When most people envision a horse camp, riding shares the spotlight with craft time, campfires and hiking.
But Emma Rosonke wanted to focus only on horses.
At the American Legacy Complex, located just north of Omaha in Washington County, the fourth-grader at Joslyn Elementary got her wish. Nothing gets between campers and the animals they came to study and ride because every second is spent either with an equine or learning about one.
"They didn't do crafts and paint pictures," said Emma's mother, Jenny Rosonke. "She wanted to come because she wanted to work with horses for seven hours a day."
Rosonke said she finally found the perfect horse camp for her daughter after two previous attempts.
Emma liked it, too.
"It's my favorite horse camp of the three," she said.
That one-track focus sets American Legacy apart from other horse camps.
A certified teacher who spent 34 years in the classroom, owner Dorothy Turley strives to create an intensive learning experience for children who want to spend more time on or around horses.
Even on summer vacation, kids become students as they learn about horse care, anatomy and diagnosis.
Skyline Elementary fourth-grader Nina Schuett was thrilled to learn more about those topics in her second year at the horsemanship camp.
"I've learned some of the body parts, and you learn about bones of the horse and what kind of sicknesses it gets," Nina said.
Parents also have embraced the camp's teachings by sending sons and daughters for consecutive years.
"It teaches them a lot of taking ownership of a horse, to care for an animal for all that comes with it from cleaning a stall to the fun of riding," said Brian Schuett, Nina's father.
But Turley also wants it to remain fresh and entertaining for the youth, so she organizes various games and riding activities.
Campers practice one-legged mounts and dismounts in order to ride to retrieve a shoe. One of the children's favorite events is cattle penning, in which partners ride and herd two calves across a barn and into a large fenced-in pen.
After all, she estimated 85 percent of her campers return the following summer.
"We change it every year because I get bored, the horses get bored and the kids get bored," Turley said.
Although the activities change, campers rarely do, which leads to Nina's twin sister's favorite part: her friends.
"She's my best friend," Sage Schuett said as she hugged Madeline Heldridge while they waited in line for a barrel-riding activity.
One camper who spent a week at American Legacy for the fourth consecutive summer was Daisy Levell — who came all the way from Roosevelt, Utah.
The fifth-grader spends part of each summer with an aunt in Council Bluffs — and a piece of summer at Turley's camp.
"I like it here," Daisy said. "The counselors are really nice, and it's just wonderful."
American Legacy Complex
When: June 4 to 8; June 11 to 15; June 18 to 22; June 25 to 29; July 23 to 27
Where: 7193 County Road 40 in Washington County.
Who: Children from 5 to 13.
Cost: $220/$320
Information: 402-468-4588 or www.amleg.com
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