When I lived in Maine I vaguely knew the Gray family. The daughter, Lendon, was about my age and we rode the bus together. I was so jealous of her because she lived in a big house and had horses. Her mother was a competitive show jumper and I remember seeing her occasionally when I would go to the local horse shows. She had a horse named "Easy Breeze." They seemed like such an amazing pair. I thought Lendon had the perfect life.
Later, on in the summer of 1960, I went to an awesome camp in Vermont called Teela Wooket. Lendon's Uncle Arthur ran it. I remember getting in trouble fairly often for bringing back dead things, dead rats, dead birds, etc. but Lendon usually got me out of trouble. Lendon introduced me to raspberry popsicles and I still think of her if I eat one.
Interestingly, in 2008 I was watching some show jumping on TV, and they showed a horse who was in training for the Olympics. They mentioned that his trainer was 'the fantastic Lendon Gray, the US Equestrian Team trainer'. "Lendon!" I googled her and sure enough, it was my Lendon Gray! I can't say I am surprised. Back then she was tall and skinny and had long dark hair. But it's still my Lendon!
Showing posts with label Vermont. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Vermont. Show all posts
1960 Teela Wooket and the Horses
We lived in Orono, Maine, when my parents decided I should spend the summer in Vermont at camp. It was my idea though, I heard about it from my friend Lendon, whose great-uncle ran it. I remember driving to Vermont from Maine with the rest of the family and staying in a motel the night before I was 'checking in'. I was really nervous and dreaded the whole thing. I don't think I had ever been really away from home before. They dropped me off the next day and I think I pretty much kept a stiff upper lip.
Then I was taken around and outfitted with my uniform and taken to my bunkhouse. It was a small cabin with 3 rooms. Two of them had bunk beds for us girls and in the back was a smaller room for the counselor. I don't remember our first counselor's name, but my roommates were Melanie Zibbit and 2 others (can't remember their names either).
We hit it off pretty well, especially Melanie and me. But we hated our counselor. Finally we decided just to get rid of her. We proceeded to make her life miserable by putting dead rats in her bed, dumping water in her bed, etc. Finally she quit in tears and never came back. We got a new counselor, Ginny. She was wonderful. She told us great stories and really was one of us. We all loved her.
The meals at Teela Wooket were awesome. There was a huge hall with many many tables and it was all served by campers (perhaps who couldn't afford the tuition?). The food was amazing and plentiful. The camp had many activities and my parents signed me up for all of them! There was candle making, weaving, and all kinds of girly stuff. But there was also archery and riflery, which I really enjoyed and never missed. And of course there were the horses.
Oh yes, the reason I was there - the horses. There were 67 of them.
The barn was on 2 levels. One of the levels was for the privately owned horses, the other for the camp horses. I believe the private horses were there to be trained by Cappy. He had been a trainer for the US Equestrian Team. There was one horse there, Mighty Meath, who had been on the US team at one point. I knew the name of every horse, its origin, and all its characteristics. For instance, there was Oasis (named for the cigarette commercial, "Oasis takes you away" because he tended to be a runaway). He was privately owned by someone named Tom Owen who was a radio talk show host. I don't remember much about the camp horses actually.
Once I had cut my girly class and was at the stable with Cappy and Lendon, and she talked him into letting her ride one of the USET horses. She was chewing bubblegum at the time, and just as she was approaching a jump, a big bubble exploded on her face, blinding her. But she made it with perfect style, the way she did everything. That was Lendon. I was privileged myself to be allowed to ride Mighty Meath once. He was huge! Probably 18+ hands tall, and he always had his tongue hanging out around his bit, slobbering. He was a real baby though! So sweet and very much fun to ride.
We had a field trip too, to a horse show in Montpelier. Some of the camp horses went, because I remember helping to load them into the trailer.
Then I was taken around and outfitted with my uniform and taken to my bunkhouse. It was a small cabin with 3 rooms. Two of them had bunk beds for us girls and in the back was a smaller room for the counselor. I don't remember our first counselor's name, but my roommates were Melanie Zibbit and 2 others (can't remember their names either).
We hit it off pretty well, especially Melanie and me. But we hated our counselor. Finally we decided just to get rid of her. We proceeded to make her life miserable by putting dead rats in her bed, dumping water in her bed, etc. Finally she quit in tears and never came back. We got a new counselor, Ginny. She was wonderful. She told us great stories and really was one of us. We all loved her.
The meals at Teela Wooket were awesome. There was a huge hall with many many tables and it was all served by campers (perhaps who couldn't afford the tuition?). The food was amazing and plentiful. The camp had many activities and my parents signed me up for all of them! There was candle making, weaving, and all kinds of girly stuff. But there was also archery and riflery, which I really enjoyed and never missed. And of course there were the horses.
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| Equitation class |
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| Heading out for a trail ride |
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| Jumping class |
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| The cabins |
Oh yes, the reason I was there - the horses. There were 67 of them.
The barn was on 2 levels. One of the levels was for the privately owned horses, the other for the camp horses. I believe the private horses were there to be trained by Cappy. He had been a trainer for the US Equestrian Team. There was one horse there, Mighty Meath, who had been on the US team at one point. I knew the name of every horse, its origin, and all its characteristics. For instance, there was Oasis (named for the cigarette commercial, "Oasis takes you away" because he tended to be a runaway). He was privately owned by someone named Tom Owen who was a radio talk show host. I don't remember much about the camp horses actually.
Once I had cut my girly class and was at the stable with Cappy and Lendon, and she talked him into letting her ride one of the USET horses. She was chewing bubblegum at the time, and just as she was approaching a jump, a big bubble exploded on her face, blinding her. But she made it with perfect style, the way she did everything. That was Lendon. I was privileged myself to be allowed to ride Mighty Meath once. He was huge! Probably 18+ hands tall, and he always had his tongue hanging out around his bit, slobbering. He was a real baby though! So sweet and very much fun to ride.
We had a field trip too, to a horse show in Montpelier. Some of the camp horses went, because I remember helping to load them into the trailer.
1960 Teela Wooket, Albert
After my camp roommate Melanie and I got in trouble for bringing back dead animals, we decided to focus on live ones. We went snake hunting one day, and I found an adorable garter snake. I named him Albert. He lived in an aluminum coffeepot with grass inside. He would lie twined between my fingers and I would carry him around all day. One of the stable hands, Steve, was terrified, and it was great fun to have my hand behind my back and suddenly whip Albert out and see him scream.
1960 Teela Wooket, the Satellite
In August, we were awakened by Ginny in the middle of the night. She yelled at us, "Come outside girls, hurry, the satellite is going over." And so we went out and were able to see Sputnik 5 (with the 2 dogs inside) floating overhead, a sight I will never forget. The Russian satellite orbited for a day and carried the dogs Strelka and Belka, plus grey rabbit, rats, mice, flies, plants, fungi, microscopic water plants, and seeds.
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