Introducing Stormy

As mentioned in my previous post, I am here to write about a very special, new horse that has entered my life: Stormy. This 16.2 hh chestnut beauty is 12 years old, built like a warmblood, and has the coolest personality. She is a Belgian/Thoroughbred cross, and she is currently living out on Terrie's farm. Terrie is actually the one who introduced her and I.
She gave me a call one day, informed me she was for sale (she knew I was looking for a new project), and I was given permission to start working with/ride her. I have ridden her 6 times so far, and man, is she fun.
She is very smart, and picks up on things really quickly. She has had a lot of training put on her (dressage, cross country, hunter/jumpers, etc.) and has done shows and also some first level dressage tests. Her owner, Jennie, showed her and rode her a lot.
Another awesome thing about Stormy is that she LOVES to jump. With a passion. She took me over a jump without me even asking her to, and Jennie has told me stories of her voluntarily taking little kids over jumps in lessons, so she had to stop being used for lessons.
Last Friday, I met up with Jennie and her Mom, Stormy's owners. We spent an afternoon at the barn together, riding and playing with Stormy, and by the end of the day I knew they felt good about me as the new potential owner of Stormy. We set up a vet check for the next Monday (yesterday), and I left very excited about my future with this horse.

This story took a turn when my mom called to schedule the vet check. Upon answering the phone and understanding we were wishing to set up a pre-purchase check for this horse, she asked my mom, "Have you seen this horse's medical records from the school?" We had known of Stormy having had a very severe episode of tying up a couple of years ago, but I was not aware of the extent of the situation. The vet faxed over ten pages of Stormy's 500 page file for us to look at.
Basically, the files read that she was admitted for tying up, muscle tightness, spasms in her hindquarters, and she also choked as a result of all this. She came close to death apparently, but the treatment she was given was very effective and she recovered. However, by the end of it she was diagnosed with PSSM (Polysaccharide Storage Myopathy), which is a fairly common disorder that effects many draft crosses. Basically, it is when excess glucose (sugar) is built up in the muscles, which causes tightness and other symptoms (such as tying up). The trigger for this particular incident was two fold: 1) she had been put in a new, stressful environment of a show barn and 2) she was turned out on lush, green pasture during her stay. Because she cannot convert sugar properly (it builds up in her muscles painfully), the high sugar grass did NOT do her well. This, combined with the stressful environment she was just put in, caused her to tie up. It was because of this event the Virginia Tech vets were able to detect the disorder in her and diagnose her with PSSM.

After learning all of this information I took a step back, made several phone calls to horse people I greatly respect, and heard their thoughts on the matter. I did a lot of research, too, to understand what the maintenance and upkeep of a horse with PSSM was going to look like and cost, and after gathering all my information, I decided to continue on with the vet check.
The vet came out to Terrie's farm yesterday. We spent two hours out there as he examined her thoroughly, doing 10 different flexion tests and examining every aspect of her conformation. He also took blood from her to analyze, and through all of this Stormy behaved perfectly.
His conclusion was, other than a couple of superficial, cosmetic things, she was perfectly sound. He called back a couple hours later to tell me that her blood work looked completely normal and healthy, and that she would be perfectly suited for what I want to do with her.
So what do I want to do with her? Well, first and foremost is build a relationship with her. I want to continue working on our communication, and get her to the point where she is truly ok with me and what I'm asking her to do. In the long run, however, I see this horse and I all over the place. Obviously, I plan on taking her to the Harry Whitney clinics with me, and also maybe looking into a couple of other clinicians (maybe another Kathleen Lindley clinic? I would also like to look into Wendy Murdock and Peggy Cummings who instruct classical riding). In the long long run, I would like to maybe participate in some shows with her. She is a fantastic jumper, which suits me perfectly because jumping is my passion. We have a local cross country course at Green Hill Park that I would love to eventually take her to.

 Above all though, I want to enjoy her. I want her to enjoy her time with me, and I want her to have just as much fun as I plan on having. She's a great horse, and we really click well. I can't wait to bring her home (due to scheduling conflicts, not until the 19th or 20th of December) and begin my work with her. My mom and her owner met yesterday to exchange paperwork and my mom handed my check to Jennie for her, so Stormy is officially mine. This horse is a huge financial decision on my part, the biggest I've made so far. But, I believe it will be beneficial to my education. I have always had a bank account labeled "Big Horse Fund," and the time has come for me to use it. I am so grateful for this opportunity, and SO DARN EXCITED FOR WHAT THE FUTURE HOLDS!

Until Next Time!

Onto Part Two...

This is the next installment in my series of long over-due make up posts about my life and the horses in it. I left off with the end of the Harry clinic, and left a cliff-hanger for those who cared to read to the bottom (I know it was a long post, sorry for my incapability to condense the material). Anyways, strap yourself in for another long, excitement filled post, cuz here goes...
Following the clinic, Terrie and I talked and worked out dates for me to return to her farm to keep working with Sassy and chipping away at the lingering negative thoughts the little mare has. I have since been out 4 times to ride Sassy. Each time I have done groundwork and long lined her first. The long lining really helped her loosen up and relax both her back and her mind, which was a good warm up for the ride. My first visit I did all the prep, hopped on, and walked her for the majority of the ride. Toward the end I asked for a small trot, and by ask I mean crowding her walk persistently until SHE offered a trot. I was given a short, choppy-strided trot with her neck tight and ears back. Following Harry's advice, I didn't direct her much, but asked her to keep trotting in the belief that she would work through it. Eventually she was able to even out into a nicer trot and at that time I called it quits. All in all that day I was happy to have gotten her to trot, and she seemed not to resent it and that's all I was concerned with.
The next three times I rode her was all in this past week. I rode her Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, and boy did she do GREAT. Monday we warmed up normal, and I hopped on and walked her out. When I crowded her for the trot, she easily fell into it, and for the first time EVER she actually blew out and put her head down as she was trotting. This was huge. She released a great deal while carrying a consistently paced trot. I crowded her a bit more a couple of times and she was able to give me a bigger trot without any ugly attitude. I was SUPER pleased.
Wednesday I returned to the farm to find Sassy happy and eager to go. I had been checking her back before and after each ride and not once could I find any pain. I took her to the arena, warmed her up like normal, and climbed aboard. We went through the things we had been working on such as the nice forward, low-headed walk, and the forward, but calm trot that we had gotten on Monday. She offered both pretty quickly after I asked, and she was just feeling really good. Around one corner I squeezed her up a little bit while she was trotting, and low and behold, she cantered! She cantered a couple strides, then came back down. I took her around at the trot and asked for the hurry again and she picked the canter up beautifully again. She held it down the long stretch for about 10-12 strides, and I asked her back down into a trot (to avoid her tendency to just STOP) and she gave me a lovely transition. Obviously, I was over the moon at this point by the fact that we had just cantered for the first time in four years.
I let her soak on that for a good long while, and then I asked her to move out in the other direction. She went willingly and as soon as her trot evened out and she dropped her head and relaxed, I asked her up into that canter just as easy as can be. We stopped there, rode back up to the barn, and called it a day.
Friday I went out and immediately checked her back. Terrie had told me she'd been sore the day before, but she appeared to be completely sore-free. I proceeded to tack her up, worked her in the round pen at liberty some, long lined her, even over some jumps, and then mounted up. I walked her, trotter her, and got her up to a canter which she carried for an entire circuit around the arena. She amazed me, so I stopped againon that good note and brought her back up to the barn.
Sassy has most certainly amazed me recently, and I am VERY happy about the progress she has made. However, I am fully aware that she is still her unpredictable self, and I know that there are probably some not-so-great rides in our future as well. For the mean time though, I am trying to consistently go out to Terrie's and work with her. I truly believe the consistency of last week helped her immensely, and I hope to continue to grow on the great stuff that was planted last week...

Next time I will fill all of you readers in on the new horse who has entered my life, also about my new job, along with some college updates! Until then!

Three Months Worth of Material

I come bearing good news and bad news. The bad news is that I have completely failed myself and all of my readers for not having posted for several months. I wish I had a better, more creative excuse for this, but truthfully the only thing I can say is that I have been SO BUSY. Which leads me to the good news: despite my lack of updates on this blog, I have indeed been playing with, riding, and submersing myself in horses more now than ever. My life has been so exciting and there are so many things I must fill you in on!
First and foremost is what I refer to as the Sassy Saga. I had mentioned in a previous post that I was planning on taking Sassy to the Harry Whitney clinic in Floyd this year, and many will be happy to know this did in fact happen. Prior to the clinic I played with her three times out at Terrie's farm, and our sessions for the most part went surprisingly well. I truly had NO idea what to expect, what side of Sassy was going to show up, or how she was going to react, but I rode her three times and overall she handled it well. The main idea behind doing this was to reacquaint myself with Miss Sass so that I would not arrive at the clinic having not worked with this horse for two years. On my second ride on her at Terrie's she did twist around a bit, get a little snarly, and I did come off of her, but it was nothing serious, just Sassy reminding me that she is far from "fixed".
So clinic time rolled around and needless to say I learned a LOT at that clinic. It was the week of the 24th of September until the 30th, and it proved to be six days of intense horsemanship. The first day we worked on the ground in the round pen, and after a while Harry came in and worked with her. She was getting very snarly when he went to direct her from the saddle area, and when he began to rub her side and back, she began to buck and pin her ears. He held in there and kept on rubbing until she was able to accept it, then he backed off and went on his merry way. The big thing I realized from their time together is that I can't let her dwell on those negative feelings for long. I have to get in there, get it done, and move on. I can't nag her because that's when her resentment kicks in. I have to git 'er done, not make a big deal about it, then she'll feel better about it. It's all about CLARITY.

The second day we had to work around the weather, so the first part of our session was in the barn during a downpour of rain outside. This day was monumental... Harry + Sassy + Stall. For those of you who are not aware of the history with Sassy and stalls, the story went like so...
4 years ago, a couple of months after we bought Sassy and Charlotte, we decided to leave Sassy in a stall while we took Charlotte down the road to ride her. When we returned, Sassy was in a deep sweat and clearly very nervous. We called a horse friend of ours who told us she would get over it and calm down if we just close the top half of the stall door. BAD IDEA. The second the top half was latched, she began to run in circles around the stall and go nothing short of bazerk. We immediately reopened the top half, and went to get a lead rope when she decided she needed to get out of there NOW. She proceeded to jump over the four-foot high door and out of the stall. The only obvious physical consequence at the time was a big long gash on her back left leg, but it soon became clear she had really hurt her back in this accident as well. Therefore, after that she was never consistently ride-able because she was either in pain from her back or mentally unsound to ride.
With all that said, we have since that accident, not really had the opportunity to work through any stall issues Sassy has. I saw this as a perfect scenario in which to do that. I led Sassy into the stall, and right away she became very nervous. I asked her to go in and out of the stall until she was able to go in more calmly and feel better about it. I then handed her to Harry. He took her halter off and got a flag from the nearby tack room. He explained to me that if she began to get nervous, anxious, or try to get out of the stall in any fashion, he was going to make a huge commotion. After asking why, he told me it was because if she started to feel all these emotions, it was because her mind was leaving the stall. If she began to attempt to jump out, it would be to follow her mind which had already left the stall. Therefore, he would whack the flag on the side of the stall or make some other kind of noise to bring her back to the stall mentally.
He had to make several commotions, and in total Sassy tried to jump out a couple of times; but, Harry caught it early and brought her thoughts back to the stall. She began to relax, blow out, and lick and chew quite a bit. She eventually got to the point where we could all leave and she was able to stay calm and not get emotional at all. We moved her to a stall closer to all the other horses, and we decided to test it by leaving her in there over lunch. I came back from lunch to find a calm. happy Sassy munching on hay next to her buddy Niji (Tom Moate's horse).

Later that afternoon I was able to ride her and as soon as I got on and asked her forward, she cow-kicked and pinned her ears. When I unstuck her, she walked a few steps then stopped dead. Harry and Ronnie told me to completely loosen my rein and focus on doing as little as possible to get her to walk. Once she began to walk I was to leave her alone completely with my reins, and focus solely on being fluid and moving my body with hers and she walked. We were in the round pen, and I allowed her to walk wherever she wanted; Harry told me we were only concerned with the fact that she was walking out. She began to shake her head so much to the point I thought she was reacting to something with the bridle, but Harry pointed out he thought she was just releasing emotions. She had a big lick and chew and let down a lot by blowing through her nose quite a few times. She broke into the trot a couple of times, and when she did I'd let her go there for a minute, then gently bring her back down without being harsh on her mouth or criticizing her.
Harry said she needed a lot of non-demanding rides on her, meaning rides in which she learns its alright to just go forward and not worry about someone pulling on her mouth. She had a big breakthrough this ride and I know she left feeling a lot better about things than she did when she came to that round pen.
The next day the lesson consisted of basically the same thing, except we did it at a trot. I trotted her around in the round pen some, and though she was going around with her head up and tight, she was going and that's all we were focusing on. We couldn't force her to relax her carriage, and Harry said that was something that would come in time when she began to truly feel better and trust that I wont pull on her.
The fourth day of the clinic, Sassy reacted very negatively when I saddled her, and after having Harry look at her we determined her back was very sore. The saddle I was riding her in didn't fit her well, and that combined with all the riding we had been doing and her initial back problems from the accident caused her to be very sore and un-rideable. I got some good stuff going on the ground with her, then put her back in her stall.
Tom Moate's gave me permission to work with Niji, his little pony he brought who ended up not being ridden by anyone. So I saddled him up, played with him on the ground, and hopped on. He was a fun little pony, and I enjoyed riding him and working through some stuff with him. His big "thing" was crookedness and lack of focus. He was very aware of where the gate was, and was always pulling toward it by falling in on that shoulder towards it and at one point he even bluntly just took off with me toward it. I held on and got control back, but I can officially join the "Been Ran Off With Niji" Club that has been famously written about in Tom's works.
The final day of the clinic we checked Sassy;s back again and she was still sore. This was the day my family was going to come and watch me ride, so I had to call them to tell them not to because Sassy was still un-rideable.
Instead, Tom offered to let me ride Jubal, his big, lofty Quarter Horse Harry worked with all Summer. He was quite fun and I thoroughly enjoyed the little ride a had on him. He was very sensitive, so it was a really neat experience. Tom then asked if I'd like to ride his other Quarter Horse Festus, to which I said of course! He was fun as well, and I am now able to say I have ridden all three of Tom Moate's steeds.
Later that afternoon I brought Sassy up to the arena for some ground work. I wanted to long line her, so I saddled her up, and after working through some stuff that showed up when I circled her, I snapped on the long lines.
Long lining Sassy was probably the most fun I had all week. She picked up on it like a pro and before long we were trotting figure 8's, cantering circles both ways, and getting really nice, connected, precise transitions. She felt GOOD. Harry checked her back following the 30 minutes we long lined and he said her back was not nearly as tight or reactive as it was that morning. He gave me permission to get on her and we ended up riding for about 20 minutes. She got a little snarly, but I just worked her through it and didn't let her dwell on those thoughts. She was able to trot for a good portion of time, and we ended on that note.

All in all the clinic was a great learning experience for both me and Sassy. I went into it with the notion that we could fix all her problems and she could come home, live with me, and be my next project horse. However, when she developed her soreness half way through the week, it was like Deja Vu back to when Mom and I spent two years trying to work with her through her pain and mental discomfort. It was a roller coaster, and we were never able to get her in a dependable place where she consistently felt good about what was going on. Sassy is back on Terrie's farm, however I have been working with her quite a bit since the clinic. However, all those stories are for the next post...

Myofascial Release

Once again, I must apologize for my lack of updates on this blog. I am preparing for starting college next week, riding riding riding, working quite a bit, and also my cousin and aunt came into town this past week. So, since things are a bit slow today, I figured I'd take advantage of it and give y'all some updates!
Charlotte has been struggling all summer with slight lameness and crookedness. It has become such a mystery as to what the cause is; we treated her feet with CleanTrax hoping that would allow the possible abscess in either of her front feet to burst, however nothing came out. This forced us to look further up and consider her shoulders as the source of the problem. We called and made an appointment with our good friend, Rhonda, who does myofascial release with both horses and humans. She came out and determined that the root of Charlotte's problem is in fact not even in her shoulder, but actually in her hind end. Charlotte has always had an underdeveloped hind quarters and has never fully used her back end as she should. Therefore, it comes as no surprise that this is the source of Charlotte's problems.
Rhonda worked on Charlotte's hind end quite a bit, more specifically her right side. She said that her whole right side is compressed and off and just not equal to the left, and because of this Charlotte has been over compensating and therefore has a sore left shoulder. It was quite interesting to watch and see that truly Rhonda treats the horse just by suggesting changes and using the energy she gets from God. She uses very little pressure, because more pressure than a fly would cause the horse to move away from it.
Charlotte made nice changes that day, however the treatment needed more than just that one session, so Rhonda also came back out this past Sunday.
There were many changes in Charlotte during the week between appointments, for the better of course; however, her imbalance and lameness was still evident, so Rhonda worked on her again.
She also worked on my mom because she has been having shoulder and back pain for many months now and the chiropractor has not helped as much as hoped.
Interestingly, Mom's diagnoses was spot on with Charlotte's. Mom's left shoulder has been a bother for many many months, and Rhonda discovered that her pain, too, was originating from her pelvis. Her whole right side is scrunched up and she is in pain and not balanced. It was such a neat discovery and it really goes to prove the old saying "your horse is your mirror."

Along with helping Charlotte with her lameness, Rhonda also asked if I would like any work done with Woody. I briefly explained his tightness in his left front shoulder that Terrie always commented on, and also the sinovial fluid sac he has on his right knee. She worked on both of his shoulders and he made some really nice changes and relaxed the tension in them, then she moved to his knee. She said that as she worked she realized that the sac originated from when he hyper extended his knee when he was younger. We have never had any knowledge of how the sac appeared; it had been present when he was just a young colt at Terrie's farm. So, along with providing us with the source of the sac, she also worked on it and when she returned on Sunday she observed his knee was much less swollen and that, though the sac was still present, it had decreased greatly. This was of course great news, however she mentioned that his knee would in fact be arthritic in the future and that I should do all I could now to preserve the knee. The next time the vet comes out I plan on asking for her medical opinion, but Rhonda thought it would be a bad idea to jump him frequently. This was hard to hear, but I plan on asking Dr. Hatchett when she returns to our farm and inquire further about it.

All in all the treatment Charlotte and Woody have been getting has been extremely beneficial and I am so glad that Charlotte is slowly recovering from her lameness. Rhonda is such a blessing to us and I am so grateful for the work she does with both horses and humans. Keep up the good work!

The Much Needed Update Post

Believe me, I am aware that I have not been giving my blog the attention it needs. I have had so much going on in my life, that my blog has unfortunately had to take the backseat. But I'm back, and ready to tell those who read this about recent happenings.

Woody has been doing phenomenally well. I'm not sure if we're still on the post-Harry-clinic high, or if this is the new and MUCH improved Woody and Eden team.
I have ridden him a dozen times or so in the past month, which is pretty good considering how crazy I've been lately. Each time he is fine to catch, fine to tack up, fine on the ground, fine to mount, and we've spent most of our time together with my aboard. The first 5 or so rides I focused on trot to walk transitions. For some reason, he was really struggling with staying with me when he trotted, staying soft, and making a smooth transition to the walk. We worked on this for quite a while, and it seems like all that repetition of asking for a walk with my body, beginning with the reins, then having to come in strong with the reins for a back up really payed off. He is now fairly consistently able to pick up that nice soft trot he has, without rushing, and come right back down with me when I slow down. So that is success number 1.

The story behind success number two is as follows...
A friend right up the road from us has a horse she trail rides everywhere in our area. She knows the area like the back of her hand, and always offers to take us out with her. However, Mom and I have not been in a place with out horses where we feel comfortable with that, so we have had to decline each time.... until Saturday came that is.
I dropped by Lisa's house, leaving my phone number for her to call when she was ready to ride, and what do you know, she called me thirty minutes later when I was just about to halter Woody for a ride. She exclaimed, "Give me 20 minutes, I'll be right over!" So I tacked up, warmed Woody up, and Mom and I headed out with Lisa and her Tennessee Walker, Breeze.
We went down to the nearby golf course and back, and the horses behaved very well and were genuinely excited for the adventure. I walked, trotted, and even cantered Woody on the trail and he did exceptionally.
When we returned home, Lisa told me to call her again soon when Woody and I were ready for an adventure ride. I have called her and set the date for this coming Sunday afternoon.
I was so proud of both Woody and Charlotte for handling themselves so well. They didn't even blink at the cars on the Parkway when we crossed and after we cantered a stretch of the hayfield, Woody came right back down with me. That's a definite success number 2.

Terrie has also come to trim in the time between now and my last post, and she was able to give me a lesson in trimming. I trimmed one of Woody's front hooves while Terrie explained what to do and why to do it. It made a lot of sense and it was really good to get a hands on lesson with her regarding hooves.
I then tacked up Woody and the three of us went outside to have a lesson. I wanted help understanding finesse a bit more, so we warmed up then went to having Woody understanding a soft feel. He was really struggling with figuring it out, and yet another manifestation of his pushing through pressure tendency came up as he tried to push through the bit. I would hold in there and tell him not to lean on that, and eventually he was able to carry that soft feel really nicely for several strides.
However, when he carried it, he tended to suck back and not have much forward, so we then went about having him pick up that feel and have myself really exaggerate the "lets go forward" feeling in my body. He was able to get pretty forward and carry himself well for a couple strides, so we called it quits. That lesson gave me a lot to work on with Woody to get that soft feel consistently there when I pick up the reins.

I have been very busy, as I have already said, so here are some other updates...
* Charlotte has been on and off lame since camp, and Terrie believes it is an abscess in her front left hoof. We are waiting for it to come out, however Mom is convinced it is in her shoulder, so we have made an appointment with Randa, a friend who does Mao-Fascial Release with equines, for Charlotte on August 7. Woody will probably end up having some work done too.

* I am signed up for the Harry Whitney Bible Clinic in the end of September in Floyd, and I have been wanting to work it out so I can take Sassy with me, instead of Woody. Woody and I are in a great place, and although we are in no way done with Harry or anything, I think I would benefit from learning with Sassy from an educational standpoint, more than with Woody. She presents a whole new challenge than he does, and I can't wait for Harry to meet her and for us to be able to work together again. Terrie is in support of this, and we are still working out the details, but it appears that I will be taking Sassy with me to Floyd! In preparation for this, I am going to be making several trips out to Terrie's to work with her and get reaquainted with her, and while I'm out there, Terrie has given me permission to ride her other horses, and get experience working with and riding all different kinds of horses.

* I have been out to Joy's farm once since being back, and the "big babies" (7 PMU drafts) have come such a long way! We were able to pick up everyone's feet, which was a first. Joy also expressed interest in me coming out to help her with her Gypsy babies while their moms are gone (they are being bred), and teach her how to handle them and get more communication going and some ground manners instilled in them. I am looking forward to this, and she also would love for me to work with Mirage in riding him and getting him comfortable under saddle. OH BOY!

* I am officially enrolled in Virginia Western Community college, and will be taking three classes Tuesdays and Thursdays. I am dual enrolled, meaning I still have high school courses to finish, but I will be finished with my high school work at the end of this semester!

Vaulting Post

First, let me apologize. This post should have been published many, many weeks ago. And again, I am going to use the predictable excuse... I've been so busy! However, I want to fill all of you in on another important aspect of my week  in Tennessee before moving on to what is currently going on with my horses.

Maria and Arielle, fellow Harry Whitney students, own a farm right up the road from Mendin' Fences. They have a lot of experience in vaulting, which is basically gymnastics on horses. One evening they asked if I would be interested in coming out one day after the clinic was over to learn about vaulting, and naturally, I said YES! I have always had an interest in vaulting, so I jumped at the chance to learn more.

When we first got to their farm, after unloading their horses from the trailer, Arielle described and performed the 6 compulsory moves on the vaulting practice barrel. I then got on and she walked me through the moves again: rider's (or basic) seat, flag, mill, scissors, stand, and flank. Once I was comfortable with them on the barrel, we headed out to the arena with big Thor (their Clydesdale vaulting horse).

Arielle hopped on first and showed me the moves again while Thor walked out, then it was my turn. I went through all the moves at either a walk or with Thor standing still. I learned how to dismount properly, and also how to do "run outs" (where the vaulter runs out to get in stride with the horse so he can mount). Arielle and I did some doubles moves, and eventually I got to where I could stand on his back without holding onto Arielle as he walked.

All in all, it was REALLY fun and I really enjoyed getting the chance to learn more about vaulting. I am so thankful Arielle and Maria offered to have me over to learn. I have been looking into teams in the area, but the closest I know of is Blacksburg. I'll keep searching for teams in Roanoke, because I am very interested in being more involved with it.

Harry is a close family friend of Maria and Arielle, so he came out that afternoon and used his photography skills to take these cool pictures while we vaulted!

Pictures Of Camp!