Hellooooooo there!!! Ricardo Badenhorst here, the 21 year old from South Africa. First a little history about me, I was born in a small town called Klerksdorp located at the North Western province of South Africa. I was born and bred there also I went to a Christian school based on the ACE(Accelerated Christian Academy) curriculum. In 2005 however my father bought a business from his previous employer which was located in Botswana(directly above South Africa) and we moved to Botswana not long after. Moving to a new country which was very different from the one I grew up in was a huge adjustment for me. I had to make new friends and adapt to the new lifestyle of the country, but it was all for the better of the family. Today my parents own a very successful company that has provided a good life for myself and my five other siblings.
In 2011 however I alone moved back to South Africa to finish the last three years of high school. I graduated in 2013 with some really good grades. After that I decided to go straight to college. Unfortunately after five months I realized that the college life wasn’t for me( I wasn’t ready). So I looked around trying to find something that I could use to expand my horizons with. I happened to stumble upon a magical place up north that offered as a learning institute/retreat/ summer camp that was available to the public all year round. That place however had a little something extra, they used horses as their main attraction. The owner whom I worked for loved the idea of Western Riding and she aimed to use it in almost everything. We fetched the cows on horseback, we rounded up other horses on horseback and we rode into the dining area on horseback(not really). I worked there for two years before coming to Camp Augusta and I will always remember that place made me who I am today. I had to learn how to survive on my own and learn how to think for myself. I finished up there last year November and before that I had to think of what I was going to do next. A friend of mine reminded me of the Camp America program and I have always wanted to work in the US so I jumped at the opportunity. Long story short I was accepted into the program and not a week after Camp Augusta sent me an email saying they were interested in hiring me. I started out on the intensively long application process and eventually I was hired.
Overall I loved Camp Augusta’s philosophy and how things are done here. Although not in the horse program I try to spend my HERO time helping out the equestrian staff. Honestly I really enjoy working with kids and aiding in them having an awesome summer time at Camp Augusta. So far I have always seen my kids leave with smiles on their faces and thanking me for giving them a great time in the cabins and also during cabin acts, embers and special wake-ups. I aim to continue doing so because the smiles on the faces of the kids keeps the smile on my face 🙂
My hobbies include Go Karting(HUGE fan of racing), Riding horses, boosting cars(legally) and watching thousands of videos on V8 muscle cars. So you can imagine it gives me great pleasure to be in a country that loves V8’s as much as I do. I also enjoy adrenaline boosting activities that include Sky Diving, sand/snow boarding, Motorcross and Superbikes.
