Cardinal Stables & Riding Academy

PHONE: 336-399-7099         FAX: 336-351-4974              

Mailing Address:                  P.O. Box 215,                      Pinnacle, NC 27043             

Physical Address:                 427 Snowberry Lane             Dobson,  NC 27017             

E-MAIL:                               cardinalstbl@surry.net        

Beverly McGee                    CHA Certified Instructor    

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Welcome to Cardinal Stables Riding Camp. We hope you, as a prospective camper will take the time to look at all of the wonderful things we have to offer. Also, please take special note of our camp week layout. We group campers together in specific weeks to target their age and riding level. This gives your child the best possible chance at improving their riding skills and meeting new friends. We’ve had great responses to our camp and hope to have another fun summer.

Our horses here at Cardinal Stables are well rounded and can accommodate beginner riders as well as riders wishing to trot, canter or jump. Campers are assigned a horse that best suits their age and riding ability and that is usually the horse they will ride and care for the entire week.  Occasionally our instructors may make changes to horse assignments if necessary.

Activities are horse related and age appropriate. Your child will enjoy one mounted lesson and a fun, age appropriate craft in the morning, and then a mounted and un-mounted lesson in the afternoon.

Our instructors are very experienced and capable. We offer the opportunity for older Advanced or Intermediate students to attend weeks where they assist the head instructor with the younger and less experienced riders. This is all done under the strict supervision of a qualified adult instructor.  Our Head Instructor is CHA Certified through the Certified Horseman’s Association and is very experienced with young riders.

Lunch & Breaks include a mid-morning break, lunch break and a mid-afternoon break where campers can eat snacks, go to the restroom and get a drink.  During the lunch break, children will be allowed to watch an age appropriate and clean horse type cartoon or movie.  Your child should bring a bagged lunch each day and several snacks for breaks and plenty of fluids. Your child may purchase drinks and snacks at the camp store. 

Horse Care is the responsibility of the camper while they are at camp. Campers are taught to feed their horse every morning. They are also expected to pick their horse’s stall every day, which usually takes aprox.  15 minutes. 

Goals are assigned to each camper. Your child will be evaluated the first day of riding and will be given a goal to work towards throughout the week based on their riding skills and will be rewarded for reaching goals at the end of the week.

Visits from parents are allowed during the lunch break. We do not allow visits throughout the rest of the daily activities because it can be very distracting to other campers and our instructors. Please reference our Camp Schedule sheet for lunchtime.

Camp Store has a variety of items that may be of interest to your child. Camp T-Shirts, Disposable Cameras, Drinks, Candy, Snacks and many other things are here. Parents should fill out a form at the time of application or at least 2 days prior to camp if they wish to deposit money for their child into a store account. Detailed descriptions on purchases will be kept for parents review. We do not suggest sending money to camp with your child. It could get lost with the days activities and we cannot be responsible for lost or stolen items or money.

Riding Attire: Campers should wear apparel suitable for horseback riding. It is our recommendation that your child wear paddock boots, riding breeches, and a comfortable t-shirt that can get dirty, and a sweatshirt or light jacket for the chilly mornings. Riding gloves are also nice to have, because after so much riding, their hands can get sore.  NO SHORTS OR TENNIS SHOES, your child CAN NOT ride in these. If you or your child chooses not to get breeches or paddock boots, they can ride in pants that are not restrictive, like a pair of stretch pants or stretch jeans and a pair of heeled boots like lace-up western boots, etc. But they should NOT wear WIDE or BULKY boots, they are a safety hazard. We also require that campers wear a safety helmet when riding. We suggest, due to sanitation purposes that each child have their own helmet, but they are also welcome to rent a helmet from Cardinal Stables at a rate of 10.00 a week. If you would like to purchase your child’s riding apparel, an instructor here at the barn sells riding apparel and can get your child set up with what they need with as little expense necessary. An order form is included if you wish to order your items from S&S Equestrian. Please order at least 2 weeks prior to your child’s first week of camp to ensure your child has what they need for camp, as this time of year these items go quickly.

Scholarships: Campers with low income or who would not otherwise be able to attend due to financial reasons, may apply for a scholarship that will cover up to half of their camp fees. Only a limited number of scholarships are available. Campers must live in Stokes County to qualify. Please contact us for details or application. This is kept confidential and no other campers or parents will be aware of who does, or does not have a scholarship.

Before & After Care: Parents wishing their children to attend camp, but who are unable to be there to drop off at 9:00 A.M. or pick up at 4:00 P.M. may enroll their child in our Before or After Care program. Children are allowed to be dropped off up to 2 hours before camp and be picked up, up to 2 hours after camp. There is a  fee for this Service!  Students not enrolled in after Care or Before Care, are not allowed to be dropped off before 10:00 A.M. and must be picked up by 4:00 P.M. A $10.00 fee will be imposed for every 30 minutes you are early or late. 

Our Facility: is clean and safe and provides a great riding and learning environment. We have 15 stalls in our upper “Main” barn. We also have an outdoor riding arena as well as an indoor riding arena. We use our indoor arena quite often in the hot afternoons of camp. We also have a lounge that is Air Conditioned that we use to teach our un-mounted lessons and that we use for our crafts. We have a bathroom that is very convenient for the campers and our staff. We also have Hot& Cold wash pits we use when teaching children how to bath horses. We have a hot walker as well and we teach the children how to properly walk a horse after a heavy ride. Our walkway is wide enough for horses/ponies and children to pass through safely.

Rider Evaluations are highly recommended and may be required for students wishing to attend Intermediate and Advanced Weeks. It is very important to the safety of your child and others that your child is in a week that is appropriate for their level of riding. In our years of experience we have come across many children who have cantered before, but cannot yet canter in good control. This means being able to keep your horse on the rail, do figure eights at the canter, control your horse at half-halts, etc. These children need to be in our Intermediate week. Intermediate week will not be boring and will be focusing on strengthening their riding skills at the trot, canter and over jumps. This is a great week and loads of fun! Rider evaluations are inexpensive and will give you the best week of riding and the best value for your money. Rider evaluations can be set up by contacting Cardinal Stables.

Bringing Your Own Horse To Camp is fun and a great experience. This is a wonderful opportunity to improve your skills on your own horse.  Horses will be used for the camper only and will not be used for any other child. Horses do need to fit into the structure of the lessons and should not be unruly or dangerous. We also want your child to have a good experience and if their horse is causing distress to them or any other camper or is causing too many disruptions due to bad behavior, we will not be able to use the horse in the program and it should be brought back home. Your horse will be fed and watered and hayed properly and will be taken great care of. They will get a clean box stall. Your horse must get along well in a lesson environment and with other horses.   He must have good ground manners and be somewhat pleasant to handle. Horses are required to have a Negative Coggins, a Health Certificate, and an up-to-date shot record, which must include a 5-way shot and a rabies shot. They also need to be wormed a couple weeks prior to coming to camp if at all possible. Horses cannot be sick when they arrive. Horse should also be shod at least 2 weeks prior to their stay. Please fill out the horse application sheet and send it in along with your camper application. Stalls go fast and are on a first come first serve basis. The cost is 75.00 per 5-day camp week. If your child or your horse needs to stay longer, it is $15.00 a day. Campers are allowed to ride their horse during daily camper lessons only, like a regular camper.  It is important to inform Cardinal Stables of any special needs. If your horse is sensitive to changes in diet, you  may bring their own feed to camp for their horse if they are concerned about the stress of changing and adjusting to new feeds. This is at the discretion of the horse owner and will not result in a discount on your horse’s stay. 

Pony Camp

Pony camp is for children ages 5-11 on Half-Days and  7-11for Full days. Activities are specialized for this age group. We have 3 available weeks for Pony Camp

 Beginner Week #1 – Half Days – June 9-13- $125.00 - Beginner weeks are geared towards riders with little or no experience with horses, or for riders that have had some experience, but it has been a while.  The first week is June 5-9 and this weeks is half days only and is better suited for children with short attention spans or children who have not had much time away from home in a camp setting. If you feel like a whole day is just too much for your child, then this week is best.  Times are 10:00am to 12:00 Noon. Your child will learn to groom, saddle and ride their horse/pony, and will do crafts and classroom lessons. They will learn colors and breeds of horses and should be able to walk and turn in good control and their overall knowledge of horses will be improved greatly.

Beginner Week #2 – June 16-20 -Full Days-  $250.00 – Again, this week is for children with little or no horse experience or if it has been a long time since you received instruction or have ridden. Campers attend full days – 10::00 AM. to 4:00 P.M.. Campers learn to feed, groom, tack and learn the basic skills. They also do fun crafts and learn about colors, breeds and the bone structures of horses. They will also learn about different riding equipment and parts of the saddle. Your child should be able to groom and saddle the horse with little or no help, and will be walking and turning in good control by the end of the week and most will be beginning to trot.  Their overall knowledge of horses will be greatly improved.

Intermediate Week – July 23-27 - $250.00 – Campers wishing to attend this week MUST be cable to walk, turn and trot their horse in good control. They should be capable of trotting a figure eight and keeping their horse on the rail and not breaking gait at the trot. They should also be able to post. Campers do not need to know their diagonals, but if they do, that is great. Campers in this week will work on diagonals, cross rails, control, balance, leg yields, jumping positions and cantering. Your child will be going over cross rails and cantering at the end of the week. This group will also be doing crafts and un-mounted classroom lessons directed towards their riding level. Campers attend full days- 10:00 A.M. to 4:00 P.M.

Horse Camp

Horse camp is for ages 12-18 and activities are specialized for this age group. We have 3 available weeks for Horse Camp.

Beginner Week – July 7-11 -  $250.00 – Again, this week is for pre-teen and teens with little or no horse experience. Campers attend full days – 10:00 AM. to 4:00 P.M.. Campers learn to feed, groom, tack and learn the basic riding skills. They also do fun crafts and learn about colors, breeds and the bone structures of horses. They will also learn about different riding equipment and parts of the saddle. Your child will be able to groom and saddle the horse with little or no help, and will be walking and turning in good control by the end of the week and most will be beginning to trot.  Overall knowledge of horses is greatly improved.

Intermediate Week – July 14-18 - $250.00 – Campers wishing to attend this week MUST be capable to walk, turn and trot their horse in good control. They should be capable of trotting a figure eight and keeping their horse on the rail and not breaking gait at the trot. They should also be able to post. Campers do not need to know their diagonals, but if they do, that is great. Campers in this week will work on diagonals, cross rails, control, balance, leg yields, jumping positions and cantering. Your child will be going over cross rails and cantering at the end of the week. This group will also be doing crafts and un-mounted classroom lessons directed towards their riding level.

Advanced Week – July 21-25 -  $250.00 - Campers in this group should be cantering and going over crossrails in good control. They should also be able to tack their horse with no help. Campers this week will learn leads, lead changes, jump patterns and will also learn many different styles of riding to widen range. They will learn dressage tests, riding drills, jump patterns, cross country jumping, and will learn how to collect their horses correctly and will fine tune their riding skills. At the end of this week, campers should have a much wider range of knowledge and experience in a broader area of riding.  Campers this week will also be learning about a variety of equine professions. Guest Instructors and speakers will be there this week to offer advice.

Campers In Training

Cardinal Stables offers a program for campers 12-18 who have attended Intermediate weeks. Our Campers in Training Program, allows Intermediate and Advanced students to assist the head instructors in the beginner weeks of camp. Students this week will be assisting in teaching to tack and groom and assisting the instructor in the ring. They will also be assisting in classroom lessons and with the crafts. Students can only assist in weeks where the campers they are assisting are younger and less experienced than they are. They will not be teaching their peers. Intermediate riders who attend these weeks will be assisting in Pony Camp Weeks. Students need to bring bagged lunches this week as well.

Students hoping to attend Intermediate and Advanced Weeks are urged to attend an Evaluation Ride for $15.00

Registration Deadline is June 01, 2008: Late registrations accepted on first come first serve basis

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