Community
Blue Mountain Eagle
Wednesday, August 8, 2018
A3
Fostering confidence on horseback
Katie Johnson, 15, organizes
horse camp for foster girls
By Angel Carpenter
Blue Mountain Eagle
A 15-year-old Mt. Vernon
girl was on a mission, look-
ing for a way to give back to
her community, and in her
quest she created an opportu-
nity for 11 foster girls to gain
confidence through horseback
riding.
Katie Johnson, with help
from her mother, Angie, es-
tablished the nonprofit Cal-
vary Horse Camp, inviting
girls ages 9-12 to learn how to
saddle, mount, ride, dismount,
feed and groom horses.
“They have come a long,
long way,” Katie said on Fri-
day, day five of the camp.
“When they first came down,
most hadn’t touched a horse
before.”
As she spoke, the girls
were walking and trotting their
horses around the Grant Coun-
ty Fairgrounds rodeo arena,
with several women and teen
girls volunteering to assist.
The girls, from Beaverton,
Eugene, Pendleton, Grants
Pass and Dallas, came July 29
and stayed through Aug. 3.
Upon arriving, each of the
11 participants drew a different
colored ribbon, matching up
to a ribbon on the horse they
would be paired with — for
the week, it was “their” horse.
While most of the girls
caught on quickly, one girl
thought her horse didn’t like
her and avoided riding for the
first two days.
“Now they’ve bonded, and
she’s riding on her own,” Katie
said.
One participant, Michelle,
rode an Appaloosa. Her nick-
name, which she took a liking
to, was “Rodeo Queen.”
“I enjoyed meeting new
people and riding horses,” she
said. “I’ve been looking for
the perfect job, and I’ve found
it — being a rodeo queen.”
Amy said it had been
awhile since she’d been on a
horse.
“I’ve ridden a horse before,
when I was 6,” she said. “For
the past few days, it’s been
great.”
Valerie said she’d only rid-
den a horse once at a summer
day camp for arts and technical
skills.
“The whole class learned
about saddles and horse
breeds, and I rode for 10 min-
utes,” she said. “My favorite
part of the week was riding
April.”
After their riding session on
Friday, the girls took the hors-
es back to their pens or trailers
where they took off the saddle,
fed and groomed their animals.
Katie said her idea behind
the Calvary Horse Camp was
to combine her “two greatest
loves.”
“I’ve ridden horses for as
long as I can remember, and I
love all kids,” Katie said.
She and several chaperones
and teen staffers were with the
girls at all times.
“We have an amazing team
of helpers,” she said, adding
that Julie Bowling, a horse 4-H
club adviser, was an especially
helpful teacher.
Locals loaned 13 older,
gentle horses for the girls to
ride during the week.
Pastor Levi Manitsas
opened up the Cornerstone
Christian Fellowship building
in John Day for the girls and
chaperones to stay, and Pastor
Keith DeHart of Prairie Baptist
Church came in each morning
and prayed with the team.
The girls had a “tough
questions box,” and DeHart
would help answer their anon-
ymous questions.
At the end of each day, be-
fore bed, Katie and other teen
helpers gathered with the girls
for tea time, continuing to de-
velop relationships with the
girls.
“We talked about highs and
lows of the day, mostly build-
ing confidence,” Katie said.
Twelve-year-old Rowdy
Israel of Dayville, recently
crowned the 2019 Junior Miss
Rodeo Oregon, was among
those volunteering in the are-
na.
Israel said part of her role is
sharing the spirit of rodeo.
“A lot of them were new
to riding and the Western way
of life,” she said. “They grew
a lot over the week, building
bonds with the horses.”
She said she enjoyed
demonstrating
a
“rodeo
queen’s run” with Katie and
speaking with the girls about
how she competed for the
rodeo pageant, and that she
didn’t win the first time she
tried out.
Angie said her daughter
earned half the money for the
camp with a Fourth of July
breakfast fundraiser in Prairie
City and a concert featuring
the Johnson family and friends
at the BMW Motorcycle Rally
in June.
The other half of the money
came from a GoFundMe cam-
paign.
One anonymous donor
sent $500 in the mail with a
note that read, “God answers
prayers for your camp.”
Katie said she was happy
with the outcome of her first
horse camp.
“This is my mission with-
out having to go out of the
country or overseas,” she said.
“I can’t wait until next year —
a new batch of girls to share
the love of Christ with.”
Eagle photos/Angel Carpenter
Katie Johnson, left, and her friend Amy walk a horse back to its trailer Thursday during the Calvary Horse Camp held
at the Grant County Fairgrounds in John Day. Johnson, a Mt. Vernon resident, combined her love of horses and youth
to organize the camp to help inner-city girls learn to ride horses. See more photos at myeaglenews.com.
Rowdy Israel of Dayville, left, high-fives Michelle as Mia
rides by. Israel has the title of Junior Miss Rodeo Oregon,
and Michelle, nicknamed “Rodeo Queen” during the horse
camp, enjoyed learning about the duties of rodeo queen
and horsemanship.
Kiera and her horse
Houdini bonded during
the weeklong Calvary
Horse Camp in John
Day.
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