High Standards Equestrian Center (formerly Hideaway Horse Center) provides summer camp sessions through the Maryland Park and Planning Summer Camp Program for children ages 6-16. The camps are one week sessions (held June-August) for a maximum of six weeks. For Prince George's County residents the cost is $325 per week - non residents pay $390 per week. The summer camp program is advertised as a "horseback riding camp" but the children are only given 15 minutes of actual riding time in the mornings and if time permits, the same in the afternoon. For the cost per camper, I would expect more riding time. The children observe vet and dentist visits once a week and are able to paint the horses and play Jeopardy but again, for the cost of the camp, the stable should provide more hands on riding lesson time. With the lack of riding time that is provided, the Park and Planning Summer Guide should advertise the High Standards Equestrian Center's summer camp program as a, "petting zoo," at best.
Another concern that I have is that the campers do the exact same thing every session. There is no advancement for campers that stay longer than one week. In essence, if children stay in the program for the entire 6 weeks, they are repeating the same things that they learned in week one every week - regardless of knowledge gained. The program never changes its weekly routine and doesn't provide advancement opportunities for campers that have mastered what was learned in week one.
Lastly, but most important, the stable volunteers don't have the patience and training that is required to be summer camp counselors that represent the Maryland Park and Planning summer camp program. There were several occasions that a stable volunteer/employee used profanity when addressing my child (and at least two other children that I am aware of.) When the stable owner was made aware of the volunteer's verbal tirades, her response was, "Oh, he must be getting tired." That was an extremely unacceptable and unprofessional response. I would expect more from the establishments owner. I don't care how, "tired" your staff is - using profanity is never acceptable when working with young children in a summer camp setting. If the High Standards Equestrian Center volunteers/employees don't have the experience and training to be able to handle the responsibilities that go along with being summer camp counselors that represent the Maryland Park and Planning Summer Camp Program, the stable shouldn't be allowed to have camp sessions at their establishment.
I am very disappointed with this particular summer camp program and the staff/volunteers at the High Standards Equestrian Center. I am giving them a below average rating and would not recommend this program to anyone that has expectations of a good, quality horseback riding summer camp program. However, this review does not, in any way, reflect the Maryland Park and Planning Summer Camp Program as a whole, it is specifically and solely directed to the services (or lack thereof) and treatment that my child received directly from the High Standards Equestrian Center staff and volunteers while attending the 2017 summer camp session in Brandywine, Maryland.
*Please see the reviews that they received while under the name Hideaway Horse Center. The claims of animal abuse and statements of horses being removed from the stable by the county's animal control office are quite disturbing. read more