It warmed my It fills my heart to see how much joy the 50 campers and volunteers had last weekend at Fox-Bell Farm & Training’s 2024 Horse Camp.
The weather was sunny and warm – not oppressively hot – for this fun-filled occasion, which was suitable for young and inexperienced riders as well as more advanced riders. On Friday, the more experienced riders joined owner and farm owner Shelby Vaughn for a freehand jumping lesson, followed by a trail ride at Robin Hill Park.
On Saturday and Sunday, the kids had several stations that they rotated through, including obstacle courses, relay races, and scavenger hunts. A favorite of many was the “Ride-a-Buck,” where the kids placed $1 bills under their legs on the lunge line and competed for some money.
At the non-horse-related events, the kids wore Hawaiian leis and played games like ring toss and tug of war. They also learned how to tie-dye their own t-shirts and get their faces painted. I think the most fun they had was painting their ponies with glitter using horse-made products from Twinkle Glitter (Twinkle Glitter Products).
Incidentally, Twinkle Glitter founder Tina Billings (mother of a horse-mad daughter) happens to be the former owner of my horse Lacey and her son Indy (both sadly deceased). Indy’s father was a beautiful buckskin who was featured in her ads and on many of her products back in the day. When I bought her from the Billings family hay farm in Bend, Oregon in 2003, we were given lots of Twinkle products – colorful glitter gel paint for mane, tail, body, hooves, eyes and muzzle, stencils and a variety of sponge-shaped brushes – to play with, and my niece and her friends had a blast painting their horses.
Tina’s daughter-in-law Kara Billings took over the company in 2014 and since then the range has grown to include products for dogs and people. Most Twinkle products are still made and packaged at the Billings Farm on Gerking Market Road.
Sorry, I got off topic, probably because I saw the lights on many girls’ faces as they painted their ponies and I heard the giggles of many girls.
Shelby said the camp “received rave reviews and I couldn’t have done it without my amazing team.” The camp also featured rescued horses (including several from the Olympic Peninsula Equine Network) that were rehabilitated and are now used in the farm’s teaching program – which I think makes the farm’s programs extra special.
A popular pony among young students is Moon, an older half-linger who was rescued by “a good friend of ours when he was injured while jumping,” Shelby said. “She rehabilitated him and brought him to us, where we still teach with him many years later. He is absolutely wonderful with children.”
And then there’s Waylon, a Quarter Horse gelding, “who was a very loved horse and one of the lucky ones we take in,” Shelby said, “but his owner became distressed due to health problems and could no longer care for him.”
He became part of the farm’s school horses and was then adopted by Sally Sprenger, who continues to board him there and takes lessons from Shelby twice a week. Sally’s young grandsons, McCoy and Murphy, were both able to attend horse camp, where Sally and her husband, Mike, took lots of photos of campers and events, many of which can be seen on the Kids Camp post on Fox-Bell Farm & Training’s Facebook page. They’re sure to put a smile on your face, like they did on mine.
Dog rescue
I wrote in my May 18 column that Shelby was born with an animal rescue mindset because her mother, Martha Vaughn, has been a longtime animal rescue advocate.
Martha owns the wedding and event venue at 137 Barr Road in East Port Angeles. Their shared mission statement, which can be found on the Fox-Bell website https://www.fox-bell.com/our-mission1, includes: At Fox-Bell, animals come first. Our priority is to help abused, neglected, and slaughter-ready horses and other animals.
When the pair heard that the Olympic Peninsula Humane Society was closing its doors and would no longer be taking in dogs at its Bark House facility on Old Olympic Highway, they were naturally extremely concerned and spurred into action. Even more so when they heard that dogs were being abandoned on back roads throughout Clallam County by owners who no longer wanted them or could no longer care for them.
Shelby told me that she and her mother, through the nonprofit arm of their Fox Bell business organization, “have been looking into starting our own dog rescue shelter. Clallam County is currently in a crisis situation and we are currently making plans to expand dog rescue.”
As smart businesswomen, they are carefully evaluating and studying the costs to get the new shelter up and running and, most importantly, successful long-term. She said Fox-Bell “had hoped to purchase the Bark House from OPHS to get operations up and running more quickly,” but they found that wasn’t feasible, so now they’re looking into building their own shelter for the growing number of dogs in need. She said Fox-Bell will open a 501(c)(3) foundation for the dog shelter, at which point they can begin accepting donations.
“For our 501(c)(3) organization, we have a few directions and are still deciding which path to take,” Shelby said. “This process should take anywhere from 30 days to six months, depending on the direction. Once everything is finalized, we plan to host a large fundraiser at our Fox-Bell Venue on North Barr Road to raise money for some immediate needs.”
She will let me know when they have concrete plans and a date for the fundraiser is set. In the meantime, I would like to point out that Shelby has been running a completely self-funded and successful horse rescue operation in Clallam County at Fox-Bell Farm for 10 years – which is no small feat, as they own, house and care for 50 to 60 rescued horses at any one time, in addition to offering full boarding, training and horse lessons to the public.
The recent news of abandoned dogs, mostly on wooded sides of country roads, has left their hearts breaking and even bleeding. At the same time, they also realize that they would not be able to financially sustain a self-funded dog shelter for Clallam County without the support of the community. Therefore, they will be asking for donations and operating it as a nonprofit organization.
Stay tuned for more details and the date of the next fundraiser.
Fox-Bell Farm offers boarding, training, lessons, horse shows, camps, birthday parties and more. The property is located in Agnew at 136 Finn Hall Road. For more information, call or text Shelby at 206-399-7683. Email: [email protected].
Broadcasts
On Friday, Shelby and her trainers were at Kari Payne’s 4L Arena to host the English Riding and Jumping Show at the second annual animal rescue fundraiser.
Today is the silent auction and raffle, as well as the big event – Western Games. Speed events include Barrels, Cal Stake, Pole Turn, Half-Eight and Tarp Alley. There will be four timed rounds. The top three riders in each round will receive individual trophy buckles (that’s 12 buckles total). All participants will receive a nice award at the end of the day. It costs only $65 to enter all of the day’s gaming events and win a belt buckle.
Games begin today at 10 a.m. (gates open at 9 a.m.) The 4L Arena is located at Blue Mountain Road, 95 S. McCrorie Road, Port Angeles. Visitors are welcome. We hope to see you there.
All proceeds from both days will go to support local animal emergency groups and Center Valley Rescue.
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Karen Griffiths’ column “Peninsula Horseplay” appears every second and fourth Saturday of the month.
If you have a horse event, class or seminar you would like to list, please email Griffiths at least two weeks in advance at [email protected]. You can also call her at 360-460-6299.
