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Those who wait on the Lord shall renew their
strength.
They will mount up with wings as eagles,
they will run and not be weary,
they will walk and not be faint. - Isaiah
40:31 |
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I was looking for an Andalusian and Jerry and I had
traveled all over the United States looking and
learning about them. I had fallen in love with
the breed, especially the stallions. They are
magnificent. My background had been in dressage
and I was looked forward to getting back into it
with a quality horse. All of that changed one
autumn day in 1995.
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Jerry and I were
living in McKinney, TX and actively
looking for a horse property. We also
had just recently joined First Baptist
Church in Fairview, TX where I became
church organist. At a new members
reception, I was standing in the food
line (small Southern Baptist church
receptions always have the best food!)
and began talking with the gentleman in
front of me in line. He introduced
himself as Roy Hefner and the name
immediately rang a bell. I had gone to
his farm in Whitewright, TX years ago
with my sister when she purchased her
first Tennessee Walking Horse gelding. I
remembered he and his wife, Lillian,
very well and their beautiful ranch in
Whitewright, what gracious people they
were, and how good he was with his
horses. |
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He had a quiet manner with
them that could just get the horse to do
anything he asked. They had sold the ranch
and were living in McKinney, but he told me
they still had horses that were in training
and boarded at Stan's Stables in Celina, TX.
He said, "you'll have to go up and ride with
us sometime....we go every Tuesday"....a
vague invitation that I jumped on....I asked
him if the next Tuesday (this was Sunday
night) was okay. We agreed to meet at the
local Mexican restaurant in McKinney and
drive out from there. The Hefners were in
their 70's at this time, her health was bad
and I remember thinking how great it was
that they still had an interest in the
horses. Little did I know! I had met my
mentor. I was to meet a breed of horse so
easy to get along with, that a person's age
was not a deterrent.
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| We drove out to Stan's Stables located on County Rd.
217 in Celina. I was not terribly
impressed....the barn had a run down
look to it and the farm was for
sale. Stan had an agreement with the
owner and was training her horses
and also running his own training
business in the barn. We walked into
the barn...about half way down the
300 ft. center aisle...to where Stan
was working. The Hefner's introduced
me and went to talk about their
horses and get ready to ride. I
walked across the aisle to a stall
and looked in with curiosity. My
heart literally felt like it fell to
my stomach. What I didn't know then
was it was love at first sight. A
shiny black horse with liquid dark
eyes and a white star looked back. I
took a quick appraisal and noticed
how fine he was and how perfect his
conformation was even as he was just
standing there in his stall. |
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I noticed how alert and keen he was. I
noticed how he had 4 perfectly matched
stockings and a strip of white in his
mane, a breadth between his eyes that
indicated how intelligent he was, a tiny
pair of "bat wing" ears....he turned and
I saw a star on his right side and one
perfectly perched on his rump. I noticed
immediately that God had painted him
perfectly and then swiped his paint
brush down the left side of his
swan-like neck ending at the
shoulder....as if he ran out of paint
and cleaned his paint brush. I noticed
how his neck came up perfectly out of
his withers and the angle of his strong
shoulder. I noticed the perfection and
it did not matter what breed he was. A
great horse is just that....a great
horse no matter what breed he is.
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I stepped back over to where Stan Urad was tallking
to the Hefners....and somewhat
rudely interrupted to ask who that
horse across the aisle was. You
could see it in Stan's face and
eyes....he was so proud of that
horse and more....as most trainers
have to deal with there are horses
that are just horses and once in a
while, a horse with something
special comes along and you take
notice.
Stan
told me the horses name was Top
Gun....and not being a big
talker....that was about all the
information he provided. I assumed
he was a Tennessee Walker since this
was a Walking Horse barn and I asked
Stan what he was doing with him.
Top Gun had just been brought to the barn by an owner from
Houston, TX who had bought him at
the Racking Horse Celebration in
Decatur, Alabama. I had never heard
of a racking horse so filed that
information away somewhere....Stan
had only had him a couple of months
and was taking him to his first
shows. Stan in his self effacing way
said the horse "was pretty
good".....I asked if he was for sale
and Stan told me no, the owners were
not interested in selling him.
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The first visit with the Hefners to the barn, turned into
a weekly riding session,
where Stan would let me ride
a horse that was for sale or
another horse that the owner
had given permission for me
to ride. Sometimes we would
ride in the barn and
sometimes I would ride out
with Mr. Hefner and he would
give me pointers on Walking
Horses, what to look for and
other things about the
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Big "D" Charity
Show, Dallas, Texas |
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breed
that he loved so much. Stan showed
me a lot of horses that were for
sale ....and I would always say I
want one like Top Gun. Every other
horse paled in comparison.
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