My story:

I have been dreaming of horses since I was a little girl.  As a child, my parents blessed me with an ornery ranch pony named Sue that I used for 4-H play days and the local drill team.  I would sit on the fence for hours as a little girl and talk to her everyday after school.  That little onery pony was my first best friend.  In high school, I could be found on the basketball court, at the local sale barn helping sort cattle, helping my dad pull a calf, or on a job site pouring concrete on my dads' construction crew.    

My mom realized I may have needed to know how to act like a lady.  She made me participate in a local rodeo queen pageant.   I got first-runner up.  Losing was the best thing that ever happened as I realized I could win scholarships to help pay for college. After some modeling lessons and a lot of studying, I ended up as Miss Rodeo Kansas 1999 and finished in the Top 10 at Miss Rodeo America.

So my real job is a high school principal at Oakley, in my hometown. When I became a single mom, I went back to college and got my bachelor's degree in education.  A year later I was inspired to start grad school and got my master's degree in administration.  In my eight years as an administrator, I was selected as 2018 Region V Principal of the Year through KASSP and 2019 selected as a Presenter at the KASSP Principal Conference in Wichita.

As a single mother, I drew blueprints one day of a house I was going to build and posted it at my office desk.  Several years later, the kids and I built the fence on the 10 acres and named it North Fork (since the river that runs south of the ranch is called the north fork of the Saline River).  My children and I spent 18 months putting up cabinets, hanging sheetrock, painting, building walls, pouring concrete countertops, and literally building our own house. A couple of years after the house was done, we built the barn.  The kids and I spent every extra 30 minutes over the next year building Airbnb rooms in the barn.  Each room has a uniqu color scheme with homemade quilts, and lots of love in the details for an at home feel.  

The ranch always has babies!  We expanded our operation to raising horses and in the spring guests will be able to love on the new born foals.  The Aussiedoodle puppies are usually a hit with the kids that stay but they are only in the barn during the day a few times a year. And somehow the barn cats seem to mulitple at the ranch as there is always kittens around.

My proudest accomplishments are my kids Christian (sophomore in college) and Cadence (junior in high school).  Christian is dual majoring at an NCKtech in electrical and was an standout football/wrestler in high school.  Cadence enjoys reading, horses, and basketball. Cadence is also the hired hand at the ranch and helps with cleaning, riding, and assists in the breeding program. The best part of my story..... is I got married this past summer!  Yancey Walker, my husband, tolerates my love of horses and basketball.  He is a former college basketball coach and his dad has taught me so much about breeding horses. He teachers journalism/yearbook and coaches high school girls basketball at Colby.

May you always choose HAPPINESS,

Kristy

Ranch Manager

James 1:2-4 Dear brothers & sisters, whenever trouble comes your way, let it be an opportunity for you.  For when our faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow.  So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be strong in character and ready for anything.