In The Beginning............

 *as told by Dale Lawson, one of the founding members.

 The Douglas County Fox Trotting Horse Breeders' Association had a meager and almost accidental beginning. The organization was conceived by a group of horse owners sitting around a table in a local coffee shop in the Fall of 1998. Our initial purpose in creating this club was to assist each other in selling horses.

 To fulfill this we decided to form an organization within which we could maintain and publish a monthly list of horses for sale. We first needed to collect dues to cover publication and mailing of the list. The first morning we collected dues for fifteen families.

 From that first organization came the need for: a bank account; a post office box; a meeting to elect officers & write by-laws and other typical administrative needs. To our surprise, we grew to over forty families before the end of the first year..

 Our next big step was to become an affiliate of the Missouri Fox Trotting Horse Breed Association. This affiliation has precipitated our 'coffee group' into an active community organization, with monthly meetings, periodic board meetings, trail rides, fund raisers and an annual show. We now have over seventy family members.

 In 2004, our affiliate chapter became incorporated as an official Missouri not-for-profit organization. So far this year we have held our 2nd Annual two-day horse show, co-sponsored a National Trail ride, held forty-nine organized trail rides and conducted two training clinics. We also sponsor a youth organization, are members of the Ava Area Chamber of Commerce and we have contributed generously to St. Judes and other charities

 Our recently deceased 4/26/2007 club president, Mr. Bob Burns, was an experienced manager and leader. He was dedicated and enthusiastic and devoted much of his time to the organization. We will all miss him dearly an know that he is watching over us atop of his Missouri Fox Trotter with the Lord at his side.

 We look forward to continued growth and additional services to our members who have one thing in common.  We love our Fox Trotting horses the best in the world!