Hello, friends! It’s LC here, with VERA beside me watching the leaves begin to change outside. We’ve both noticed something lately: High Hopes is changing along with the seasons.
Summer was certainly a busy one. From our favorite observation spots, we watched campers fill the barn and arenas, learning to groom and ride, discovering what horses need from their humans and their environment, and generally having what appeared to be a very fine time. I preferred watching the action in the arenas, both indoor and outdoor, depending on the bug count that day. VERA, on the other hand, often perched near the indoor arena windows, where she could keep one eye on lessons and the other on the staff inside, already busy planning for whatever was coming next.
But we both agree that the best part of summer camp happened somewhere you might not expect: the hallway.
Apparently, walking normally from one activity to another simply wasn’t interesting enough. We witnessed sharks, ducks, and all sorts of strange creatures making their way t hrough the building. Other times, campers attempted to move so stealthily and quietly that no one would notice them at all. We considered joining in, but ultimately decided against it. Our cat silly walks used to be the talk of the town, and it hardly seemed fair to embarrass the children.
Then, almost as quickly as it arrived, summer began winding down. The campers headed home, the hallways grew a little quieter, and the humans started talking about schedules, lesson plans, horse assignments, volunteer teams, and something called the “Fall Semester.” A new semester means welcoming back familiar faces, including our academic participants and Veterans, while opening the doors to people who may be experiencing High Hopes for the very first time. It means new partnerships between horses and humans, new goals to work toward, and new opportunities to discover something about yourself that you didn’t know before.
Of course, new beginnings can sometimes feel a little uncertain. Horses know that. Cats know that. Humans certainly know that. There’s comfort in knowing what comes next, but we’ve learned that there’s also something exciting about not knowing every detail of the story before it unfolds. Maybe a new horse will become a favorite partner. Maybe a participant will discover something they never thought they could do. Maybe someone will walk through our doors for the first time and eventually wonder how this place ever felt unfamiliar.
That’s the funny thing about beginnings. What feels new today might become the routine you can’t imagine living without tomorrow.
So, while the days get shorter and summer gives way to fall, we’re keeping our eyes open for whatever comes next. There will undoubtedly be new faces, new lessons, new challenges, and plenty of surprises along the way. And if we’ve learned anything from watching life at High Hopes, it’s that a little change can sometimes open the door to a whole lot of possibility.
Now, if you’ll excuse us, we need to start practicing our silly walks. We may have stayed on the sidelines this summer, but there’s always next year.
Here’s to new seasons, new stories, and all that’s waiting just around the corner,
LC (and VERA, Chief Possibility Officer) 🐾