For Debbie Webster, the name “the Horse Lady” comes with her job. “That’s what everyone calls me. I’ll be in the grocery store and the kid behind me will tug on their mom’s arm, ‘Look, Mom, it’s the horse lady.’ ”
Debbie Webster with Abe, her “praying” horse.Debbie has trained horses and riders at world class levels. She is a certified Special Olympics equestrian coach, a FEMA assistant for horse-related disasters, author of articles in Focus on the Family and other magazines, a public speaker, a counselor, wife, mother, foster parent, and now she has added a new trophy to her collection of accomplishments. She has just recently become the first equestrian chaplain to be endorsed by the North American Mission Board.
Debbie attributes her position to God’s blessing. “God’s given me the talent to work with people and with horses.”
Horses have been Debbie’s passion all her life. But only in the 1990s did she buy the land in Mauldin for the Whispering Pines Stable – where she now operates not only a public riding school, but also her unique equestrian ministry.
In 1998, Debbie founded the Upstate Equestrian Ministry in order for her and other Christian horse enthusiasts to minister to the spiritual needs of their riding students and others that God sends their way. She also started the “Bible Study at the Barn” on Tuesday evenings for anyone interested in learning more about applying God’s word to daily living. Her ministry was going well, and Debbie had great plans for her stable.
But the scars on her neck are a reminder that her dreams have not gone unchallenged. In 2001, Debbie was in a car wreck that left her with a broken neck.
“The doctors told me to sell my horses because I would never ride again.” Four surgeries later, Debbie still can’t ride her horses very much. “Being around 35 horses and not being able to ride them is a lesson in self control for me.”
But her wreck became a blessing for many others, as she found different ways to get back in the saddle.
After being immobilized for a while after her accident, she was burdened for people with disabilities, leading her to start “A Whispering Hope” – a therapeutic riding program for people with disabilities.
Horses are a tremendous tool for therapy. Their three-dimensional movement helps the body’s muscle’s to relax and stimulates the brain as if the body’s legs are doing the actual movement.
But A Whispering Hope has become more than a program for physical handicaps. Debbie has also given therapy to children with mental and emotional disabilities.
More importantly, the program has become a ministry for Debbie. Not only can she reach out to help the people’s disabilities, but she can witness to them, their families, and even the workers who often volunteer to work with her.
Debbie directs a Christmas program called Christmas at the Stables, which attracts up to 1,500 visitors. She has baptized in troughs, written a tract about a horse, and even taught a horse to pray.
Abe was a beautiful, high-spirited horse that no one thought was trainable. When everyone else had given up on him, Debbie was faced with a choice: “I could keep him or send him to the glue factory.” When she chose to keep him, she knew she had her work cut out for her. Now Abe has learned to kneel as if he’s praying, while Debbie gives his “testimony.” The “rebel turned ‘repentant'” horse has ministered to thousands of people. Debbie laughs, “Abe is living proof that every knee shall bow.”
The “praying horses” are part of Debbie’s equestrian outreach ministry.Debbie feels that “horse people” are a mission field in themselves, and she is already equipped to reach them. “There’s a special ‘horse people’ language that I know already.”
But for the lady who seems to be able to do it all, her biggest chore is finding people to help her. “Things aren’t all that organized around here. I’m dealing with children and horses; I have to be spontaneous.” Throwing up her hands, she admits, “I get books on organization and I lose them.”
With 25 acres of land, 35 horses, several goats, sheep, chickens and 20 cats, things can get hectic for Debbie and her family to manage by themselves. “We could use someone full time just to paint the fence.” Debbie says it takes 500 gallons of paint to keep the ranch spruced up.
“We have all comfort level positions and all knowledge levels.” Whether it’s cleaning stalls or washing buckets, helping with the horses and the people or just answering phones and updating the Web site, or giving devotions at the Bible study, any help would give Debbie extra time to fulfill her visions.
Debbie likes to think of Whispering Pines as a place to equip others to do what she is doing and send them out all over the country to reach as many people as she can with the gospel. Recently, the Upstate Equestrian Training and Conference Center was built on the stable property to further inspire other believers to use horses to minister to those who need salvation. “What we’re doing here is just planting seeds.”
Her dream for the future is to have enough volunteers and funds to operate her ministry without worrying about finances or helpers.
But for now and for whatever comes, Debbie knows the secret behind the happy trails of her ministry. “It’s not these horses, and it’s not me, it’s God working through us.”
To keep up with the excitement at Whispering Pines, check out Debbie’s Web site at www.thehorselady.org. If you want to saddle up and help Debbie with this ministry or if you would like to schedule her for a speaking engagement, you can write to her at thehorselady@charter.net or call 864-982-5331.