Featured Rider ~ Jessie & Featured Horse ~ Chip by Vallerie Sweeton

1st Quarter 2010 Edition

Hope Notes

Horses of Hope - Riding Center, Inc. & Horses of Hope - Missouri, Inc

Horses of Hope is

thrilled to announce that

once again, a Show Team

Hope horse and rider have

done well in the AQHA

Equestrians with Disabili-

ties (EWD) classes. But

this year, they have done

it in a super big way that

has never been done be-

fore.

Twenty-one year old

Jessie Naaykens and 21

year old Chip Chocoholic

made it a clean sweep of

t h e a w a r d s f o r

2009! They were the top

placing horse and rider in

all 4 events, Showman-

ship at Halter, Hunt Seat

Equitation, Western

Horsemanship and Trail!

This is Jessie's 2nd

year to participate on the

show team and boy

did she leave her

mark. Jessie is the most

soft spoken person I have

maybe ever met, but she

lets her riding abilities do

the talking for her when it

c o me s to sh ow in g

Chip. Jessie and Chip

melded into a fantastic

team almost immedi-

ately. Jessie's quiet man-

ner and ability to take in-

struction made for a per-

fect match with Chip, who

is a seasoned show vet-

eran himself.

Chip was donated to us

from Mrs. Betty Murfin

and Nancy Murfin Moxley

of Wichita, KS about five

years ago. Chip has an

amazing show record from

his younger days with

multiple top 10 placings at

the American Quarter

Horse World Champion-

ship Show and a list of

Calendar of Events

April

2, 3, & 4 ~ Team HOPE, Wichita, KS

5,12,19,26 ~ Ft Scott Community College Class

Civic Engagement

16, 17 & 18 ~ Team HOPE, Carthage, MO

16, 17 & 18 ~ NARHA Region 7 Conference

30 ~ Benefit Auction, Buffalo, MO Barn

May

3,10 ~ Ft Scott Community College Class

Civic Engagement

8 & 9~ Team HOPE, Hutchinson, KS

11 ~ Purina Showcase & Open House, KS Barn

14, 15 & 16 ~ Team HOPE, Wichita, KS

22 ~ Show Clinic at MO Barn

June

5 ~ Summer Show of Stars at KS Barn

7,14,21,28 ~ Horse Lovers Summer Camp

Series 1 at KS Barn

18, 19 ~ Team HOPE, Hutchinson, KS

25,26,27 ~ Team HOPE, Wichita, KS

show points several pages

long. Even though Chip

has been a part of our

show team for several

years, this is the first

AQHA, EWD honors he

has won. I think it just

took the right combina-

tion of horse and rider to

make things click for

Chip, and boy have he

and Jessie clicked!

Jessie, her family and

Allen and Shelly McColm

made a trip to Florida to

accept Jessie and Chip's

awards at the 2009 Na-

tional AQHA Convention.

We are so proud to have

her as part of our Show

Team Hope Family!

Jessie Naaykens and Chip Chocoholic

Horses of Hope in Buf-

falo would like to intro-

duce a family that is very

near and dear to our

hearts, the Gathright fam-

ily. Mrs. Paula Gathright

is the driving force behind

her beautiful group of vol-

unteers. Ms. Paula, as she

is known around the barn,

homeschools her four chil-

dren, Edward, Jr., Nata-

lya, Elizabeth and

Jeremiah.

This amazing family

started volunteering at the

Buffalo barn four years

ago. Over the years, they

have helped in many ca-

pacities. Ms. Paula can

often be found helping in

the office or organizing

and directing other volun-

teers.

We have watched Ed-

ward grow in stature and

confidence. He now can

be seen helping with barn

chores, doing many of our

heavy tasks, horse han-

dling or side walking.

Edward is a joy to work

2nd Annual Benefit for Hope Auction by Melinda Keithley

activities at 5:30, with the

live auction beginning at

6:00. A drawing will be

held for a 10 foot 3G John

Boat, contact HOH Mis-

souri for your chance to

win. Also, free entertain-

ment will be available for

the children throughout

the evening.

Auction items include

tickets to many area at-

tractions, such as Silver

Dollar City and the Kan-

sas City Royals. Other

items of interest include

1/2 of a hog, processed,

hand made quilts and

many household items.

If you would like to

donate an item to this

years auction, call Barb

at (417)345-5210. Dona-

tions are tax deductable

as allowable by law.

The 2nd Annual Bene-

fit for Hope Auction will

be held at the Buffalo,

MO barn on Friday night

April 30th. Make plans

now to attend. There’s

sure to be something for

everyone.

The barn will open

their doors at 4:00 PM

with dinner available af-

ter 5:00. A pie auction

will start off the evenings

Page 2

Spotlight on Volunteers ~ The Gathright Family by Melinda Keithley

Send your donation in

our enclosed return

envelope or make your

donation on-line at

www.horsesofhope.com.

Visit our new website at www.horsesofhope.com

with, always willing to do

any task he is asked to do.

Natalya’s favorite task is

helping to exercise the

horses. She is willing to do

any task from cleaning, barn

chores or helping in the

arena.

2009 Independent Adult Equestrian ~ Sarah Smittle by Vallerie Sweeton

Sarah Smittle has been

riding at Horses of Hope

Riding Center in Baxter

Springs, KS, for 12 years.

In that time, Sarah has

developed a devotion to the

center and an enthusiasm

for her sport that few can

match.

When Sarah began rid-

ing, she could barely muck

a stall, but she has now

progressed to showing with

her horse, Charlie, at the

state level. Sarah was the

first rider in the state of

Kansas to participate in the

Equestrians with Disabili-

ties (EWD) classes at

American Quarter Horse

Association shows, and

has been an integral force

in establishing these

classes as permanent divi-

sions in all Kansas shows.

Sarah won the AQHA

High Point Equestrians

with Disabilities Trail

award in 2007. In 2009,

she was awarded from

NARHA the Adult Inde-

pendent Equestr ian

Award and was recognized

at the National Meeting in

Ft. Worth. She is now

working on establishing an

Equestrian with Disabili-

ties class at the AQHA

World Show, where she

hopes to compete one day.

Sarah is an incredible

advocate for our center,

acting as a goodwill am-

bassador for Horses of

Hope and spreading the

word about Therapeutic

Riding in her community.

In addition, Sarah and her

family support the center

by raising funds through

crafting and selling horse-

hair pottery, and she gladly

helps groom horses or muck

stalls when the center

needs a hand displaying a

wonderful dedication to not

only her center, but to the

industry as a whole.

Elizabeth is our bud-

ding veterinarian. She

loves to help with the

horse care and is not

afraid to do anything.

She can horse handle as

well as sidewalk.

Jeremiah’s favorite

task is burning the trash.

But he helps in more

ways than we can count.

He can often be found in

the arena helping the

therapists by playing

games with the riders

during their therapy.

Sarah Smittle

Page 3 Visit our new website at www.horsesofhope.com

How many people

does it take to….

Make A Difference?

“ONE” You Can…

Make a Difference!

BE ONE in a Million!!

***Join the 2010

Horses of Hope Giving Campaign***

Our goal is to reach a

million people with our

giving campaign.

Simply:

*E-mail your friends

*Share our website

*Become a fan & share

our Facebook page

with your friends.

Help spread the word!

$1.00 can change the

lives of so many!

Become…

ONE IN A MILLION

If each person would

donate $1.00 (or more), what a difference it would

make to Horses of Hope

and our Riders!

Donations can be

mailed in the enclosed

envelope or made on

o u r w e b s i t e ,

www.horsesofhope.com.

Each donor will have their

name signed on our “Big

Boots” on the “Million

Dollar Wall” in our Barns.

HELP US SPREAD

THE WORD! Donations to Horses of Hope are tax-deductable to the extent provided by law.

$1.00 or More + 1 person X 1 Million Friends = $1,000,000

Providing One Million Opportunities for those in need!

Bringing Hope to All Riders

Horses of Hope - Riding Center, Inc.

6968 SE 20th St.

Baxter Springs, KS 66713

Phone: (620) 674-3458

Fax: (620) 674-3233

E-mail: hoh@ctk.net

55 Kelly Rd

Buffalo, MO 65622

Phone: (417) 345-5210

Fax: (417)345-0131

E-mail: melindakeithley@gmail.com

Horses of Hope - Missouri, Inc.

Horses of Hope Welcomes…. By Shelly McColm

As we give at Horses of Hope we also receive! This

is a major theme I have

experienced over the past

thirteen years at Horses of

Hope. The welcomed addi-

tion of Steve and Charlotte

White, formerly of Augusta,

Kansas, has been no excep-

tion to my experiences of

receiving. These long time

friends and professional

peers came to be with

Horses of Hope in Baxter

Springs in late 2009, right

in the midst of the 2009

Country Christmas Dinner

Theater.

Horses of Hope had the

opportunity in 2000 to pro-

vide therapeutic riding

rehabilitation for Char-

lotte, as she took her “first

ride” after surviving a very

serious accident. The

giving and receiving be-

gan with the Whites

many years before, as the

McColms, Horses of Hope

and the Whites had be-

come friends through a

variety of professional

horse experiences. Steve and Charlotte are

very well known in the horse

world, having ridden, trained and coached champion

horses and riders for over 50

years. Their sensitivity to the

horse’s mental, as well as

physical well-being, is to

what sets them apart.

Horses of Hope is the

perfect “niche” for Steve

and Charlotte as they

move into a new phase in

their lives. Now just a

few less training horses

and many more opportuni-

ties to see miracles every-

day at Horses of Hope. As

they give in a new and

different way they are also

receiving in a uniquely

new way everyday!

They are continuing

their professional horse

training business on a

smaller scale, as well as,

residing and supporting

the many efforts at Horses of Hope-Bringing HOPE

to ALL on the Trail of

Hope!

We are very excited

and extremely thankful

for Steve and Charlotte as

they share their experi-

ence, talent, skills, time

and more importantly,

their hearts for the work

we are all so blessed to do

at Horses of Hope!

We never really know when

we may be entertaining

angels…

(To learn more about

Steve & Charlotte and

White Training Stables

visit our website at

www.horsesofhope.com .)

Do not neglect hospitality, for through it some have unknowingly entertained angels. Hebrews 13:2

Steve & Charlotte

White