I hope Vera will forgive me for lifting her picture from her blog but I am so impressed with H T and Blue on Black. I am thrilled I have a colt by Blue on Black in my herd. He is a yearling now and beautiful with a great conformation.

Blue on Black has recently been to Texas where he and H T competed in the ACTHA greatest trail horse competition. This September we will have a chance to see and voter for our favorite of the 100 competitors and their horses that competed for the title of America's greatest trail horse. I am so pleased that three of those horses and riders are people I know from showing in the UMH shows. Besides H T, there is Judy Brummer riding Legendary Lady and Mike Butler riding MX Wrangler. All three are Mountain Horses.

Why are the Rocky Mountain horses becoming so popular, you may ask? Think of the baby boomers that are starting to retire and many who are either thinking of an easier horse to ride or just now starting or going back to riding.

When I started thinking about buying a horse, I started doing research on the Rocky Mountain breed of horses. The first time I ever knew about that particular breed was reading a horse magazine. There was a nice article about Rocky Mountain horses and all the wonderful attributes they have. The article mentioned in detail about their smooth ride. They do not get to be overly large. 16hh is usually the tallest a Mountain Horse gets. Their wonderful disposition is another of their great attributes. They are intelligent and willing to please their riders. They are eager to learn.

I am what you may call vertically challenged (short). I do not want a horse that I have to hire a cherry picker to get on it's back. I do not want to bounce up and down, aka post. I do not have the energy for such things. I have old bones and old muscles and don't think I could ever get the hang of that posting thing.

So pretty soon I was looking for a stable that trained and sold Rocky Mountain horses. I googled the term and started looking. The first thing I knew I was on the Van Bert web site looking at their beautiful horses. Soon I was on the way to Stanton Kentucky to check out those horses. As it happened, the Stanton horse show was being held the very day I was at the farm. There I saw the most beautiful horse I have ever seen in my whole like. Her name is VBF Blue Ridge Mt Girl. I was hooked and it didn't take me many days to make up my mind that I wanted to own that horse.

I was taking riding lessons at a stable near home and my instructor was trying to teach me how to post. Ever once in awhile I would get in time with the horse and would actually post for a few steps but invariably I would get into the horse's mouth and he would slow down or stop. I never did get the hang of that posting but it was not for lack of Lisa trying.

One day I went to my riding lesson and told Lisa I had bought a horse. She had been looking for me a nice Quarter Horse so she was disappointed that I went out on my own and bought a horse. When I told her my new horse was two years old, I thought she would have a heart attack. She told me I was crazy and I actually thought she might contact my family to have me committed. I suppose I did pick up some helpful hints through my riding lessons with Lisa but I'm not sure. She was committed to teaching me to post and I was committed to riding a gaited horse.

So we parted ways after it became clear it was not going to work out. She and I didn't have the same goals in mind for my riding experience.

Mt Girl won trophies two years in a row as the High Point Country Trail Pleasure horse for the year in the UMH show circuit. I still love that horse as much as any horse I own. I have now had two foals from her and they are both really nice. The first was a colt by Venture's Black Fury and this year's filly was by my stallion SC Code of Honor. She is a black filly with very little white on her anywhere.

Mt Girl and I have had some pretty cool adventures together. She spooked when Chris (her trainer) nearly fell over the fence in front of her and she went one way and I went the other. It was a young horse thing. She spooked in the practice arena in Tennessee during my practice on her and she went one way and I went the other. I landed in some really soft rock. It was all wet and mushy and Jamie helped me wash a lot of it off at the wash bay they have for the horses.

I quit riding Mt Girl for a couple of years and last year I was determined I wanted to ride her again. So I did. We didn't go out of the arena but I rode her. She was just as sweet as ever and didn't do anything foolish. She had grown up and raised a colt and had matured. She is a wonderful horse and beautiful too. I always say the most beautiful horse in the world. Michael Brummer disagrees with me.

My new horse is a 19 year old gray mare called Blue Jean. She was Al Pruitt's favorite riding horse. I came to appreciate her when I rode the mountains on her back at the end of May. Now many of you may remember that is about the time I broke my collar bone. Well, I was riding Blue Jean when that happened.

I felt no concern that she would do something foolish and get me hurt. I did have a anxious moment on the trail when we encountered a switchback. I did dismount and walk down. But Blue Jean did nothing at all foolish. I do not count it her fault that later in the ride she went down and I fell off. She is a very sweet mare that took such good care of me. She tiptoed down the steep hills and picked her way up the hills. She was gaiting like a show horse and was kind and gentle all the four hours we rode.

Blue Jean has been giving lessons to young riders lately and she was not accustomed to carrying people that weight over a hundred pounds. I am not saying how much over. She was also not accustomed to being out on that long of a ride. So it was not her fault and it wasn't my fault that I lost my balance and fell. I can hardly wait to get back on Blue Jean. She has completely restored my confidence. I have a saddle that has a deep seat and I feel good about riding her.

God certainly does answer prayers. I have been praying for, God has given me. I have been praying I would have the courage to ride and not be afraid. I sort of got cornered into riding in the mountains. Not really but in a way I did too if that makes any sense.

Sometimes God has to corner me into doing what I should be doing anyway. The times I do not listen to his voice, I regret it but I do know he is with me through whatever trials that I may encounter. I know he will bring me to the other side of trouble, even that of my own making, a better and wiser person.

I know that God is with me throughout whatever comes in my life. He promised that in his word. He told us to go and make disciples of all nations and that he is with us always. I believe that is not only a promise that he gives when we are out in strange lands preaching the gospel, but where ever we are living by his promises to us as believers.

May God bless and keep you in his loving care and may you learn as I have that he is with you in all the things in your life. I asked Bill one time if he thought God cared about the little things in our life. He told me that of course he is. Our lives are mostly made up of little things.

May all the little things in your life bring blessings to you and may you be blessed beyond all measure.

Regards

Mary

Horse Shows

The first picture is of Chester Hale on his pony named Jocko. He has participated in the ACTHA trail rides we have hosted and rides we have been a part of. The second is of Melissa riding Blue Jean. Blue Jean's actual registered name is Tennessee Revelation but Connor started calling her Blue Jean and it has stuck.

My horses, Code of Honor, Flair for Fury, Ann's Mt Treasure and Rockin Andi are off to the show in Prestonburg this week end. I am at home once again. Broken bones and this year the hay has interferred with my fun at horse shows.

As of this morning the hay is baled. We have had a hundred different issues it seems. It is never easy to get the crops in without having a break down of some sort. It seems like we have had more than our share. The tie rod on the White, blades on the mower, a flat tire, and tractors that won't start. The level of frustration rises with every new problem. But yet the men here have perservered and the hay is baled. Praise the Lord God.

Even the man who does my custom baling has had his share of problems with his baler. But as of this morning we have about 150 big round bales of hay ready for winter. God is good and God is faithful to provide.

My mother, Lucy Rogers, used to always say, "God provides for the birds of the air but he doesn't throw it in their nests". She was telling her children that God provides but we must do our part.

Just a little wrap up. I started this blog last week end and didn't get it finished. My horses did pretty well at the horse show last week end. I would have liked them to do better but I thank God for what he blesses me with.

My sister, Eleanor who was here through her air conditioner crisis is home once again and seems to have her affairs in order for a while right now. I have my own bed back. Hurray. I do miss my bed after a week or so. I don't mind giving it up for a little while but I begin to hate the couch after about a week.

The hay is all moved off of the ground and the grass is growing again for the next crop. We had a nice rain this morning although it could have rained longer and it would have been appreciated.

So that is how it all is on the home front. We are getting ready for the next horse show tomorrow night. Bob is riding Satin today and getting her ready.

Until next time, God bless and keep you in his loving care.

Regards,

Mary

A New Rider in the Family

This is my oldest daughter, Mary Engle rider the gray mare, Blue Jean and in the first picture the other rider on the chestnut mare is my other daughter, Debbie Zinsius. This is the first time Mary has been on a horse that she has actually ridden. Debbie grew up riding a sweet little pony named Tony. She and her brother Steve who rode a painted pony named Chico loved riding those ponies together. They rode all over the farm on those two ponies.

They showed them in the 4-H shows at the Spencer County Fair. We didn't have a fancy trailer to load them on so we put the cattle racks on the pick up truck and put both of them on the truck and off we went to the horse and pony club meetings and the fairs. They were not fancy but the children had more fun than you could imagine.

The Rocky Mountain Horses the farm owns these days are very nice horses with pedigrees that trace back to the original horses in the breed. They are beautiful slick animals that get shots on a regular basis, get wormed and seen by the vet on a regular basis.

God has blessed me and my farm with these wonderful horses. He has blessed the world with horses that are easy to be around and easy to handle. They are sweet and kind hearted.

I thank the Lord for all the blessing of this day.

May God bless and keep you in his loving care.

Regards

Mary

Blue Jean and Melissa

Melissa is riding the new horse I recently bought. Her name is Blue Jean. When I told her that I bought Blue Jean, she gave me the biggest hug I have ever had from Melissa. Sometimes she is a little stingy with her hugs but she was thrilled with Blue Jean. She had ridden her for a lesson with Vanessa.

Vanessa is like everyone else a Van Berts. She is very generous with her time and yesterday was really a busy day for all of them. They are not only getting ready for the big show in Prestonburg but they are also entertaining clients that come every day to buy horses. It is a wonderful vacation for the girls and me.

Today we are getting ready to go to the Stable. Guess who is taking a riding lesson today? The girl who said she would never get on a horse ever. It is Melissa's Granny aka known as my daughter Mary Engle.

I will write more on that later. There will be pictures to follow.

May the Lord bless and keep you in his loving care.

Regards

Mary

The first picture is my dog Erica and she is the ultimate trail riding dog. She loves to go on every trail ride with anyone that mounts a horse on the farm.

The second is of WOF Saga of Snowy River. He is a yearling colt that is really showing up his beautiful color. This was one of his first bathes in a 7 months and it was no problem for him.

Just some thoughts for the day. we are hanging out at the Van Bert Farm in Stanton Kentucky. Do not worry, I am not riding. We are having the family girls vacation. We got as many as could get off from work for a couple of days and we are staying in the Van Bert cottage. It is beautiful. It is peaceful and I love being here with my girls. I wish Natalie and Chrissy could have been here with us.

I hope you are able to get your family together for such a time together.

Regards,

Mary

Riding the Trails

The first picture is one of the first colts born on the farm this year. He is a colt out of Once a Hobo by SC Code of Honor. He is displaying the natural curiosity of a young colt checking out the big bale of hay that is in the barn to feed the horses that we keep inside. Second picture is a herd mate out of a mare VBF Rocky Top Rebel by SC Code of Honor. He too is displaying a natural curiosity. Momma is outside waiting for him to come out of the trailer but he is checking it out. The third picture is a filly out of VBF Blue Ridge Mt Girl and also by SC Code of Honor. She is just hours old in this picture so she is curious but staying very close to momma.

Ever since I bought my first horse from Van Bert Farms I have wanted to go on a trail ride with H T and Wilda. They bring back some of the most amazing pictures and stories of their trail rides. Bob went with them last year after their Memorial Day ACTHA ride and talked on and on about the beauty of the mountain and the babbling brooks that hurry down the mountains on the way to the Red River.

I was at the time in the cottage popping pain pills and nursing my broken arm. Don't pity me. If there was any place to be with a broken arm the Van Bert Cottage is the best. I had friends stopping by having coffee with me and Connor and Larry stopped by with flowers. Everyone was so nice and I hated to leave the cottage on Monday to go back home with what I knew would be facing me. Somehow at the cottage it didn't seem like the break was so bad but once I got home, I almost knew that I would be facing surgery although I hoped and prayed that it would just heal.

This year I once again did not ride in the Ride for the Cure that Van Berts sponsored. I helped out the best I could with the ride. I really didn't have a horse to ride. We took VBF Venture's Golden Satin for Bob to ride. We took Chocolate Amigo for Vickie to ride and we took Hoosier for Leigh and that was it for my three horse trailer.

Bob came in second on the ride. Vickie did really well for her first ride. I am not taking anything away from Vickie but Amigo is so trail savvy that he can almost do the obstacle without much guidance. Leigh was racking up some good scores on the obstacles but Hoosier started having some problems so she took her back to the barn. So really Whispering Oaks Farm turned in a good ride even if we didn't take but one ribbon home.

On Saturday night we went to Cathy's for some of her wonderful food including fried green tomatoes. If you have ever been to Cathy's you will know what I am talking about. We were in a group of about 15 people and having a wonderful time when the subject of a trail ride in Wolf County came up. The group was all in favor of going to the mountains for a ride the next day. Jamie ask me if I would go too. I didn't have a horse I wanted to ride in the mountains so he offered Blue Jean. Blue Jean is/was Conner's horse. I was assured she was sweet, would take care of me and was sure footed.

I should have known better. May has not been a good month for me in recent years. Bill died in May, I had pneumonia in May and broke my arm last May. But I am not superstitious so I said OK.

The next day we awoke to a bright sun beaming down on us. The temperatures were to be 90 or above but heck we were going to be in the mountains with plenty of shade and babbling brooks. We got over to the barn with the two horses we were taking and found that my little mare Blue Jean was all saddled and ready to go.

We headed up to the mountains. We were on the Mt Parkway climbing the hills when we heard a really loud pop like a rock had been thrown down on the windshield or had hit the back glass. But we couldn't see anything so we thought we had blown a tire. We had to keep going. We were climbing the mountains and had no signal on our phones. We really thought it was a trailer tire but we couldn't tell.

We finally got a signal and let the others know we were getting off on Exit 40 to check it out. When we got out of the truck, there was no flat tire and it took a minute to discover what had actually happened. I carry tie downs in the back of my truck to use when necessary and one of the had somehow gotten wind born and hit the back glass by my ear. It was a wonder that it didn't break the glass. It was still lodged between the front of the truck bed and the back of the cab.

We continued our journey on to Wolf County and was looking forward to a day of riding. We all unloaded horses and those who needed to do so saddled up. There was by now 18 of us in the group. It was a fun group of people to be with. Carol and Phyllis were along and they are always a lot of fun. Of course, H T, Wilda and Jamie and Bob and Vickie. We were all looking forward to a wonderful ride and it was wonderful.

The trails were more than I had ever ridden but Blue Jean was really taking good care of me. She is sure footed and ever so careful about how she goes up and down hills. I feel in love with that mare within minutes of getting on her back. She does not do anything stupid at all.

Lunch was wonderful. We had stopped for drinks and sandwiches. We dismounted which worried me. I looked around and could not see a dead fall or a stump to help me remount but Jamie assured me I would get back on and he kept his word.

After lunch we continued down the trail with Blue Jean taking extra good care of me. There were steep hills to go down and a variety of switch backs to negotiate. And it was all going really well. We did come to one switchback that Vickie and I didn't feel comfortable with so we dismounted and Kaylee Tipton rode Blue Jean down. Bob ponied Amigo and we remounted and rode on. There were lots of places that when we looked to the left or right, it looked straight down. The scenery was stunning.

We crossed streams that were dancing their way down the mountain. The birds were singing their springtime songs and the trees were decked out in their best spring time finery. It was a beautiful ride. It was a beautiful day. I loved the ride and I think I will ride it again for sure. But only if I can ride it on Blue Jean.

Many of the horses had not been out on a long ride this year and all of them were getting tired. Blue Jean had a shoe that came loose and Jamie took it off. The next hill we rode up I could see Blue Jean was really tired. But we were now close to getting back to the trucks. We rode some more narrow trails and switch backs. We were close to our destination.

All of the sudden I hit the ground. I didn't feel her stumble, I didn't feel her going down. All I felt was me hitting the ground. Vickie was off of Amigo before I was hardly aware I was on the ground. She was telling me to not get up. I wasn't about to get up. I laid there while Vickie, a former EMT, checked me out. By now Blue Jean was up and standing there waiting for me to get back on. I love that mare. Bob was standing there holding the horse and looking like he was devastated. Vickie didn't find anything that felt broken and Bob helped me get up off of the ground.

I was perfectly fine to walk but I was not getting back on poor little Blue Jean. She had had all she could take for the day. H T and Jamie brought a truck up to where we were and rode me back to the camp. I would have been fine walking. But they wouldn't hear of it.

Monday I had xrays made and my collar bone is broken. It is a clean break and in alignment so surgery will not be necessary. I am tired and don't feel like doing a lot but I will heal quickly. Judy Brummer told me to drink plenty of milk and I do that.

So that is my mountain trail riding experience. Will I ride again? Of course. Will I ride that mountain trail again. I have no doubt. I will be riding my new horse, Blue Jean. Did I mention that I love that mare? We bonded right off. Connor is ready to move on to something else so as luck would have it, I was able to purchase Blue Jean. You may be seeing the two of us riding the rails this year.

God does work in mysterious ways, his wonders to behold. Does God have to prove that to us over and over? I have struggled with fears of riding. A friend of mine says I make the same mistake over and over but God has provided a horse for me that I can trust completely. I will bring Blue Jean home with me. I can't wait to get back on her. When I am able to ride again we will ride my trails here. We will go up hills and down hills and she will develop the strength and stamina that she needs to tackle the rails and the big trails. God has answered my prayers in the form of a little mare called Blue Jean.

What is it you desire or need? Go to the one who owns those mountains we were riding in. Go to the one who owns those wonderful animals--the horses. Go to the one who created all of it. It is all his and by his love and grace he has provided it for our use and to care for. Most of all he has through the sacrifice of his only begotten son given us the grace and forgiveness that is necessary to gain entrance into heaven. Not through our works or efforts but through Jesus and Jesus alone.

I will see you at the State Show. The Prestonburg show is out again this year because of another broken bone. But some of my horses will be there. So watch for SC Code of Honor, Flair for Fury, Rockin Andi, Ann's Mt Treasure and Lady Ace. They will be there giving the competition some anxious moments. (I hope)

May God bless and keep you in his loving care.

Regards

Mary