By David Harry

Staff Writer

Camp Ketcha riding instructor Meaghan Martin said she knows how students build confidence when they learn to ride a horse.

“If they ask correctly, a 1,200-pound horse will do what they ask it to do,” Martin said as she helped prepare a strawberry roan named Pennie for a ride Monday afternoon.

Visitors to Camp Ketcha on Sunday will see how horses and riders learn together during the second annual Camp Ketcha Classic Horse Show, sponsored by the Maine Horse Association. The show begins at 9 a.m.

The free show will raise money to fund riding education programs held throughout the year at the nonprofit camp on Black Point Road. Maine Horse Association member and show manager Paulette Brim said money from registration fees will be donated to the camp.

Jessie Bosse, who directs camp equestrian riding programs, said the camp received about $1,500 from last year’s show, which helped feed and care for 11 horses. Bosse estimated the cost of feeding and bedding horses to be about $350 a month.

Bosse said the camp offers courses for new and experienced riders of all ages, and credited Brim and MHA member Paulajean O’Neill for creating the show to benefit the camp.

The show will include 35 competitions in showmanship, equitation and walking and trotting. The event is a Class C show for association members, so points can be earned for competing in annual standings, Brim said.

There will be a farrier on hand to shoe horses, a mobile tack shop selling equestrian gear, and concession stand, Brim said.

Bosse said more than 50 horses participated last year and Brim said association members may register the day of the show, which will be held rain or shine. There will also be a lesson rider division for new and inexperienced riders to compete and be judged.

Brim said saddlebred horses can compete for about 20 years and live for about 30. Horses put out to pasture after competing can be very good lesson horses because of years of precise training.

At Camp Ketcha, Bosse said many of the courses teach the basics of riding and rider safety.

“They are big and can be unpredictable, so we teach the fundamentals of riding,” she said.

The tangible benefits of riding and caring for a horse, including mucking the stalls, are seen as riders gain more confidence, Bosse said.

Martin, who teaches the after school classes agreed, saying the commitment to caring and riding provides long-term benefits and lessons about responsibility.