A camp counselor and equine therapist turns 60. We found her in the horse barn and spruced her up for a night on the town.

by Mick Kelly . photo by Matt Rose

She’s aging gracefully, just like the horses she tends to. Miriam Intres, who turns 60 this month, is the riding director at Camp Ton-A-Wandah near Hendersonville, a 356-acre girls’ summer camp site with riding trails, hiking trails and its very own ten-acre lake. Girls (and, in the fall, small groups of women) who go to Camp Ton-A-Wandah will likely recognize Intres, who has not only worked in the camp’s horse stables for years, but also lives on a small log cabin there.

Intres spends her summer days looking after 23 horses, two donkeys and hundreds of campers. She started at the camp part time after her husband died in 2003. Before that, she had mostly been a stay-at-home mom. Recently, she’s done brief stints as a closet organizer, caterer and floral arranger, and spent a few years as a retail salesperson at The Sanctuary in downtown Hendersonville.

For a makeover leading up to her 60th birthday this month, her old pals at The Sanctuary dressed her up in a dazzling olive Eileen Fisher dress and wrap, along with metallic and earth-toned jewelry by Fourth Daughter.

Intres, who has raised four children and spends many days of the week on chores like finding manure forks, says she didn’t want to get too fancy. Besides, at some point, you start to dress for yourself more than for others. “I want to look vibrant and like I have a zest for life, but hopefully, at 60, you know who you are and can enjoy the ride.”

She certainly seemed to be enjoying the afternoon glamour walk in a Sanctuary dress and chic, asymmetrical haircut by Robin Vaughan at Moxie Salon in Hendersonville. Truth be told, though, by day’s end, Intres was anxious to get back to camp and make sure the girls in her summer camp classes were happy and healthy. “I think horses are healing—especially for women and girls,” she says. We think a day of pampering can’t hurt either.