Minutes from the 2011 Winter Board of Director's Meeting

The 2011 Fox TROT Board of Directors met on January 8, 2011 at Uncle Buck's Restaurant in Sevier County. In attendance were Sam Gerhardt (President), Lea Valentine (Vice President), Samm Riggin (Secretary), Donna Maurer (Mid. TN Rep), Heather Webb (East TN Rep) - as well as members Debby Gerhardt and Ray Maurer. Due to the weather, Treasurer, Karen Gagliano was unable to be present.

On the agenda and discussed was the 2011 ride schedule (as listed above on the blogspot). At the Spring Gathering (March 26, 2011 at Catoosa Ridge) a pot luck dinner will be served at 5:30pm at the Catoosa Ridge dining hall. A group ride will be organized for those who want to ride earlier in the day. Some members will come early (Thursday/Friday) and spend the weekend - all are welcome!

The Summer ride at Orchard Cove Stables in Townsend (June 15 - 18, 2011) will be a MFTHBA National Trail Ride sponsored by FoxTROT. Samm Riggin will work with Freda Webb at OCS to redesign/update the T-shirts for the event. Activities for the weekend and possible trail routes were discussed. The possiblitliy of having professional entertainment on Saturday pm was also talked about. FoxTROT board members agreed to pay the $5 fee for the National Trail Ride for current FoxTROT members. *Camping space for this event is filling up FAST. If planning to attend, book early!!

September 28 - October 2, 2011 are the dates for Fox Trotter Affair to be held at East Fork Stables in Jamestown, TN. FoxTROT will be responsible for the trail portion of the event. It was also agreed to spend up to $150 to sponsor the event. Trail rides for Fox Trotter Affair will also be MFTHBA National Trail rides and co-sponsored by FoxTROT and a Georgia MFT affiliate.

The MFTHBA Youth Affiliate has asked FoxTROT to help with a National Trail Ride to be held at East Fork Stables (Jamestown, TN) during Memorial Day weekend (May 28 - 30, 2011). Details to come.

The FoxTROT regional reps are putting together smaller day rides and/or weekend rides to be held in between our larger, scheduled events. These will be announced via email and phone calls as they are scheduled.

Trainer clinics specific to gaited breeds were discussed. Trainer Liz Graves will hold a gaited horse clinic at Orchard Cove Stables in Townsend, TN the last weekend of August (8/27 - 28/2011).

It was discussed to put out a "feeler" with members to see if there is an interest in holding a "Ground Manners" mini-clinic to be held in the Spring.

Membership participation awards to boost member involvement were discussed. Plans are in the works for different awards to be presented for various rides (ie 1st ride, 10th ride, 30th ride, etc). Sam suggested a larger award (ie MFT belt buckle) to be awarded for 30+ rides as an example.

Affiliate membership with the ACTHA (American Competitive Trail Horse Association) is being looked into. What are the "perks" for FoxTROT?

Sam discussed the importance of FoxTROT continuing on as an affiliate with the MFTHBA and the requirement of the board to be current MFTHBA members. This is to help ensure that FoxTROT remain true to it's mission as a Missouri Fox Trotter trail riding group.

Individual officer responsibilities were gone over for the benefit of incoming officers.

Because Karen Gagliano (Treasurer) was not present, there was no treasurer's report presented.

All in all, meeting time was very well spent and everyone left with great excitement for our group and the upcoming year!

A New Year - A New FoxTROT

FoxTROT's 2011 BOD (l-r) Samm Riggin - Secretary, Lea Valentine - Vice President, Heather Webb - East TN Rep, Sam Gerhardt - President, Ray Maurer - Member, Donna Maurer - Middle TN Rep

Randolph the Bow Legged Cowboy!

Christmas is a special time of year! It is a time of Family, Friends, Faith and Films (Don't you all enjoy the holiday movies?)! Well, I've been singing a song I learned YEARS ago to my children and now grandchildren (or whoever else's children that will listen!). I have no idea who wrote it or how to give credit. You may find that the children in your life will enjoy it, so I'm sharing with you. Sing this to the tune of "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer".

"Randolph the bow legged cowboy
Had a very shiny gun,
And if you ever saw it
You would turn away and run.

All of the other cowboys
Used to laugh and call him names.
They never let poor Randolph
Join in any horseback games.

Then one snowy Christmas Eve,
The sheriff came to say,
Randolph with your guns so bright,
Won't you lead my posse tonight?

Then how the cowgirls loved him,
And they shouted out with glee,
Randolph the bowlegged cowboy
You'll go down in history!"

Merry Christmas and Happy Trails,

Sam Gerhardt
President, FoxTROT

Elections and Membership Renewals

Well, here we are at the end of another successful year. From The Winter Gathering on to our first National Trail Ride and then to the Foxtrotter Affair, FoxTROT experienced great participation and reviews in 2010. We anticipate 2011 to be even better! It is now time to cast your ballot for the 2011 officers and to renew your membership. The new candidates are all actively involved in FoxTROT and bring energy and additional ideas to us. Please thoroughly answer the ballot and mail it with your completed membership renewal and dues. Many have already accomplished this. Your input and continued support is what makes FoxTROT viable, motivated and successful. Let me see an envelope from you in my mail box soon!

It is also time to renew membership in the national organization, the Missouri Fox Trotting Horse Breed Association. There are many benefits to belonging to the MFTHBA (http://www.mfthba.com/), the most important being the right to vote and to provide input to the direction of the organization. It is my personal experience that the leadership of the MFTHBA does have an ear and will respond to communication from the membership. There are many positive changes taking place in the MFTHBA and I like to think that those changes have been influenced by individual members who remain actively engaged. Of course, as I write this I'm aware that most of FoxTROT want to trail ride and have no interest in the affairs of the MFTHBA. This is understandable, believe me! However, the MFTHBA is OUR breed registry. To keep it strong we must be members; to influence it in a better direction we must vote and communicate our desires and concerns. There is strength in numbers. Please consider joining or renewing your membership in the MFTHBA for 2011.

FoxTROT's next full organizational ride will be The Spring Gathering at Catoosa Ridge Stables, Crossville, TN, Saturday, 26 March 2011. Notice this is a "Spring" Gathering. Last year The "Winter" Gathering had a bit too much "winter" so we postponed this event for a month in 2011. Be looking for further information after the new year.

Thanksgiving Weekend at KC Ranch, Alabama

After giving thanks to the Lord with family for all His blessings upon us, several of us met at KC Ranch (http://www.kcranchalabama.com/) in Double Springs, Alabama. Ken and Carol McDonald are the owners of KC Ranch which is located in beautiful northwest Alabama on the edge of the Bankhead National Forrest. It just so happens that Ken and Carol own/trail ride our favorite breed, Missouri Fox Trotters! We did all of our riding on the many miles of the private trails of KC Ranch. There are several loops to make, ranging from an hour to several hours in length. We rode along the creek beds, through the woods, across the bridges, and over the sandstone and red clay. The trails are well marked and color coded trail maps were provided. Three delicious meals a day were provided in the dining hall. As Terry M would say, "You could founder at this place"! They really did serve the best food I've eaten at a horse camp. The campsites are level with full hookups (water, electric, septic) and are near the stalls. A cabin is available for those without living quarters. I was surprised that the camp was nearly full with riders/campers coming from Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee and other places. We look forward to returning to KC Ranch and would encourage others to go there to camp, eat and ride!

Those joining Deb and I were Hunter (our oldest grandson), Bob and Betty Wills, Terry Messex, Felix and Rose Walters, Terry and Julie Yokely. Most of us were riding our MFTs, but there were a couple of Spotted Saddle Horses among us. Of course, we talked up our MFTs to all who would give an ear! I left copies of The Journal in the dining hall and noticed that they were being read by other guests. While we were there Terry Y, Felix W, and Ken and Carol all joined FoxTROT! We are happy to see them become a part and look forward to riding with them in the future. Of course, we finished our visit Sunday morning with Cowboy Church. There were 17 of us gathered around the fire for some singing and an encouraging word from the Scriptures. Everyone then said our "nice to meet you" and "see y'all later" before breaking camp, loading horses and heading home. Once again, we were reminded why we started FoxTROT in the first place.

Merry Christmas and Happy Trails,

Sam Gerhardt, President, FoxTROT

Fall Ride at Circle E Guest Ranch

Donna and Terry put together a 3 day ride in Middle Tennessee at the Circle E Guest Ranch., 11 - 14 November 2010. A friend of Ray and Donna's and new MFT owner, Casey Rogilio, wrote a nice record of her day ride with the group. I have edited it slightly to post to the blog.

"Seven riders met at Circle E, on top of the Cumberland Plateau, to ride in the woods as part of the FoxTROT ride. Terry Lea, Bob, Felix, Donna, Ray and myself. We took off across the road from the camp heading generally north and into an open logging area. We had maps, but we weren't paying tons of attention to them at times. Woo Hoo! It was a down hill jaunt from the moment we headed out of the logging area and my heart was beating rapidly. I dinna care for downhill that much; uphill is good, downhill is bad in my general mantra! Donna and I realized that our saddles were giving us some side to side motion so we made our tack adjustments and then continued the ride onto a flat road.

"We stayed on the flat road for oh, about 20 feet, if that! then Ray led us off and up the side of a hill into some trees and by a granite bluff. I still don't know if he knew where we were going or if Terry had told him, but we ended up in 'Hooterville'! Yep, we sure did! There must have been about 100 bras fastened onto the trees! We headed on from there, downhill and up again 'til Terry got to thinking we were on hunting land. Yikes. We had 2 darker buckskins that could have looked like deer, 3 sorrels and 2 black and whites. Thankfully, I had on my bright yellow rain jacket so 'I' would have been safe. LOL. No, hopefully any hunters would have realized that they were horses with people on them. We had to go back the way we had come. My heart was no longer beating rapidly. My horse, Cassey, had some of the p&v taken out of her on the slopes so far. I realized she was a more sure footed thing, even on steeper slopes, than I normally ride. She's not one to go headlong down a slope just to keep up with the other horses. She would also slow at fallen trees and carefully negotiate them.

"I took tons of pictures, trying to capture the brilliant light we saw pouring out of the sky and giving our eyes a feast of blazing oranges, bright yellows and fiery reds. At times the leaves seemed almost incandescent, they were so illuminated. There was no way for pictures to do justice to the beauty we saw at every turn of the trail.

"I felt so blessed to be able to ride on this occasion for more than one reason. It was a marvel to look at the beauty God had for us. Donna had invited me and I confess I felt a touch of trepidation at riding at Circle E. I had heard the trails could be rough. Well, Cassey took great care of me. She puffed up the hills. I know on one occasion she came to a halt and I felt she was firmly telling me to haul my OWN butt up the hill! We went down rocky places where she had to place her feet carefully and up rocky places where she had to scramble to get good footing. CW McCall's son 'Black Bear Road' kept coming to mind; there were 'rocks as big as a hall closet' that we passed and lots of grapefruit sized rocks to pick our way through. We rode past boulders as big as houses and at least one HUGE boulder that had to be 50 feet high.

"It was a wonderful day. At one point I told Ray and Donna that my cheeks hurt from grinning so much. I feel like I've come a long way as a trail rider. We negotiated some downhill and through trees/rock stuff that would have sent me screaming in the other direction with Justin, and Dino would have probably lost his mind on some of the uphills. It helps immensely to have a horse that is a seasoned trail horse and can take care of herself and her rider. Yay Cassey!!! I know I slept well last night; hopefully Cassey did too!"

Obviously, Casey had a wonderful time riding with FoxTROT! In addition to those mentioned in Casey's article, others joining the ride that weekend were Michael and Sharon Lesner, Kathy and Marty, and some folk from the area. Deb and I did not make this ride, and it sounds like we missed out!

Happy Trails,

Sam Gerhardt

President, FoxTROT

Foxtrotter Affair 2010

(There are no photos with this article. For some strange reason none of us had working cameras! Sorry.)

The first annual Foxtrotter Affair (http://www.foxtrotteraffair.com) was held at East Fork Stables (http://www.eastforkstables.com) in Jamestown, TN, 8 - 12 September 2010, in conjunction with the FoxTROT Fall Trail Ride. Along with the usual 20 or so MFT trail riders from FoxTROT, we had folks bring their MFTs from Kentucky, Virginia, North and South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Florida and Missouri.

The trail riding on East Fork is second to none! Guides were provided to accommodate each skill level of trail rider. Trails were well marked and expansive. We enjoyed the trails each day, even in the rain. I can no longer say, "I've never left the barn in the rain". East Fork should be on every trail rider's "bucket list" of places to ride.

Crest Ridge Saddlery (http://www.crestridgesaddlery.com) gave an excellent clinic on saddle fit. The explanations and information was understandable and valuable. The CRS staff was busy during the entire event assisting and advising. It is certain that many saw the need to replace poorly fit saddles and purchase a top quality saddle from CRS on the spot. Many others will , no doubt, make an order with CRS after they return home. We will look forward to seeing these folks again at next year's Foxtrotter Affair.

Henry Dunn, a MFT trainer from Florida, was on hand to help folks in the arena with their gaits. After a brief demonstration, he was kept busy throughout the event one on one with interested riders. Many comments were made about the great help received from Mr. Dunn.

A competitive trail obstacle course was set up for casual use as desired. Many presented the opportunity to their MFTs to meet the challenges. Most did very well, while some will need more exposure! I heard several say that they will be building obstacles on their places in order to be better prepared for next year! Since the MFTHBA is now associated with the American Competitive Trail Horse Association (http://www.actha.us.com) this type of course certainly will continue to be popular with trail riders.

For many, the charity horse show for the local animal rescue group was the highlight of the Foxtrotter Affair. East Fork was covered up with locals and MFT riders enjoying the show. Several of our MFTs placed in their appropriate classes. The rain did create some issues, but all seemed to have a great time, "entering at the fox trot"!

The last evening was spent at the pavilion. We enjoyed a delicious bar-b-que supper. After the meal, cash awards were presented to certain participants (who doesn't like cash theses days?), like oldest and youngest, best cowboy and cowgirl, who traveled farthest, and those who placed in the show. In addition to cash, some received a copy of the book, Fox Trot Trackings. The awards were well deserved by all who received them. Arrangements were made for entertainment from a local band to follow the meal and awards presentation. Many remained at the pavilion to enjoy the music, dance and, well, you know what goes with this for many MFT folks! The music with "hoops and hollers" was heard well into the night. The last night night was made very special by all of these activities.

Sunday morning brought Cowboy Church. A message meant to challenge and encourage came from the book of Revelation. Jesus is coming again, but this time He will be riding a white horse not a donkey! (Yes, there must be horses in heaven!) The challenge to each was to be certain that they had trusted the shed blood of the risen Savior, rather than religion or good works, in order to be ready for His return! After a word of Prayer, Cowboy Church was dismissed.

The 2010 Foxtrotter Affair was a great success! Special thanks to all who gave and worked so diligently to provide this tremendous event. Be sure to save the website to your "favorites" list in order to keep current with plans for the 2011 Foxtrotter Affair to be held 28 September - 2 October 2011.

Happy Trails

Sam Gerhardt
President, FoxTROT