Celebrating 50 years in Austin, Texas creating happy campers!

 1963 - 2013

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**NEW** Check out our camp Frequently Asked Questions here!

Camp Activities for Spring and Summer Break

Here at Camp Switch Willo, we strive to instill an appreciation for horses and the sport of riding in each child. We educate riders in a relaxed, supportive learning environment emphasizing safety with first class training professionals in a tree shaded ring. Integral parts of the process are the grooming, tacking up, and bathing of the horse or pony selected for your child. The tack-up area is shaded. Our camp house is air conditioned.

At all times your child is under the supervision of First Aid and CPR certified adults.

Each week of camp ends with a special horse show for the parents and awards for the campers. The children all choose show names for their selected horse. Everyone receives a ribbon for their hard work during the week. Parents are given advance notice of the show times for each group so as not to miss this important event.

Activities include:

• Daily riding instruction on well trained, safe horses and ponies
• Proper safety and barn etiquette
• Additional barn lessons about horses and their care, veterinary care, dentistry, and horse show preparation
• Visits with our farrier
  
• Arts & crafts
• Outdoor activities and games
• Circle time reading for our youngest campers
  
• Trips to our onsite tack shop on Thursday mornings
• Scavenger hunts
• Popcorn Wednesdays (with parent approval, of course)
  
• Swimming pool staffed by a certified lifeguard (generally only during the summer months). Not all camps hire a lifeguard for their summer programs!
  

Each week of camp focuses on a different arts & crafts theme. Following are the themes by week and each week's availability status.

Camp Week	Theme	Camp Status
May 27 - May 31	Crazy Kick-Off to Summer with Backwards Day!	Closed
June 3 - June 7	Nature	Closed
June 10 - June 14	Dinosaurs	Closed
June 17 - June 21	Prince & Princess'	Closed
June 24 - June 28	Horses	Closed
July 1 - July 5	Silly Monsters	Closed
July 8 - July 12	Grumpy Cat (changed from Science)	Closed
July 15 - July 19	Sports	Closed
July 22 - July 26	Titanic	Closed
July 29 - August 2	Texas	Closed
August 5 - August 9	Outer Space	Closed
August 12 - August 16	Hodge Podge Week with XMAS in August movies!	Closed

What Campers Wear and Bring:

• Long pants
• Boots with low heels
• ASTM/SEI approved equestrian helmet: no bicycle, skateboarding, or snowboarding helmets. (Due to health/safety regulations, we are unable to lend or sell used helmets.)
  
• Sack lunch
• Labeled water jug or water bottle (Campers will not be permitted to ride unless they have water to take to the ring.)
  
• Carrots for horses
• Swimsuit, towel, and sunscreen
  
• Change of clothing for after riding, if desired

Cost

Camp is offered Monday through Friday, 9:00am until 4:00pm, with an option for before & after extended care. We take children ages 6 - 14. The cost per weekly session per child is $300, non-refundable, which is due with application. The camp t-shirt (summer only) is designed each year by one of the previous summer's attendees and is an additional $20.00. These are treasured throughout the years and a reminder of the fun that can be had at Camp Switch Willo.  

Come see what Austin families have been talking about for 50 years. Camp Switch Willo is a great place to learn everything there is to know about horses and make new friends in the two as well as four-legged variety. Please contact Jane McMaster at 512.331.8668 for more information.

Camp House Interior		Camp House Exterior

Switch Willo has a number of ponies for young riders.	Campers learn to groom and saddle their own horses.	Even counselors get in on pool time.
Cooling off in the afternoon is a perfect end to the day.	Lunch and arts & crafts are done in air conditioned comfort.	Fridays kids dress up horses for the horse show which the parents are invited to watch
Our instructors teach all parts of the horse and equipment	Safety is our main concern. Beginners get individual attention.	Children enjoy arts & crafts.
There is a natural bond between kids and horses	Horses aren’t the only ones that like to jump!	More advanced students have the opportunity to jump our quality lesson horses