COUNTYWIDE : Deputies Saddle Up Riding Camp for Good Kids

Twenty boys from lower-income families will attend a five-day horseback riding camp for free this summer, thanks to the Ventura County Deputy Sheriff’s Assn.

“This is basically a reward for good behavior,” Senior Deputy Sheriff Brian Tiffany said. “We feel there are too many programs for troubled kids, but not enough that are willing to go out of their way to reward them for being good.”

Tiffany, Municipal Court supervisor for the Sheriff’s Department, said the boys must either be leaving or entering sixth grade, have no juvenile records and come from families who can’t afford summer camp.

This is the first year for the camp. The association decided to restrict it to boys because of limited sleeping arrangements. Next year’s camp is tentatively planned for girls, Tiffany said.

The boys will be housed Aug. 24 to Aug. 28 at the Meadows of Moorpark, a 40-acre private equestrian camp between Moorpark and Camarillo.

The association raised the $6,000 the camp is estimated to cost at a rodeo this spring, Tiffany said. Meadows owners Joy and Robert Hallman are donating the camp and staff during what would otherwise be their vacation week, when the camp is normally closed.

People are “great takers,” Joy Hallman said. “It’s nice to give back a little.”

The camp, to be called the Ventura County Deputy Sheriff’s Assn. Leadership Camp, will be quite different from the usual Meadows programs, Hallman said.

Hallman said her clients are usually all girls. English-style riding, the kind seen in the Olympic games, is not popular with boys.

She said the cost of an equestrian camp at the Meadows--$475 a week--also puts it out of reach of lower-income families.

“Riding is a very expensive sport. It’s turned into an elitist sport, unfortunately,” said Hallman, whose son-in-law, Deputy Sheriff Tim Hagel, helped organize the camp.

Hallman said she expects the boys to learn riding skills such as walking, trotting and perhaps cantering. However, five days is not nearly long enough to teach such sophisticated techniques as dressage and jumping, she said. The boys may spend only one hour a day on horseback, she said.

“If I can give them the love and respect of horses, that’s all I want to do,” Hallman said.

Seven deputy sheriffs will work at the camp in addition to the Meadows’ staff and volunteers, Tiffany said.

The boys will have a full schedule, including swimming, nature hikes, games and leadership discussions. Members of the Ventura County congressional delegation, judges and comedian Bruce Baum also will speak at the camp, Tiffany said.

Several slots already have been filled. Tiffany said interested parents should contact the youth officer at their local sheriff’s station for more information by mid-July.