Horsemanship and Cowboy Camps
CHA Skills Program

This year Camp has a new Horsemanship program! We have one instructor certified through CHA (Certified Horsemanship Association), which means we can now certify you! Our instructor has skills and teaching experience in both English and Western riding, so you’ll get well-rounded and informative classes with skills in both areas. Have you always wanted to ride but haven’t had the chance? Have you been riding for years and want a chance to get on a horse again? Maybe you’ve ridden some but want to learn a bit more…. In any case, we have the program for you.

CHA offers a four-level riding program that takes you from the beginning of horsemanship all the way through to advanced skills and knowledge. Our program will be sub levels of the CHA program due to our time constraints. You will be certified in each sub level you complete, whether it be one or four. Our goal is for every rider to improve their skills and learn something new to take away from Camp; this new structure is helping us to accomplish this goal. To give you and us an idea of where you’re starting and what goals to set, we evaluate riders before assigning each one to a level. Along with English and Western riding, we will also be doing some trail riding, including an overnight trip for Cowboy campers. Are you ready to ride? Here we go!

Level One

If you have never been on a horse before or it’s been awhile and you need a refresher on your basic skills, this is be the level for you. We’ll start out with basic horse safety and ground care including grooming, and tacking up. Riding begins with mounting and dismounting, then moves on to skills such as starting, stopping and turning at the walk. Once you’ve mastered these, we move to the trot, the most advanced skill of the level. Be ready for fun, games, and a chance to show off what you’ve learned at the end of the week.

Level Two

Maybe you have the skills to work with your horse at a walk, but that trot is still shaking you up. Level Two is the place to work on it. On the ground, you’ll learn about our 9+ breeds of horses at Camp and what each is used for. You’ll also learn basic horse care and behavior. In the saddle, you’ll be improving skills at the trot, including turning, sitting, and the posting. If you’ve got these skills down, you are ready to move to the last step of this level and ride on into the canter or lope. When you’ve completed the week, get ready to show off those skills and receive your final certificate.

Level Three

Now that you’ve got some practice at all the gaits and some knowledge about how horses think, it’s time to move on to even more challenging skills. In this level we’ll teach you, while you are teaching every horse you ride. You’ll be learning more about what’s going on in your horse’s brain and how to understand what he’s doing. And that’s just on the ground. Mounted up there on the horse, you’ll be working more on the canter/lope, and learning skills like finding the correct lead and balance for you and your horse. Balance is the key to this level, so you’ll be playing games and practicing skills—maybe an egg-in-spoon contest—that will help you become a more balanced rider. Our most advanced skill in this section will be the Western turnback which you’ll learn at the end of the level. So head’em up and move’em out—we’re ready to move on to Level Four.

Level Four

Are you ready to ride and learn this summer? Then come to MiVoden and experience our new program as you build a relationship with God through the horses and what they can teach you. We are excited about this summer and looking forward to seeing you there!