Stories to inspire and encourage you.

...She didn't want pay, just an opportunity to be with the horses. At the time, we had two year-old Appaloosa geldings ready to start under saddle. Karena gently started riding each one. First she started the few spot leopard, Possum Wapiti (son of Silver Wapiti ), then she started Rooster, the solid bay son of Ebony Spotted Cloud (Cloudy). Karena fell in love with Rooster, and when she was through, we felt compelled to pay her by giving Rooster to her for a job well done.

Karena stopped by this week (Jan. 2011) to bring me some pictures of her precious horse and to let me know how much she has loved this horse for 20 years, how therapeutic he has been in her life, how he has taken her places & brought people into her life...how he was really a gift from God!

To that we say, Amen...thank you Lord, and thank you Karena!
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Friend and former student, Emily Butcher, a high school senior, compares her life to a runner on a path in this excerpt from an autobiography she wrote:

"In one way my run may differ from many others because I am not always running on my own feet. My path is covered with hoofprints. My horseback riding journey began when I was in second grade and has been something that helped steer me back on track many times. Ever since I was little I have been fascinated with animals, horses in particular. Christmas Day, as a second grader, I recieved an envelope- a seemingly boring gift at first. It turned out to be a certificate for riding lessons, and the best gift of the day...

Later that spring, I was introduced to a lady with weathered hands and an inviting smile that got me on a horse for the very 1st time. Ms. Dianne  Adams taught me all she knew  about working with and riding horses over the next few years, but she also taught me a lot about life and how it should be lived. In the midst of learning how to post my trot, saddle up, and jump cross rails, I subconsciously memorized countless Bible verses from the ones that she had hanging on the barn and on the stall doors. One reason I was able to memorize them so easily is that most of them "matched" with their horse. For example, there was a blind horse and the verse on her stall was "Walk by faith, not by sight". Ms. Dianne is one of the hardest working women I have ever met and she has challenged me to work that hard and taught me an amazing hobby that stuck with me for years to come.

When I say that horseback riding has helped keep me on the right track I mean that it always gets me in a good mood when something goes wrong and relieves stress no matter how stressed out I may be. The beautiful thing about horses is that they are animals-they cannot talk. If you feel like laughing or crying they will just be there and always listen. Unlike friends or family, they will not try to give you their advice, they will be there and just let you hug their neck, if that is what you need to do. Horseback riding has helped me become a harder working and more content person"

Yes, Emily, a horse can truly be a friend of the Spirit....and may you be blessed as you have blessed others.
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