riding experience may be brief for the younger campers, its impact is forceful, said the Rev. Suzanne Shay, associate pastor at Merriam Christian Church, and a volunteer director of the junior camp for fourth- and fifth-grade students.

Describing the experience of the youngest day camp students, Shay said, "You get them up on this big horse, and they're in this big helmet, and they sit and they don't move and their eyes are real big and you think, `These kids are not having a good time.' But on the way home, if you ask them `What was your favorite part about the day camp?' they all say `The horses.' "

Older elementary students also are charmed by the horses.

"Most of the kids that come back from camp can tell you who they rode," Shay said. "And when they go back the next year, they'll all have to go say hello to Winchester, or to Holly, or to whoever."

It's the equestrian campers who spend the most time with the horses. And at times, their program looks more like work than fun. On a Friday afternoon when the mercury passed 90 degrees, equestrian campers wore jeans and boots as they prepared their horses for a session in the paddock.

They brushed the horses and treated them to a dose of insect spray, then flung saddles over their backs, and teased bits into the mounts' mouths. Those not directly involved with the horses spent the afternoon clearing trails.

But hard work didn't diminish the teens' enthusiasm. Both Howard and Jennifer Breeden, 16, of Smithville, Mo., are veterans of equestrian camp, and both said they plan to return next year. Howard said he hopes to become a counselor there.

The teens said the horses are not the only reason they return each year. Another attraction is the relationships they've formed with other campers and with camp leaders.

That pleases Barb Purcell, the year-round director of equestrian programs for the center. She said she's seen the group of campers that includes Howard and Breeden develop a sense of community in the years they've been together, and she encourages the campers to return each year.

"They're like a little family," she said.

Purcell has an ulterior motive for developing the young horsemen and horsewomen. She explained that equestrian activities at the conference center require a dedicated and experienced cadre of volunteers, and she hopes the students will return as volunteers.

"The better I teach these guys, the better volunteer base I'll have to tap into," she said.

While Purcell leads the hands-on horse activities at the camp, she relies on volunteer directors to make the Scripture connection in the program.

One of those leaders is the Rev. Greg Lanier, associate pastor at Countryside Christian Church, who was the volunteer director for the June equestrian camp. This is his fourth year as an equestrian camp director.

He said he believes the horses help suburban and urban youngsters make a connection with something that's been lost in the transition away from an agrarian society.

"I think the reason you see people obsessed with their yards and their dogs is that we need to be around nature in a bigger way than just digging in the yard and cutting the grass," he said.

"There's just something about us that's not complete unless we're connected in that way. I think that's an obvious and natural manifestation of God's presence. And I think this whole (equestrian camping) experience grounds us and helps us to find a part of ourselves that has been lost or is missing."

Besides polishing their horse-handling skills, Lanier said the students get a larger sense of the nature of creation. He described the equine "pecking order" at the camp and told of the attempts of one new horse to stay out of the last place in the pecking order.

"It just reminds you that there's this whole animal kingdom and that it exists alongside us," Lanier said.

"We can think that the world revolves around us and our world. And just as we do that with different ethnicities and social classes, we forget that there's a world that's much larger than Johnson County and that it definitely includes animals and people. I think the kids get some insight into that as they start to know the horses."

Shay said the camps also help students understand of the interdependence of creation: "That's a really unique gift that they get from those camps."

 

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