First, the choices have been simplified. There are 2 main options to choose: Day Camp or Overnight camp. The Day camp is all day from 9am until 4 pm Monday thru Friday for boys and girls ages 6 thru 17. You can choose from Beginner English, Advanced English or Western. The campers will ride in the morning, have lunch and then ride again in the afternoon. The campers have the option of switching so they can ride English in the morning and ride Western in the afternoon or visa versa. If you are a former Half Day camper and prefer that plan then we will offer it from 9-12 for $225 for any of the 3 choices. The Overnight camp begins Sunday at 4:30 until Friday at 4pm and is for girls only ages 8 to 17. They will have the same 3 choices during the day and then evening activities such as Lual parties, evening trailrides and much more.

    We are very excited to announce a 2 phase project to add 18 stalls to the property. The first phase will be completed before camp begins and will include 9 new stalls and 1 tack room. This addition will be made to the 12, 000 sq ft indoor arena. 9 more stalls will be added next fall. This will be a great help to eliminate overcrowding in the main barn. It will also help to accommodate the 2 new Paint foals which are expected to be born in July.

    You will be pleased with the new pricing schedule. To ride all day in the Day Camp has been reduced from $390 to $350 for Beginner and Advanced English riders; Western has been reduced from $590 to ride all day to $350 as well. Basically, the Day Camp option is $350 for the whole day, 9am-4pm. You can even try both English and Western for the same price. The Overnight Camp is only $695 including your riding in the morning and afternoon.

    The meals have been completely changed to give the campers many options. Local restaurants will be giving us shortened menus for lunch and dinner for the campers to pick from and the food will be delivered. There will be many choices for those healthy or special appetites as well as regular favorites. This will be included in the Overnight camp fees and will be a lunch option for the Day Campers for only $45 for the week including tax, tip and delivery.

    Our new family and friends option is an evening dinner trail open to all campers and their family and friends aged 10 and older. We will have this once every week on Tuesday; Wednesday if the weather does not cooperate. The trail will begin at 4pm with an hour long trail ride down to the stream where we will be cooking up home grown grass fed Angus burgers, sautéed onions and mushrooms, and all of the fixins, grilled chicken, pasta, corn on the cob and baked potatoes cooked in the open fire and Smores for desert. The group will trail ride out for another hour and return to the barn at 7pm. The cost for this 3 hour dinner trail is only $95 and will be a memory for a lifetime.

    Our Fair Camp season will be similar to last year in that we will attend the Tri-Valley Horse Show on July 26, the Otsego County Fair Show on August 2, and grandest event, the Delaware County Fair Show on Aug 14. This year by popular demand, the Otsego County Fair Show will go to the Fair after the show and ride the rides and eat carnival food just as we do for the Delaware Fair. The big news for our competition gang is that we are trying to go to HITS on the Hudson in Saugerties sometime between June 11 and 15th. This is quite a tall order but we are awaiting paperwork to make the final decision. It is a class A competition so it will be quite an experience.

    We urge anyone who signs up for a Fair camp to consider joining the Tri Valley Horse Association which will track all shows and have an awards banquet for all members on November 15. The cost of $45 includes $20 membership and the banquet for $25. Last year we attended for the first time with several camp families and had a great time. I was asked to join the board of the TVHA and elected Treasurer so our participation in more shows is certain. The TVHA is starting an annual college scholarship for members as well, so please keep that in mind.

    There are some campers in the Overnight Camp that want to stay on the weekends in between our regular camp sessions, so we have come up with Apprentice Camp which is basically life on the farm. Learn all there is to living on a farm and the responsibilities of caring for so many animals. Observe and help with the multitude of activities that is Stone Tavern Farm. The price for this adventure is $95 per night. Simply make a note in the comment section of the registration form for any weekends that interests you.

    Camp portrait sets of the campers with their horses by our renowned photographer Vic Tannenberg are normally $40 and will be the same this year; however, if you order at the time of sign-up you will receive $5 off.

    All sign ups for camp require a $95 non-refundable deposit for each child and every week they are signed up for and a $200 non-refundable deposit for the Fair camps. Please remember that we offer a $50 credit for each new camper you refer. As an incentive for early sign up, we are attempting a reserve your favorite horse program. In the comment section of the registration page simply list your favorite horses in order and we will try to reserve them for you based on a first sign up first serve basis. If you are not familiar with the horses, do not worry, we will hold out some of the best for new campers or those who may want to switch.

    Before I end this lengthy letter, I would like tell any who may not know that we offer many other goods and services such as grass fed non-medicated USDA inspected hamburger and steaks as well as corn fed pork. The ATV’s are available to rent. We offer lessons, trail rides and picnic trails from April thru November. We board horses for several of our campers on a year round basis. The new Pavilion is becoming a popular place to have a wedding, reunion or party. Apparently, we have very dark skies and we are becoming a popular star gazing destination. We will be having the second annual Star Fest the last weekend in May and are expecting about 150 astronomers with telescopes of all sizes. For the last 2 years, we tried a Halloween event; the first year we had the Haunted Forrest and last year it was Madblood’s Mansion. We were voted as the number one Tourist business of the year by the Delaware Chamber of Commerce for Delaware County and at the awards dinner banquet we introduced Harvey, The Catskill Teddy Bear. He is being marketed as the Ambassador to the Catskills Tourism. Harvey is a black bear since he lives in the Catskills and he comes with the things he likes to eat and to do. He comes with syrup and honey made in Roxbury. He also comes with a free ticket to Plattekill Resort good for skiing, biking, a scenic chairlift ride to the top to see the fall colors, or snowtubing and a ticket to ride the Delaware and Ulster RR. Harvey is wearing a Catskill Mountains T-shirt and bandanna. He also comes with his friend Sport the magnetic hoofed horse. He will make a great gift for any occasion. You can check it out at CatskillTeddyBear.com. And if that is not enough, we have built a beautiful brand new Alta log cabin chalet looking at the Plattekill slopes just 1 mile down the road. It is finally finished and is for sale so please check it out “neighbor”.

    Please check out our website for even more details. Everyone is invited to our Open House on Sunday, May 25 from 12 noon until 3pm. There will be free pony rides and free hot dogs and burgers. We hope to see everyone back in the saddle again soon.

John & Danielle Burrows