Speaker 1: Hey, everyone, Welcome back to Local AG.
Speaker 2: It's July tenth, twenty twenty five Melody Divers from the
Speaker 2: Bedford County ag Advisory Board and it's time for our
Speaker 2: twelfth episode of Local AGG. Thanks to Media Squatch here
Speaker 2: in Bedford, Virginia, we have been able to spread the
Speaker 2: word about the vast agriculture community here in Bedford County.
Speaker 2: So last month we chatted with the folks from Bedford
Speaker 2: Urban Gardens. They're a five oh one c nonprofit organization
Speaker 2: here in the town of Bedford. A few days after
Speaker 2: our podcast, they were awarded with a fifteen hundred dollars
Speaker 2: grant from the Greater Lynchburg Community Foundation, So we wanted
Speaker 2: to take the time to congratulate them on receiving the
Speaker 2: grant and thank them again for a wonderful June interview.
Speaker 2: If you haven't already, go ahead and check out that
Speaker 2: podcast and give it a listen. Now for today's episode,
Speaker 2: joining us, we have Mackenzie Mutter and Joys. Mackenzie is
Speaker 2: going to talk to us about all things Bedford County,
Speaker 2: equine related and more. Joy is a repeat guest and
Speaker 2: a co host to the podcast. Joy serves on our
Speaker 2: county's ag Advisory Board representing District two. Additionally, Joy serves
Speaker 2: as the Bedford County Fairs Superintendent.
Speaker 1: Welcome to both of you, Thank you, thanks for having me.
Speaker 2: Yeah, we're going to start with you. Mackenzie. If her
Speaker 2: name sounds familiar, it's because she works locally here at
Speaker 2: the USDA's Farm Service Agency. She's the program Analyst. I
Speaker 2: know that she sees a lot of local farmers and
Speaker 2: producers on a regular basis. Besides her organized skill set
Speaker 2: at the office, she is also known for her enthusiasm
Speaker 2: and vast knowledge for horses. In the world of equine,
Speaker 2: Mackenzie is a sole instructor additionally at Mackenzie Moutter Equine
Speaker 2: Services and that's her personal barn where she specializes in
Speaker 2: Western writing, lessons and youth programs.
Speaker 1: And there's more. She is a Level two certified horse
Speaker 1: show judge through the Open Horse Show Association. Last, but
Speaker 1: not least.
Speaker 2: She is the adult leader for the Bedford Eclectic for
Speaker 2: Eah Club. Oh And in her free time, she's an
Speaker 2: active member on our Counties Fairboard. Girl, you are one
Speaker 2: smart and busy person, so welcome to the podcast. First,
Speaker 2: before we chat about some of the deeper focus questions.
Speaker 2: Let's chat about some background. So we're gonna start with
Speaker 2: tell us about your barn, your writing lesson program, when
Speaker 2: you started providing these programs.
Speaker 3: Okay, So I've been teaching lessons since twenty sixteen. I
Speaker 3: started at the barn that I actually grew up learning
Speaker 3: to write at right after high school. I taught there
Speaker 3: along with another barn local here in Manita. After spending
Speaker 3: a few years there, I actually moved to Franklin County
Speaker 3: for a few years where I taught my own program
Speaker 3: there and kind of branched out to include some of
Speaker 3: those folks in Franklin County as well as maintaining the
Speaker 3: clients that I had here in Bedford. And then actually
Speaker 3: just recently at the start of twenty twenty five, we
Speaker 3: moved the program solely back to Bedford and I've been
Speaker 3: here for seven months now, working out of my own
Speaker 3: facility here and just continuing.
Speaker 4: To teach the Bedford folks.
Speaker 3: Like I said, this is, I've been teaching lessons since
Speaker 3: twenty and sixteen, and just in the past three years
Speaker 3: have have moved into my own program where I'm this
Speaker 3: sole instructor versus working you know, out of several different
Speaker 3: barns from the area.
Speaker 1: Excellent.
Speaker 2: What's the age range of folks that you're currently working with?
Speaker 3: So typically we start as young as four years old
Speaker 3: and then I have I think right now my oldest.
Speaker 4: Student is sixty six.
Speaker 3: So I usually tell everybody from four to eighty four,
Speaker 3: if you want to learn how to ride a horse,
Speaker 3: and you have the capabilities to do it, then we
Speaker 3: are more than happy to have you.
Speaker 1: Excellent and do some folks.
Speaker 2: Are most of your clients newbies or are they folks
Speaker 2: that maybe have moved here and just want to keep
Speaker 2: up with their skill set?
Speaker 1: Like what does that look like?
Speaker 4: So I have a pretty diverse group.
Speaker 3: I have some girls who have been with me since
Speaker 3: they were six and seven years old and are going
Speaker 3: on there seventh and eighth year of riding. So that's
Speaker 3: pretty awesome because I've been with them from the beginning
Speaker 3: and seeing them turn into young adults. And then I've
Speaker 3: also got a great group of beginner students. Most everybody
Speaker 3: is a local in some way, shape or form. I've
Speaker 3: actually got girls from Bedford and all surrounding counties. They
Speaker 3: come from Franklin County, Bottatat County, or Reynold County, I've
Speaker 3: got some folks from Campbell County, so it's kind of
Speaker 3: neat that Bedford kind of gets to be a central
Speaker 3: location for them to come and make like their horse
Speaker 3: barn home. But I would say that the majority of
Speaker 3: the girls in my program are from here in Bedford,
Speaker 3: so that's kind of cool too that they get to
Speaker 3: connect their riding with me into the different four h
Speaker 3: and f f A opportunities along with you know, their
Speaker 3: academic type stuff, so it gets to be full circle
Speaker 3: we do within the lesson program and having the horses.
Speaker 3: Some of my girls are ff A officers like that.
Speaker 3: Just here recently we took horses to the Food for
Speaker 3: America days at uh Stanton River, So so that's neat
Speaker 3: to get to connect, you know, outside of just riding
Speaker 3: to help them kind of build as they become you know,
Speaker 3: young adults and have their roles within their different you know,
Speaker 3: community groups.
Speaker 4: Right.
Speaker 5: Am.
Speaker 2: I correct that taking and doing these lessons, the end
Speaker 2: goal is for a show and showmanship for most people.
Speaker 3: I would say the eighty five percent of the girls
Speaker 3: that oh and guys that ride with me do have
Speaker 3: goals of showing horses, you know, some sort of competition.
Speaker 3: But I do have a few that just enjoy it.
Speaker 3: They enjoy the atmosphere, they enjoy just being around the horses.
Speaker 3: They just want to learn and just enjoy kind of
Speaker 3: having that free time in the afternoon to come relax
Speaker 3: and be around the horses, try to ride that sort
Speaker 3: of thing.
Speaker 4: So, while we are.
Speaker 3: Very like competitive oriented like that is, like I say,
Speaker 3: eighty five percent we go show, we do that sort
Speaker 3: of thing, I'm happy to include those that just want
Speaker 3: to be around horses. Yeah, just for the recreational purpose
Speaker 3: of riding, being around horses, learning that sort of thing.
Speaker 2: So, so if someone has the desire but does not
Speaker 2: own a horse, how does that work?
Speaker 3: That is my specialty, my most well, with the exception
Speaker 3: of a handful, most all of my students ride my
Speaker 3: personal horses. I don't have very many that own their own,
Speaker 3: which so I'm a first generation cowgirl. My my family
Speaker 3: doesn't doesn't have horses. I didn't come from a family that,
Speaker 3: you know. I was put on a horse as soon
Speaker 3: as I could walk. I had to figure that out
Speaker 3: that that was something I wanted to do on my own.
Speaker 3: And at eight years old, when I threw the cheerleading
Speaker 3: stuff to the side, in the soccer and said, no,
Speaker 3: that's not for me. I've been been on a horse
Speaker 3: every week since I was eight, So for me, the
Speaker 3: opportunity to do that thanks to miss Leslie Morris from
Speaker 3: here in Bedford. She offered up you know, any and
Speaker 3: every horse that she had gave me the opportunity to
Speaker 3: find my way in the horse world without having to
Speaker 3: come from that kind of background. And I had decided
Speaker 3: as I reached teenage yeers that that that was special
Speaker 3: and that that's not something that is available for a
Speaker 3: lot of folks. So I kind of pride myself in
Speaker 3: the fact that I make sure that the opportunities are
Speaker 3: there without having to go through.
Speaker 4: The expense and.
Speaker 3: The accommodations it takes to to own a horse, that
Speaker 3: that you can do all this if you show up
Speaker 3: and you work hard, and you know you put in
Speaker 3: the work for it. So I think the parents thank
Speaker 3: me greatly for that too. So that not everybody has
Speaker 3: horses in their backyard, but yeah, absolutely, So back to
Speaker 3: your original question, No, you do not need to have
Speaker 3: your own horse to get started with lessons. I've got
Speaker 3: a great variety of all different levels and types of horses,
Speaker 3: so most that come to me. Ride are programs lesson
Speaker 3: horses versus you know, bringing a horse to me or
Speaker 3: boarding a horse with me, something like that.
Speaker 1: But you can board a horse.
Speaker 4: I don't do any boarding. You don't know boarding.
Speaker 3: But we do a lot of haul in lessons where
Speaker 3: you can haul in and use the arena and the
Speaker 3: facility and get someone on one time at the farm
Speaker 3: if if that's that's what.
Speaker 2: You want, Okay, it seems like you have like a
Speaker 2: wide net of that you can reach folks different yeah,
Speaker 2: skill sets.
Speaker 1: At what they have. I love that.
Speaker 2: So it's very attainable. And of course this is very
Speaker 2: Bedford pro podcast. So why do you think Bedford is
Speaker 2: a good fit for what you're doing?
Speaker 3: So I'm obviously from Bedford, so I wouldn't I wouldn't
Speaker 3: want to be anywhere else. Really, that's why we mosied
Speaker 3: back this way. So Bedford is is as much as
Speaker 3: it's cow and hay country. We've got a lot of
Speaker 3: equine involvement here in Bedford. Bedford's a big county and
Speaker 3: pretty much anywhere you go you've got some nice barns.
Speaker 3: We've got a lot of nice lesson programs and training,
Speaker 3: uh well, horse trainers throughout the county.
Speaker 4: So for me this is home.
Speaker 3: We're pretty centralized as far as have an opportunity for
Speaker 3: UH horse shows. We've obviously got you know, like beautiful
Speaker 3: UH beautiful country to ride in. So it works out
Speaker 3: really well, not not being off the grid as far
Speaker 3: as getting to haul and have have those horse shows
Speaker 3: available to us, and then just being in a good
Speaker 3: spot to connect with with others around you.
Speaker 2: Right, So I'm sure you have listeners or I want
Speaker 2: to get involved, or my my children would love this
Speaker 2: or bright grandkids. So if that's the case, how can
Speaker 2: they get up with Miss Mackenzie.
Speaker 3: So my personal Facebook page, I try to share a lot.
Speaker 4: Of what we're doing there.
Speaker 3: Any we do have some UH summer camps and sometimes
Speaker 3: spring break and fall type camps, so I try to
Speaker 3: be very proactive in having a detailed flyer for those
Speaker 3: and sharing those to my personal Facebook page as well
Speaker 3: as the Bedford community pages. So I have a lot
Speaker 3: of information and a lot of UH pictures and that
Speaker 3: such that if you check out my personal Facebook page
Speaker 3: you can see from there, and then aside from that,
Speaker 3: just contacting me directly, I don't I don't have a
Speaker 3: farm page. That's something that I should probably look into
Speaker 3: to make it a little easier to tuck it next
Speaker 3: yeah six, Yeah, but that's the easiest way is Facebook
Speaker 3: or just reaching out to me personally, you know, via
Speaker 3: email or text.
Speaker 1: Okay.
Speaker 2: And if after this program, if somebody does want to
Speaker 2: get up with you, we can point them, we can
Speaker 2: get choked.
Speaker 1: Yeah, we can get them to you. Okay.
Speaker 2: So that was a lot of good information. So I
Speaker 2: don't I wasn't going to mention this, but I just
Speaker 2: can't help it. I was Mackenzie's fifth grade reading teacher,
Speaker 2: and I remember her loving horses, and I was also
Speaker 2: a horse girl, not like you, though. I just had
Speaker 2: my Mandy and my Lucky in the backyard and I
Speaker 2: was just a recreational backyard person. But I remember when
Speaker 2: you got older, your mom would always brag on you
Speaker 2: about how you could back that trailer up all by
Speaker 2: yourself and you did not need anybody to drive the
Speaker 2: truck for you. So I know you've made them proud
Speaker 2: more than just that. But I remember your mama talking
Speaker 2: about that she doesn't know how to that's a big
Speaker 2: good call.
Speaker 1: I listen here, be nice to your mama.
Speaker 2: Oh, but she is very proud of that, So that
Speaker 2: was that is fun, all right, mackenzie, go ahead and
Speaker 2: tell us what level two certified horse show judge means
Speaker 2: and really break that down for the listeners. I'm assuming
Speaker 2: everybody has seen a nose about horse shows to some degree,
Speaker 2: but they, I'm guessing, don't know the details and preparation
Speaker 2: required for you to be a judge and just the
Speaker 2: event itself to just okay, give us a peace, find
Speaker 2: the curt sure.
Speaker 3: So I originally was certified as an open show judge
Speaker 3: through North Carolina State University. They host a judging clinic
Speaker 3: and testing seminar every fall. It's open to anybody that
Speaker 3: is eighteen and over. So it's the year that I
Speaker 3: turned eighteen. I immediately booked that for that fall and
Speaker 3: went tested there.
Speaker 4: You can test.
Speaker 3: In any There's four different kind of categories for your disciplines.
Speaker 3: You've got Western hunt seat, UH saddle seat, and a
Speaker 3: non trotting division so like gated horses, so you can
Speaker 3: pick your specialty or if you want to be broad,
Speaker 3: go for all of them.
Speaker 4: So I got started there.
Speaker 3: I was certified in all four categories, held that judging
Speaker 3: card for several years and then as my lesson program
Speaker 3: grew and I had more students that wanted to go show.
Speaker 3: It kind of makes it hard to be available on
Speaker 3: the weekends to go judge and then also haul kids
Speaker 3: to horse shows. So I had a little lapse there
Speaker 3: where I focus mainly just on growing my own my
Speaker 3: own students and and hauling them to more shows and
Speaker 3: actually participating versus uh being you know, in a judging position.
Speaker 3: So most recently kind of going back to the n
Speaker 3: c s U certification. Uh, it's a little more centralized.
Speaker 3: I guess most of those judges are going to be
Speaker 3: in the uh North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, Tennessee kind
Speaker 3: of area, and they're just uh, you know, resources that
Speaker 3: are mainly for for that kind of more centralized location.
Speaker 3: The start of this year, I branched out to the
Speaker 3: Open Horse Show Association, which is nationally recognized, so your
Speaker 3: information is shared. You kind of broaden your horizons there
Speaker 3: as far as making connections to to go to bigger shows.
Speaker 3: They have some actual like virtual opportunities where you can
Speaker 3: can judge a virtual horse show online. I haven't done
Speaker 3: that yet, but it's on it's on the list to
Speaker 3: check that out and do something you know, kind of
Speaker 3: different there. So they have three levels to test at
Speaker 3: your level one, level two, level three. I tested for
Speaker 3: level two and specialized in the ranch horse category. That's
Speaker 3: what our big focus is for my lesson program, so
Speaker 3: that that gives your level two as somebody who's moderately
Speaker 3: exp sperience. So I've which it's wild to think about now,
Speaker 3: but I'm two years away from ten years experience as
Speaker 3: an open show judge, plus the experience that we had
Speaker 3: through FFA and and that sort of thing with horse
Speaker 3: judging and with four H and f f A, so
Speaker 3: it get the opportunity to travel, connect with a lot
Speaker 3: of great associations and organizations. So I'm I'm interested in
Speaker 3: kind of broadening a little bit now that I've kind
Speaker 3: of bumped up to that national level there holding that
Speaker 3: that certification card, but basically to horse show you're paying
Speaker 3: for somebody's opinion. So but with that, you know you
Speaker 3: have you have association rule books and uh organization rules.
Speaker 3: So it's a lot of homework that goes into going
Speaker 3: to prepare for a horse show to know exactly you know,
Speaker 3: what's expected of you so that you're educated and that
Speaker 3: you're showing up to you.
Speaker 4: Know, provide your your very best eye for.
Speaker 3: What you're seeing and be able to manage a crowd
Speaker 3: and make good management decisions kind of on a whim.
Speaker 4: Uh So I enjoy it.
Speaker 2: Well, I would think just like if I was a
Speaker 2: parent signing my child up to do lessons, just that
Speaker 2: classificational what she's doing. What she's doing, Like, I think
Speaker 2: that is a very good marketing point for you.
Speaker 1: It is.
Speaker 3: It is good to go kind of branch out and go.
Speaker 3: The horse world, just like everything else is kind of
Speaker 3: ever changing.
Speaker 4: Uh.
Speaker 3: Styles, rules, all all the things update all the time.
Speaker 3: So so going out and being in a little different atmosphere, Uh,
Speaker 3: I get to bring back a lot of good knowledge
Speaker 3: and and kind of grow and and keep up.
Speaker 4: To date with what's going on because it's ever changed. Yeah.
Speaker 3: And then I really enjoy horse horse judging for the
Speaker 3: network inside of it, because you know, you get to
Speaker 3: meet a lot of other trainers and instructors, and you know,
Speaker 3: just if you without that opportunity, I would miss out
Speaker 3: on the branching out aspect because I wouldn't leave. I
Speaker 3: would never leave better.
Speaker 1: Right, Well, good, Now moving on to your next role.
Speaker 2: You are the leader of the Bedford Eclectic for H
Speaker 2: Club and this isn't solely equine base.
Speaker 1: But let listeners know what this club is and how
Speaker 1: they can get involved.
Speaker 3: Yeah, So our Bedford Eclectic for H Club, we started
Speaker 3: it in twenty twenty, which was a rollercoaster that was
Speaker 3: COVID year, So we did a lot of virtual meetings
Speaker 3: and virtual kind of projects where they worked on it
Speaker 3: independently at home and got to share through a zoom call.
Speaker 3: So we had a lot of learning curves that came
Speaker 3: with that, but it was very cool to still kind
Speaker 3: of be connected and I think that's what helped the
Speaker 3: club kind of grow, give a lot of youth the
Speaker 3: opportunity to be involved in something rather than just sitting
Speaker 3: at home. We had you know, projects, and we're able
Speaker 3: to still kind of network and come together.
Speaker 4: So that was fun.
Speaker 3: While we are kind of recognized for the successes that
Speaker 3: we've had with hypology and horse judging within the Bedford
Speaker 3: Eclectic Club, we started it to have more of a
Speaker 3: community based for AHE club. When I was growing up,
Speaker 3: our four age club did all sorts of things and
Speaker 3: I wanted to kind of be able to bring that back.
Speaker 3: So we've done a lot of horticulture. We've done a
Speaker 3: lot of gardening. We've of course got hipology, horse judging.
Speaker 3: We've had some meetings where we taught the kids how
Speaker 3: to sew, so the life skills stuff, we've We've done
Speaker 3: a lot of community projects, some toy drives around the holidays,
Speaker 3: just anything to get the youth group together and providing
Speaker 3: you know, either life skills for them to gain or
Speaker 3: letting them give back to their community and show the
Speaker 3: impact and you know kind of how special that is
Speaker 3: a perspective that they may not have had otherwise. Uh,
Speaker 3: that's been our focus and our goals for the club.
Speaker 4: This year.
Speaker 3: We had we had a little little break. We had
Speaker 3: some girls, you know, kind of growing up and moving
Speaker 3: into some more f FA chapter activities and stepping into
Speaker 3: officer roles through f f A, and.
Speaker 4: Had a younger group that was kind of up and coming.
Speaker 3: So we're at a you know, a good stage with
Speaker 3: them now where they're ready to take on some more
Speaker 3: responsibility and be club leaders and things like that.
Speaker 4: So we're really excited.
Speaker 3: About having an inclusive group and including the Bedford ad
Speaker 3: Club also to participate in a lot of the opportunities
Speaker 3: at this year's County Fair. So it's exciting to see
Speaker 3: a whole group of youth that have not previously been involved,
Speaker 3: uh make start making plans and getting right for the
Speaker 3: fair this year. So I think that's going to be
Speaker 3: a big focus for everyone. Yeah, is participating and trying
Speaker 3: something new, you know, at the County Fair.
Speaker 2: Well, I want to commend you personally because I've noticed
Speaker 2: two times in this interview that you have given a
Speaker 2: compliment to someone or a group from your childhood, and
Speaker 2: so you saw the positives of your youth, but I
Speaker 2: want to compliment you because you want to make sure
Speaker 2: that those same opportunities are for this generation. So I
Speaker 2: don't know if you even like realize you said that twice,
Speaker 2: but that was.
Speaker 5: My takeaway too.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I was like, look at her being all grown up.
Speaker 5: And I didn't teach Mackenzie. I'm just a little bit older.
Speaker 5: So it's really fun to watch her go from being
Speaker 5: this like tiny little blonde who was like always decked
Speaker 5: out in her huge four age jacket. And I was like,
Speaker 5: who is this kid who's just like always wrapping for
Speaker 5: age to now having her own forage cloud. That's right.
Speaker 3: I was thinking about that coming up here and kind
Speaker 3: of thinking about some of the things we were going
Speaker 3: to go over about as like thinking to myself, how
Speaker 3: do I decide that I wanted to do all? But
Speaker 3: that was funny that you mentioned that because I can
Speaker 3: remember like you coming in and helping with the f
Speaker 3: FA chapter and and you know, being kind of a
Speaker 3: pillar there for you know, you weren't you weren't our
Speaker 3: ag teacher where you were the cool person that was
Speaker 3: coming in who had been there and done that of
Speaker 3: somebody to look up to. And uh, yeah, I mean
Speaker 3: all of that makes an influence back in. Uh.
Speaker 4: It takes somebody like that to kind.
Speaker 3: Of spark the interest in in the youth so that
Speaker 3: you have that continue that.
Speaker 5: Yeah, it's sad and it's cool that the other four
Speaker 5: h LB mentioned is also ran by another young woman,
Speaker 5: Samantha Holger now who is who is another product and
Speaker 5: alumni of that clubs.
Speaker 1: Yeah, really cool, good stuff.
Speaker 3: Uh.
Speaker 2: And I think we've kind of just about talked about
Speaker 2: this next question. I have some focus questions here that
Speaker 2: go beyond the surface. I feel I feel comfortable that
Speaker 2: our listeners are understand the horse world YEP, pretty pretty
Speaker 2: well right now. But besides riding an actual horse. What
Speaker 2: are some of the most impactful life skills that youth
Speaker 2: develop when participating in equine programs.
Speaker 3: This is my favorite part about getting to work with
Speaker 3: the girls that I do and seeing that as they
Speaker 3: become teenagers and young adults, the practical life skills that
Speaker 3: they are gaining by I don't want to say, I
Speaker 3: don't want to say by being around me, but I
Speaker 3: put I put the responsibility, and I put the pressure
Speaker 3: on them to to truly be responsible young adults who
Speaker 3: are independent and self sufficient and have that figure it
Speaker 3: out mentality. You know, it takes a leader to keep
Speaker 3: things going. And I try to really push for all
Speaker 3: my girls to to be knowledgeable enough.
Speaker 4: To be that.
Speaker 3: And like I say, being self sufficient, being independent so
Speaker 3: that they can they can take care of themselves.
Speaker 4: That's important to me.
Speaker 3: Some of them have have been super shy when they've
Speaker 3: got started, and I've you know, pushed them to kind
Speaker 3: of broaden their horizons a little bit.
Speaker 4: And now they've went.
Speaker 3: On to participate in public speaking or creed speaking, and
Speaker 3: when we go places, they can go talk to adults
Speaker 3: and say yes ma'am, no, ma'am, yes, sir.
Speaker 4: Thank you.
Speaker 3: You know, those type of things that people look at
Speaker 3: that and say, wow, what you know.
Speaker 1: You stand out?
Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, other that kind of thing is important to me,
Speaker 3: you know, being able to network, being able to communicate.
Speaker 3: This week at the Barn, I was helping one learn
Speaker 3: how to back a trailer.
Speaker 4: Things like that. We've done some construction projects at the
Speaker 4: barn this week.
Speaker 3: Just you know, making well rounded citizens that can go
Speaker 3: in public and they can go on to jobs and
Speaker 3: take skills and take you know, characteristics and just just
Speaker 3: well rounded individuals. And a lot of that comes from
Speaker 3: the kind of independent and self driven motives that you
Speaker 3: have to have. As far as being successful with horses,
Speaker 3: it's it's a team sport in the fact that you know,
Speaker 3: you are having to connect with a large creature who
Speaker 3: who doesn't communicate with.
Speaker 4: You verbally, right, but a lot of.
Speaker 3: Horses showing anything involving horses, it's it's very independent. So
Speaker 3: I enjoy seeing, uh, the youth that I get to
Speaker 3: work with kind of flourish as they come and and
Speaker 3: and find their path, find their way and and grow
Speaker 3: up into being successful young people.
Speaker 1: Well, I think that leads to the next thing.
Speaker 2: So if if someone is thinking, well, I know my
Speaker 2: child is not going to grow up and be like
Speaker 2: into an equine ve or you know, equestrian style career.
Speaker 2: What's the relevance? Why does being an equine program? What
Speaker 2: is how is that going to help them with a career?
Speaker 2: So how would you answer a parent that is only
Speaker 2: getting their child involved in things that are like going
Speaker 2: to help long term?
Speaker 4: Yeah?
Speaker 3: Sure, Well the proofs in the pudding for me, I
Speaker 3: could all of my girls I have, you know, I
Speaker 3: have the handful that have the the dreams and aspirations
Speaker 3: of being you know, vets and farriers and equon Dennis
Speaker 3: and that sort of thing. But aside from that, they're
Speaker 3: like I, like I just mentioned, you know, they're all
Speaker 3: they're polite and self sufficient and and they learned all
Speaker 3: that and had developed those hard working work, get it
Speaker 3: done kind of thing traits. Yeah, through the work ethic
Speaker 3: that that I personally require critical thinking absolutely absolutely.
Speaker 4: Yeah.
Speaker 3: So I I try to throw a lot at them
Speaker 3: in a you know, well here, you know, here's our problem.
Speaker 4: How are we going to fix it? Instead of being the.
Speaker 3: You know, quote unquote helicopters, Yeah, to to put them
Speaker 3: in situations where they do need to you know, sometimes
Speaker 3: it's trial and error. You you try something and figure
Speaker 3: out who that didn't work, you know, and grow from there.
Speaker 3: But yeah, that the work ethic that comes from anything
Speaker 3: that's AG related.
Speaker 4: There's no other experience like that.
Speaker 2: Well, I'm not diluting what you're saying, but that made
Speaker 2: me think of something funny. I say, when we are
Speaker 2: turning bull calves into steers. Yeah, Chapels, our youngest child
Speaker 2: is always the one holding the tail, and I say,
Speaker 2: Chapel will be able to handle anything in life because
Speaker 2: he holds.
Speaker 1: The tale for his daddy.
Speaker 2: Like, if you don't do that right, there's consequences beyond
Speaker 2: just daddy getting upset. So I always say AG kids,
Speaker 2: which you just said, there is a work ethic like
Speaker 2: none other.
Speaker 5: But Kinsey's found the magic formula where she gets these
Speaker 5: kids to work. But they want to work, and they
Speaker 5: like her while they're doing the work. So I mean,
Speaker 5: that's why they keep coming back, and that's why they
Speaker 5: keep it expelling.
Speaker 3: I try to keep it I mean fun, but not
Speaker 3: take away from the hard work that does truly have
Speaker 3: to go into it.
Speaker 4: There's nothing easy about it.
Speaker 3: There's nothing easy about pretty much anything that anybody doesn't ag.
Speaker 3: But when you get to see the outcome of your
Speaker 3: your work. Then it's rewarding enough that you want to
Speaker 3: keep going back. You want to keep trying your best.
Speaker 3: You want you know, you see the results of of
Speaker 3: what you're putting into it.
Speaker 1: That's affirming. I love that.
Speaker 2: Do you have any challenges that you see in regards
Speaker 2: to equine programs in our area or beyond?
Speaker 3: So going back to like I said earlier in the conversation,
Speaker 3: you know, Bedford is known for cow and hate country,
Speaker 3: but we do have a lot of equine involvement equin
Speaker 3: folks in the area. Unfortunately, the resources for us are
Speaker 3: kind of limited, and that goes across you know, everything
Speaker 3: large animal as far as veterinarians go. You know, there's
Speaker 3: no denying that there's a shortage of that in the county.
Speaker 3: We don't have resources as far as just a nice
Speaker 3: tax shop, I mean, not taken away from the ones
Speaker 3: that we have, but you know, they're not super centralized.
Speaker 3: And then I think the biggest thing for me that
Speaker 3: I would love to see is having uh an ag
Speaker 3: complex in the county, a place where we could go
Speaker 3: and uh you know, host shows, host clinics, you know,
Speaker 3: having that public place not just for equan.
Speaker 4: It would sure be nice.
Speaker 1: What else we could use it for?
Speaker 3: Yeah, okay, so that would be super important to me,
Speaker 3: just have having a little bit more resources to make
Speaker 3: things uh more localized for us instead of having to
Speaker 3: travel and utilize the nice places and nice people and
Speaker 3: uh in other in other counties.
Speaker 4: So grateful for them, but it would be really nice
Speaker 4: to be to have it here.
Speaker 2: Yeah, well that's a that's a very good point. And
Speaker 2: I don't think maybe some people that maybe just brought
Speaker 2: that to the front of their head. So good job
Speaker 2: for that. And what do you and your students, what
Speaker 2: do you need from the community.
Speaker 4: Uh, just to continued support.
Speaker 3: I hope that maybe through some of this conversation that
Speaker 3: people reach out and you know, aren't afraid if they
Speaker 3: if they've got kids with interest or then themselves are
Speaker 3: interested to try it. I when I have people inquire
Speaker 3: about lessons, I always tell them, like I get life.
Speaker 3: I work full time and this is what seems like
Speaker 3: another full time job. But you know, making something doable
Speaker 3: is big for me. Not holding somebody to Ah. You know,
Speaker 3: you've you've got to be here every Monday for you know,
Speaker 3: fifty two weeks out of you know that sort of thing,
Speaker 3: being flexible and just giving people the opportunity to come
Speaker 3: try something. I appreciate that, and it may be opening
Speaker 3: their eyes to uh, you know what, yeah, kind of
Speaker 3: what goes into two horses and that sort of thing.
Speaker 3: And then the biggest thing that my students and I
Speaker 3: need right now is support at the Bedford County Fair Horse.
Speaker 1: Talk about a lot here.
Speaker 2: In a couple of seconds, I think I know the answer,
Speaker 2: and it may be redundant, but this.
Speaker 1: Is your your last question.
Speaker 2: What are you the most proud of in regards as
Speaker 2: your role as the instructor.
Speaker 3: I mean, this is kind of it's gonna sound like
Speaker 3: a bland answer, but my students, who they are, what
Speaker 3: they're gonna do. When I talk about it, especially to
Speaker 3: people who aren't like super familiar with me and what
Speaker 3: I do. And when I say my kids a lot
Speaker 3: of times and I'm starting to feel old because they
Speaker 3: say your.
Speaker 4: Kids, how many do you have? I'm like, oh a minute.
Speaker 1: They would say how many kids do you have? And
Speaker 1: I'm like, I think ninety five this year? Like what
Speaker 1: I was like, Oh, I'm a teacher.
Speaker 3: Yeah no I did not write them, but I have
Speaker 3: like I had mentioned before.
Speaker 4: I have a group.
Speaker 3: That have been with me since they were all in
Speaker 3: like the six to eight year old range, and they
Speaker 3: are now driving, they are now working, they're graduating high
Speaker 3: school and I yeah, and it has been so wild
Speaker 3: for me to get to host the graduation parties and
Speaker 3: shows and be the reference on the job applications and
Speaker 3: be the call of, hey, Kensey, how do I do
Speaker 3: this when it comes to something mechanical oriented or you know,
Speaker 3: they they're thinking about buying their first horse, and I'm
Speaker 3: their go to of you know, hey, will you go
Speaker 3: with me to check this out? So I am always
Speaker 3: always so proud of them as to.
Speaker 4: Who, you know, who they've they're becoming.
Speaker 3: And I link a lot of that back to their
Speaker 3: involvement and being committed to their lesson program for all
Speaker 3: these years, and their greage commitments and that sort of thing.
Speaker 3: So yeah, in short, if I didn't have the group
Speaker 3: of girls that I do now, I probably wouldn't do
Speaker 3: this on the scale that I do it. So I
Speaker 3: am incredibly proud to well, it's not really mine.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I was gonna say when you everything you just said,
Speaker 2: it's about relationships. So if you made this very robot.
Speaker 2: You know, no relationship and no connection, it would not
Speaker 2: be successful. So you've put a lot into it and
Speaker 2: that's why, like you said, they still love her even
Speaker 2: though she makes them work hard.
Speaker 1: So so good on you.
Speaker 2: We are going to talk about the events of the
Speaker 2: County Fair. Are there anything at other events or is
Speaker 2: this going to be our focus on upcoming horse shows
Speaker 2: and events?
Speaker 4: Uh? For me, I think this is a big.
Speaker 2: Of the We're just gonna talk about the County fear Okay,
Speaker 2: And one more time, how can the community to connect
Speaker 2: with you?
Speaker 1: First for horse lessons and second for four ah?
Speaker 5: Sure?
Speaker 4: So our four age club does have its own Facebook page.
Speaker 4: It's Bedford e Collectic four h Club.
Speaker 3: You can connect through there and I am responsive on
Speaker 3: the I think I have my contact listed. But the
Speaker 3: messenger side of that, I am responsive on.
Speaker 4: That as well.
Speaker 5: Uh.
Speaker 3: And then for lessons, my personal Facebook page is the
Speaker 3: easiest way to get kind of a visual of what
Speaker 3: things look like and what we do. I share a
Speaker 3: lot to that, and you can reach out via messenger
Speaker 3: or email or text.
Speaker 2: Okay, and that information we can help folks. Yeah, absolutely, yeah,
Speaker 2: we can. We can navigate that.
Speaker 1: Thank you.
Speaker 2: McKenzie. This has been wonderful. I was so excited about this,
Speaker 2: just for a multiple reasons. That you are my first
Speaker 2: student that I have interviewed and so that was a
Speaker 2: cool full circle moment for me. But also horses, so
Speaker 2: many good memories with horses in my own life. Definitely
Speaker 2: not the scale you did, so I was just like,
Speaker 2: why is this is going to be so perfect? I
Speaker 2: was really really looking forward to this.
Speaker 4: Yeah, well thanks for having me.
Speaker 1: Absolutely.
Speaker 2: Now we're going to be moving into our announcements, and
Speaker 2: every announcement is going to be about the upcoming Bedford
Speaker 2: County Fair. Joy's going to take the lead on describing
Speaker 2: what the twenty twenty five County Fair looks like. And
Speaker 2: we're excited about it, folks. It is great and we
Speaker 2: want the community members to know what to expect. Joy, Mackenzie, myself,
Speaker 2: and many others are on the fair board. So Mackenzie
Speaker 2: and I we will jump in and chats as we
Speaker 2: see it necessary or it flows, but we're going to
Speaker 2: just jump in with this one question. Sure it's going
Speaker 2: to have a ripple effected answer lots of things. Joy,
Speaker 2: But for those of you that may or may not
Speaker 2: know our twenty twenty five Bedford County Fair has taken
Speaker 2: a reset and it is really amazing how everything is
Speaker 2: coming together.
Speaker 1: So joy give us all the information. We're here for it.
Speaker 5: Yeah, absolutely, So the Bedford County Fair is a five
Speaker 5: oh one CI three dedicated to celebrating Bedford and so
Speaker 5: this year we are making that celebration even bigger, even better,
Speaker 5: and we are partnering with the Town of Bedford to
Speaker 5: provide four great events. And so all of those events
Speaker 5: are you know, those classic fair components that we all love.
Speaker 5: So the carnival, the livestock, horse show, we're coming back
Speaker 5: this year because of this format, we were able to
Speaker 5: do that. We're going to have the Kim Palmer Memorial
Speaker 5: Scholarship Contest again, and we are going to have a
Speaker 5: presence at Centerfest this year, which we're really excited about
Speaker 5: for the first time, and so that's what we're going
Speaker 5: to have our contest hall. So we just wanted to
Speaker 5: use this time to tell everybody a little bit about
Speaker 5: how they can get involved in each of those opportunities.
Speaker 2: Yes, we're here for it. So, first of all, I
Speaker 2: know this answer a bit. What do you need from
Speaker 2: the community in regards to sponsorship and or participation absolutely.
Speaker 5: So the biggest thing is, you know, the Bedford County
Speaker 5: Fair is a celebration of Bedford, and so we want
Speaker 5: Bedford to take part in that celebration and every part
Speaker 5: that they can. So you know, obviously, sponsorships are huge,
Speaker 5: and we've had some really incredible sponsors already step up.
Speaker 5: And that's what's kind of neat about this event is
Speaker 5: it truly is a grassroots effort and so it's neat
Speaker 5: to see how all that comes together. So if you're
Speaker 5: interested in being a sponsor of the Bedford County Fair, we
Speaker 5: have some really cool opportunities that are going to provide
Speaker 5: you exposure in the community, not just of the Fair
Speaker 5: but throughout the year, which is new this year, so
Speaker 5: you can check that out on our websage, which was
Speaker 5: Bedford Viafair dot com and that's due on August first.
Speaker 5: But you know, the real fun stuff and what we
Speaker 5: really you know, like to talk about is everything that's
Speaker 5: going to be available for Bedford County families because at
Speaker 5: the end of the day, that's kind of what the
Speaker 5: three of us really invest our time and why we
Speaker 5: show up. And so the first opportunity that families are
Speaker 5: going to have to participate in the Bedford County Fair
Speaker 5: is actually going to be at the carnival, which is
Speaker 5: going to be held this year at Liberty Lake Park,
Speaker 5: and that is going to be in August, and so
Speaker 5: that's going to kick off on Friday, August twenty second.
Speaker 5: We're going to have the carnival rides there, we'll have
Speaker 5: live music, we'll have great local food vendors. We'll also
Speaker 5: have some exhibits, so all of our family organizations from
Speaker 5: the community are welcome to join us. We'll have some
Speaker 5: traditional vendors as well, and we also you know, we
Speaker 5: love to highlight local businesses. So if you have a
Speaker 5: local business who you think would be a great fit
Speaker 5: to be a vendor, let us know. We try to
Speaker 5: keep our vendor packages very comp because you know, at
Speaker 5: the end of the day, again, this isn't this isn't
Speaker 5: a money making venture for us. We are here just
Speaker 5: to promote Bedford and Bedford businesses and families.
Speaker 1: So information on the website as well.
Speaker 5: Yes, everything is on the website Bedford Viafair dot com.
Speaker 5: And so the carnival's there now and again that's free
Speaker 5: emission and so you can come every day for free
Speaker 5: and you just pay for what you do. So if
Speaker 5: you want to eat dinner, you can pay for your food.
Speaker 5: If you want to ride a couple of rides, you
Speaker 5: pay for that. But if you just want to come
Speaker 5: and hang out with a community and listen to good
Speaker 5: live music and check out the vendors and do that,
Speaker 5: then then you're free to do that for free. So
Speaker 5: that's really nice. And so we'll have on site par
Speaker 5: getting limited and then also a free shuttle as well
Speaker 5: to make that easy.
Speaker 1: Okay, And that's at Liberty Like Park And that's.
Speaker 5: The August twenty second through twenty.
Speaker 2: Fourth, wonderful and then Mackenzie, we have a horse show
Speaker 2: coming up.
Speaker 4: We do yep.
Speaker 3: So the horse show is going to be held at
Speaker 3: Allen's Mountain Livestock Company, which is off a Timberridge Road
Speaker 3: in Bedford. So the horse show will be on Saturday,
Speaker 3: August thirtieth. There's no admission for spectators at the horse
Speaker 3: show and for all exhibitors. We've got a pretty broad
Speaker 3: class list with the coolest prizes and everyone's favorite cash back,
Speaker 3: so there's something for everybody. Of course, it's open to
Speaker 3: any and everybody. You don't have to be a Bedford
Speaker 3: County Okay, that's good to know. Yeah, equin enthusiasts to
Speaker 3: participate in that. I hope to have some people from
Speaker 3: all over, so yeah, we're looking forward to that. There'll
Speaker 3: be food vendors and we'll have some equine business related
Speaker 3: vendors that'll be there as well.
Speaker 4: Yep.
Speaker 3: And if you're coming to show, we've got an awesome
Speaker 3: photographer for the day.
Speaker 1: So some take thought of it all.
Speaker 4: Yeah, so I'm excited. It's gonna be good.
Speaker 5: It'd be a great opportunity for parents. If you're interested
Speaker 5: in what the horse show world. It looks like it's
Speaker 5: a good opportunity to see it a preview, Yeah, any
Speaker 5: other events you wanna well. And then following the horse
Speaker 5: show the next day, we're gonna have a live stock
Speaker 5: show at the same venue at Allan's Mountain Livestock. They've
Speaker 5: been great to host that as well, so we're actually
Speaker 5: gonna have cattle, sheep, swan and goats there. I think
Speaker 5: we're actually had dairy as well this year. So that
Speaker 5: was something that we didn't have room for last year,
Speaker 5: and the community really wanted it and so we were
Speaker 5: able to bring that back. So that's open again, not
Speaker 5: just a Bedford Leath, so you're we'll be able to
Speaker 5: see livestock and from youth from around the state.
Speaker 1: So we're really excited about that.
Speaker 2: Excellent and the whole lineup is already like she said,
Speaker 2: on the website. Also, we have an active Facebook page,
Speaker 2: so if you're more into social media, you can see
Speaker 2: the snibbets of information there as well any other detail.
Speaker 5: Yeah, the big thing is I would encourage everyone to
Speaker 5: look at the Bedford County Fair Contest book because this
Speaker 5: is this is that's just kind of like that nostalgic like,
Speaker 5: you know, you have your all of your county fair classes,
Speaker 5: so who has the best pie or best pickles or
Speaker 5: the nicest tomatoes or eggs. But then there's also some
Speaker 5: really cool categories as well. So this year there's like
Speaker 5: an agricultural like Lego model contest. It's my son's favorite, okay,
Speaker 5: So but there's you know a lot of photography are quilting.
Speaker 5: So really what we want to see is just more participation.
Speaker 5: We want to highlight more Bedford County talent, more Bedford
Speaker 5: County efforts and and and work. So there is something
Speaker 5: literally for everyone in all ages, and so definitely check
Speaker 5: that out. As you're as your gardening and then those
Speaker 5: classes are going to be exhibited at Centerfest this year,
Speaker 5: and so that will be something that you can find.
Speaker 5: And the warming centers we're actually going to be set
Speaker 5: up to your in Centerfest, which.
Speaker 1: Is right across from the Farmers.
Speaker 5: Market, right across from the Farmer's Market. This year at Centerfest,
Speaker 5: we're actually set up in the Warming Center. And so
Speaker 5: that's actually one of my favorite parts of the fair
Speaker 5: is to watch especially like the kids, so like the
Speaker 5: five and six year olds come running into the contest
Speaker 5: hall to see what ribbons they're photographies or their eggs got,
Speaker 5: and so that's always just a really special part of
Speaker 5: the fair.
Speaker 1: And so a Mama Bragg though, what tell us about
Speaker 1: what Eli got last year?
Speaker 5: So Eli got, he got like two blue ribbons that
Speaker 5: are still on his wall. Eli's he was then four
Speaker 5: four year old son got for the pictures that he
Speaker 5: took and stole my phone around and went and just
Speaker 5: snap pictures of all of our animals. They were he
Speaker 5: worked so hard on them. They were great, but seriously,
Speaker 5: and but that's the way a lot of the kids'
Speaker 5: photos were. It's not this big LABI thing. The important
Speaker 5: part is just letting them do it themselves, and then
Speaker 5: you get to see how excited they are.
Speaker 2: Do you know when I go home to visit Mom
Speaker 2: and dad, my ribbon from my rabbit, Like, how do
Speaker 2: you show a rabbit.
Speaker 1: He is sit in the cage.
Speaker 5: Okay, that is what my child asked for his birthday
Speaker 5: next month and that's not happening.
Speaker 2: So but yes, my ribbon, my mom still has it,
Speaker 2: probably displayed for a rabbit, which there's no showing. The
Speaker 2: rabbit just sat there and it's fat. But anyway, I
Speaker 2: got a ribbon for So that's something folks can look
Speaker 2: forward to.
Speaker 5: And the egg legos, Yes, so the ag legos, that
Speaker 5: is something every year we try to do. Add a
Speaker 5: couple new contests, and I'm particularly excited about this one,
Speaker 5: and partially it is because how it came about. So
Speaker 5: we have a committee. We have a fair board, but
Speaker 5: then we have committees that work on different ventures. And
Speaker 5: so we have a committee that works really hard on
Speaker 5: getting this contest book put together, and then all of
Speaker 5: these contests judge. Because there's hundreds and hundreds of inenturies.
Speaker 5: This year they added some youth members to that committee,
Speaker 5: so we have some teens who helped out some high
Speaker 5: school students, and that was their suggestion was to add
Speaker 5: an agricultural lego sculpture contest. And I think Kenzy can
Speaker 5: attest like her four each club, like my son and
Speaker 5: his friends, like that is what they are pumped for.
Speaker 4: Yeah, they were so excited about that when we got
Speaker 4: to that part of.
Speaker 5: The Yeah book so and so I think that's just
Speaker 5: really cool and it goes to show like just another
Speaker 5: really neat aspect of this event is it's multi generation
Speaker 5: and I think that's what the great things in community
Speaker 5: usually are, is multi generational, and so.
Speaker 1: We hope to exhibit that well at the fair as well.
Speaker 2: Wonderful. Do either of you have anything else? Do you
Speaker 2: think we need to share about the fair?
Speaker 4: Again?
Speaker 5: You know we it's free, and I think that you know,
Speaker 5: that's something that's really important to us, that we work
Speaker 5: really hard to make sure that it's successful to everyone,
Speaker 5: and so please feel free to just really come out
Speaker 5: and enjoy it and just celebrate Bedford and who we are.
Speaker 1: Excellent.
Speaker 2: Well, thank you, I'm looking forward to it. I think
Speaker 2: this has been an informative episode that again shows the
Speaker 2: heartbeat of our county and acknowledges the deep roots of
Speaker 2: agriculture here in Bedford County. This podcast the fair, our
Speaker 2: AG Advisory Board, AG educators in local classrooms, for A
Speaker 2: leaders and students, f FA leaders and members, extension agents,
Speaker 2: farm service agencies, producers, local farmers, markets, market managers, various volunteers,
Speaker 2: community members and consumers. Everyone plays a role in fostering
Speaker 2: the next generation of agriculture. Our community knows that agriculture
Speaker 2: is important. We see opportunities and relationships all the time,
Speaker 2: showcasing the importance of connecting producers with consumers, with providing
Speaker 2: educational experiences between the agworld and the nonag world. And
Speaker 2: most importantly, our community knows that our county's agriculture community
Speaker 2: strengthens the very fabric of what is Bedford County. So
Speaker 2: we're grateful for the various platforms that Bedford County AGG
Speaker 2: has been given. As always, we are appreciative of Media
Speaker 2: Squatch and their graciousness and allowing us to record our
Speaker 2: monthly AG podcasts. Be sure to like, share, and follow
Speaker 2: all things Media Squatch and support them. Today's episode will
Speaker 2: be posted with an episode link attached on our Bedford County,
Speaker 2: Virginia Agriculture Facebook page, so be sure to like following
Speaker 2: share that as well. And if you haven't listened at
Speaker 2: our to our past episodes as well. I'm sure you'll
Speaker 2: find something that interests you. And if you want to
Speaker 2: reach out to us personally, you can email us at
Speaker 2: Bedford countyag at gmail dot com. This is great, especially
Speaker 2: if you're a local farm and you want to be
Speaker 2: added to our county's online directory of local farms and producers.
Speaker 2: We'll be happy to make that happen, so go ahead
Speaker 2: and email us at Bedford countyag at gmail dot com.
Speaker 1: Hey, if you want to.
Speaker 2: Get involved in your agricultural community that we have here,
Speaker 2: you're invited to join our ag Advisory Board meetings. We
Speaker 2: meet on the first Wednesday of every month at the
Speaker 2: County Building off of Falling Creek Road here in Bedford.
Speaker 2: To learn more, just reach out. Also check out our
Speaker 2: County's Office of Economic Development website. There's a section dedicated
Speaker 2: to all things Bedford County agriculture, including info on our
Speaker 2: monthly meetings. Bedfordeconomicdevelopment dot com. One more round of thanks
Speaker 2: to Joya Mackenzie. Thank you for being here. Thank you, Melody,
Speaker 2: thank you, and this is Melody divers, reminding you to
Speaker 2: be good to you yourself and be good to others. M.