ALEDO —  

It didn’t really start when a failed campaign for Douglas County Commissioner in Omaha left author Lynn Baber, now a resident of Poolville, without an outlet for her unflagging energy.

It was already there when she impulsively bought her first horse — unbroke, no less — after reading a classified ad in the newspaper.

Maybe it began as a teen when she spent summers at her great uncle’s farm, driving Shetland ponies hitched to a sulky.

But Baber, sprightly and personable, has always had a passion for horses. And as an adult, having earned her stripes as a business consultant and motivational speaker in the field of customer service, she was back in the saddle pursuing a new career, eventually racking up some 20 years as a horse trainer, breeder, judge and consultant. She has learned a lot during that time, not only about horses, but about herself as well. But she has probably learned the most about her relationship to God and others.

As bold and direct as the stallions she once specialized in training, Baber prizes horses for the companionship and attention they offer, which hinges on authenticity and competency rather than position or wealth. 

She understands how winning their trust can give them security and relieve their fears. She has seen how being the right kind of leader produces the right kind of horse, how an animal’s difficult nature dissipates when it cedes the control of its life over to someone who understands what makes it tick.

If God can speak in a still, small voice, Baber began to see, perhaps he can also share His great truths with a whinny and a whicker. And that is what her book, “Amazing Grays, Amazing Grace: Pursuing relationship with God, horses, and one another,” is all about.

“Twenty years training horses was my preparatory school, giving me the key I needed to finally grasp what were previously only vague elements of my pursuit of a relationship with God,” Baber writes. “This key is the relationship I have with my grays. I chose them, and they chose me. As I work through my daily lessons with the Holy Spirit, in turn, I am able to direct and deepen the bond I share with my grays.”

Inspirational, practical and written in a casual, conversational style the new book uses the hoofbeats of Arizona Sky, General Silver, Lop Along Bo and others to deliver the heartbeat of Christian doctrine: relationship with Christ. 

Horses are the ”perfect foil” to demonstrate the “leadership and followership” of that relationship, she said, because they are simple, reacting only to the reality of who you are and what you can do, not what you say you can do or your entourage. You “connect on a level that you don’t discuss,” Baber said. “The relationship is about what you can offer and then living up to that offer.”

Trust must be earned. Once it is, horses, which by nature “run first and ask questions later,” will look to their leader for cues about how to behave when a loud noise or some other unfamiliar circumstance frightens them. 

“The goal (as a trainer) is to provide an absolutely secure relationship where they (the horses being trained) are fearless in the world,” she said. “When something happens, you want them to look to the leader and say ‘I’m good.’ It’s the same thing for every Christian. I want people to know how to receive that from God and how to give it to their children.”

Anticipating the economic downturn, Baber sold her ranch in Poolville in 2007, along with most of her horses. The horse industry along with the collateral industries that feed it are in the tank, she said, leaving even well-bred horses unwanted, “like so many cats and dogs at the pound.”

She and her husband have downsized to less acreage and fewer animals, Baber said, but her longtime passion for horses now fuels a greater passion: telling people how to get closer to God. She does not charge appearance fees for speaking engagements and is also open to conducting horse and rider relationship clinics. Baber has applied for non-profit status for her ministry, Amazing Grays Ministry, which can be contacted at www.AmazingGraysMinistry.com.  

“Amazing Grays, Amazing Grace: Pursuing relationship with God, horses, and one another” is available at the Doss Heritage and Culture Center in Weatherford and can also be purchased from the publisher, Tate Publishing and Enterprises, at www.tatepublishing.com/bookstore.