Welcoming The New Year, 2012!

What will 2012 hold for FoxTROT? The continued growth of FoxTROT's membership? Greater participation in the FoxTROT National Trail Rides? More FoxTROT members getting together more often for local/regional trail rides? FoxTROT members joining the ACTHA and competing in the CTCs? Maybe even an entourage of FoxTROT members traveling to Ava, Missouri for the MFTHBA International Show and Celebration? Whatever 2012 holds, we're hoping that you'll be a part of it!

If you haven't already done so, it's time to renew your FoxTROT Membership for 2012! E-mail notes have now been sent out twice with the 2012 Membership Application attached. Renewals have begun to arrive in my mail box from Tennessee, Georgia, North Carolina, and Arkansas! Be sure to contact me if you have lost track of your notice, so I can get one to you. As always, we ask you to spread the word about FoxTROT. Word of mouth is the best way we've found to grow our membership. If you know of others in or around Tennessee who trail ride MFTs, invite them to join FoxTROT. Give them my contact info or send me a note with theirs. Let's do our best to be more involved ourselves and get others involved!

Make plans to attend all three National Trail Rides! As a member of FoxTROT and the MFTHBA, when you complete 10 National Trail Rides on a registered MFT you'll be awarded one of the beautiful Montana Silversmith buckles as pictured above from the MFTHBA! Additional prizes are available for 20, 30, 40 NTRs! So, in addition to the great fellowship of FoxTROT members around camp and on the trail, you can be marking off your NTRs until you are eligible to be recognized and receive your buckle!

With winter being dead upon us, many are not able to ride as often as they'd like. However, if there's a sunny day in the 40s and the winds are not too high, you can expect to see us "die hards" (You know who you/we are) headed for a trail head! Anytime you see a nice day in the forecast, be sure to contact one of us in your region as listed above, it's sure that someone will be ready to ride with you!

Missouri Fox Trotters performed extremely well in last year's ACTHA America's Favorite Trail Horse Challenge with 2 of the 10 finalists being MFTs! Let's do our part to introduce our MFTS to the ACTHA CTCs in Tennessee this year! To date there are 3 ACTHA CTCs scheduled in Tennessee. Notice that there they are located in/near places many of us already ride. We've talked about becoming active in the ACTHA in years past. Let's take a close look at this year's ACTHA CTC schedule and make it happen! Go go http://www.actha.us for all things ACTHA!

Attending the 2011 MFTHBA International Show and Celebration was a real treat for Deb and I! We had never been before and we thoroughly enjoyed the entire experience. It was a very beneficial and educational time for us. The trail rides during the day were wonderful with 30 - 40 MFTs out on the trail! The daily Versatility events had real "cowboy" stuff showing all the talents of our breed! The nightly shows demonstrated the MFT's "flashy" side! Other FoxTROT members attending were Terry Messex and Jaime Whiteaker. We commented at the time that it would be great if we could get a group of FoxTROT members to attend the Show and Celebration in 2012. If you have never been, consider joining us as we hope to return!

There are those such as Nostradamus and the Mayan Calendar which predict all sorts of apocalyptic events for 2012! I think we'll simply continue to trail ride our favorite horses, the Missouri Fox Trotter! We're hoping that you'll come along for the ride!

Happy Trails,

Sam Gerhardt
President, FoxTROT
smfoxtrotters@hotmail.com

2011 Southeastern MFTHBA National Trail Ride and Foxtrotter Affair

If the definition of a successful trail ride is great horses, trails, weather, campground, food and fellowship then the 2011 Southeastern MFTHBA National Trail Ride and Foxtrotter Affair was a tremendous success! We had a total of about 30 riders from Indiana, Ohio, Florida, Missouri, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee. Our youngest rider was 16 and our oldest rider was...well, let's just say he was our oldest rider! While most of the horses were Missouri Fox Trotters; we did have an Appaloosa, some Tennessee Walkers, a Rocky Mountain Horse, and even a gaited mule.

East Fork Stables is a terrific place to hold this ride. All the necessities are provided or available - stalls, shavings, bath houses, camp sites, cabins, etc. There is a large arena, an equine obstacle course, and a covered pavilion. The Rim Riders store has a nice selection of t-shirts, caps, clothing, boots, some tack items and horse/cowboy "flavored" what-nots, nic-nacs. and furniture. The trails are numerous, mostly wide, well maintained and well marked. Trail maps are detailed and Trail Guides are available upon request. We chose to follow the map without a guide, "ride the edge" and did not venture "over the edge" down into the river gorge. Everyone enjoyed the rides! We took our time, stopping along the way, and making sure that we didn't ride any thing too rough or leave anyone behind. The views through the woods, and along the rim are beautiful. We were able to ride different loops each day with out having to ride the same trails. East Fork Stables provides a place where all - young and old, brave and timid, green and dead broke - can ride in safety and have a tremendous time!

During the course of the week we had some pleasant diversions from the trail. The good folk from Crest Ridge Saddlery (http://www.crestridgesaddlery.com) joined us again all week to assist with saddle fit. Debra is always helpful and has a good saddle for our Fox Trotters. Thursday evening a group of 18 went out to Bacarra's, a local German restaurant, which is a special treat. Most fended for themselves through the week for meals at camp and other local restaurants. Ron Munn and Debby Gerhardt did a lot of cooking for many during the week. A big country breakfast around the camp fire is sure good on a chilly Tennessee Fall morning! Friday evening we gathered around the fire to conduct a little FoxTROT business, discussing events for the remainder of 2011 and next year's schedule. We also held our "Ballot Party", which was simply a discussion of the candidates running for positions in the MFTHBA. Sam Gerhardt and Terry Messex were able to provide their insights and suggestions for each position, leaving the final choice to each member. The importance of MFTHBA membership and the influence of the vote was emphasized. On Saturday evening, we pulled all together for a pot luck supper! There was homemade beef vegetable soup with "hoe cakes", Venison Sloppy Joe's, Kentucky Fried Chicken, and German Brats. Of course, there was a bounty of sweets! Apple Cobbler, German Chocolate Cake, Vanilla Wafer Cake....you get the picture! Don Britton, a cowboy poet and western artist, joined us around the fire Saturday evening after our meal. "Bronco", as Don prefers to be called, entertained us with humorous and emotion stirring verse. In addition, Bronco donated several prints of his art which we gave away by a guess of the right numbers between 1 - 50. (Check out Bronco's poetry and art at http://www.donbrittonoriginals.com) Before we were finished, Jaime Whiteaker presented her Foxtrotter Affair Awards which consisted of local pottery, some nice leather and biothane tack, a couple of Fox Trotter bits, and some fun training videos. East Fork Stables arranged for a live band to perform at the pavilion on Saturday night. After our activities several ventured that way to get in on the goings on. Early Sunday morning we gathered for Cowboy Church. Sam Gerhardt led about 20 of us in song and presented a thought provoking challenge from the Scriptures. It is a real blessing that we have an organization that is open to having Cowboy Church. As always, there was something for everyone during this ride!

We're already making plans for the 2012 Southeastern MFTHBA National Trail Ride and Foxtrotter Affair! Our tentative dates and location are 4 - 6 October 2012, East Fork Stables. Mark your calendars now and begin making plans to join us next year!

Catching Up! Summer 2011...

Oh My! How time does fly! It was a very busy summer and now it's gone. Between computer problems, miscommunication, and too much to do, the blogspot has been neglected....Please forgive. There's no way I can remember all of the stories to go with all of these pics. Let it suffice to say that below you'll find a selection of photos from our rides at Harmon Den, NC; Mount Cammerer, GSMNP; and the Summer National Trail Ride, Orchard Cove Stables, GSMNP. I hope you enjoy!

We have a plan to do better, I promise! Donna Maurer will be posting some of the Middle Tennessee summer pics soon. Also, I'll be posting a story and pics about the MFTHBA Show and Celebration in Ava, 3 - 10 September. Terry Messex, Jaime Whiteaker, Deb and I had a great time in Ava! The Southeastern MFTHBA National Trail Ride and Foxtrotter Affair is right upon us, 29 September - 2 October! We'll have a story and pics on that great event by the middle of October. So, stay tuned....and keep checking back!

Happy Trails,

Sam Gerhardt
President, FoxTROT