The Apple Tree

192 Hope Hill Oak Ridge, Missouri 63769

PO Box154 Jackson, Missouri 63755
Barn Phone: 573 788-2100

Board of Directors News and Notes

The Mississippi Valley Therapeutic Horsemanship (MVTH) Board
of Directors (BOD) is proud to announce the hiring of Mrs. Tina L.
Collins as the new Program Director. The position will be a part time
salaried exempt position; Tina's first day at MVTH will be
December 1, 2010.

Tina comes to MVTH with background in community relations

development, business structure improvement, project launch
development, strong leadership and effective problem
resolution skills.

The BOD is planning the new employee orientation schedule; some

of you may be "tapped on the shoulder" to offer Tina background
about the specific volunteer duties you perform at MVTH. Initially,
Tina will be present at portions of the December evening lessons on
Wednesday's and Thursday's as well as the Saturday morning
sessions (weather permitting, obviously!).

Please join the board in welcoming Tina Collins to MVTH!!

Additionally, the BOD elected new officers at the 11/22/10 annual meeting; the new officers are as
follows:
Linda Farrow, President email c/o: (edward.farrow@sbcglobal.net)
Mary K. Nespor, Vice President (mnespor@sbcglobal.net)
Jerrie Hall, Secretary (jerrehall@charter.net)
Gail Kamp, Treasurer (gailkampcpa@wildblue.net)

Also, the board briefly celebrated Ms. Betsy Rigdon's "retirement" from her (record holding) 4 year term
as BOD President. This message would not be complete without asking each of you to email Betsy
Rigdon and thank her for her caring ways and leadership over the past 5 years! Thankfully, Betsy has
said she will return to Tuesday lessons, as well as will be chairing one of the new board committees,
Herd/Land management.

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The magic that happens each lesson day at MVTH puts "a skip in our step" thanks to all of the volunteers,
horses...and a special thanks to the 30 riders and parents that allow us to participate in the magic!

Volunteers…YOU make it happen!

Jerre Hall, Volunteer Coordinator and Board of Directors
member has done an excellent job recruiting new faces for
our program. For all of you who make the trip to Hope
Hill, you know what a joy it is working with the horses and
most especially our riders, youngsters and not so
youngsters who face every day with courage and
determination. Our riders are inspiring, to say the least.
Mostly though, they are funny, witty, determined, talented
and goal oriented.

Jerre has lots of activities planned for the new year, some of
which are volunteer riding clinics, field trips, new instructor
training classes and summer camps. In just a few months she has
successfully constructed and manned a booth at the SEMO
District Fair with the help of many volunteers and signed up a
number of new folks to work in the program. She has instituted
Volunteer Team Captains for each night or day of lessons to aid
instructors with tacking up the horses, taking messages, training
new volunteers and making visitors welcome to our barn and
indoor arena facility. A big thank you from all of us at MVTH to
Jerre and her crew of tireless workers.

Horseshow 2010
Leah Shrum chairman of “Fall 2010 Third Annual Horse
Show” (co-chairpersons Beth Altenthal, Trey Wiginton, Diane
Hinkebine, Scott Altenthal) welcomed an audience who was
greatly entertained first by riders in costume followed by
esquestrienes demonstrating the skills learned this past year in
reining, mounting and general horse handling. The flag
ceremony was especially beautiful, the colors presented by
American Legion Post 63. Sharon Hogan on horseback
escorted the flag.

Musical Stalls was a game of skill and light-footedness for side

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walkers as they competed with horses and riders for stall space. Competition was high but all
ended in laughter as the wiley side walkers ended up face to face in one stall.

Guests were treated to hot dogs and hamburgers

from Hinkebine Hills Farm where Chef Karlios
Hinkebein cooked up some of the best burgers
ever. Proceeds were donated back to MVTH.
Thanks, Carlos for your tribute to our friend
“Denny” Hinkebein who passed away and was a
special friend. We send our sympathy to his wife
and family. They have been a great support to our

entire program.

We had a great time at the horse show,

Miss Leah and from all the riders,
volunteers and guests, we thank you and
your committee for a job well done.
Didn’t we look special in our beautiful
horse show tee shirts?

Speaking of Shirts
We have another fund raiser going on, “Nobody Rides for Free” brightly colored tee shirts with
the MVTH logo on the back feature Lad, Ace and Nibbles on the front. Thank you to Jamie
Mayfield for her clever design. Shirts can be purchased from Grayson Erlbacher, Jamie Mayfield
or Riki Erlbacher. (basically, your Apple Tree Staff.)

ALERT! If you have heard about the Apple Tree and have not begun to receive it or know of
someone who would like to receive it whether written or in e-form, contact your newsletter staff
(that would be me) riki@erlbachergear.com. We want to hear from you too. You can also keep
up with the activities of MVTH on Facebook and our own website www.semohorsetherapy.org.

We wish you a happy holiday season. Your newsletter staff!

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