Making a Difference with Random Acts of Kindness

While thousands of Random Acts of Kindness happen on a regular basis, the staff of Orthoflex Saddleworks and the Midwest Horse Fair® wanted to recognize one particular person for their unselfish kindness in making the world a better place.

Orthoflex Saddleworks had put out the challenge – “Do a Random Act of Kindness and win a one of a kind Orthoflex saddle.” Nominations were accepted from January through April of 2010. These nominations were submitted through the Midwest Horse Fair® website, by mail or in person at the 2010 Midwest Horse Fair®. Almost 60 nominations were submitted, and after reading each story, the Midwest Horse Fair® staff selected Amy Wall of Peshtigo, Wis. as the winner.
 
It was Amy’s sister, Dawn Spencer of Waterford, Wis., who submitted the nomination. Dawn described the kindness Amy had shown to a local family when they lost an old horse who had been the children’s pet. The family had been faced with financial difficulties and health problems, and the children were devastated at the loss of their horse. Amy delivered one of her own horses, a filly named Liberty, to this family as a gift. Dawn added, “Amy has given away two other horses that I know of under other sad circumstances and always without fanfare or any acknowledgement. She follows her heart in these random acts of kindness because she understands the special bond between horse and human.”

Orthoflex Saddleworks Inc., the largest custom saddle maker in the world, and the only known manufacturer of Western/Trail, Endurance, English, and Australian saddles, under one roof, donated a magnificent Western trail saddle with a value of $6,500 to the Random Acts of Kindness winner. The saddle is fully hand tooled in an original design with floral clusters and seed pods. It features Western square skirts, fully leather covered stirrups, D-Rings and strings, Special Edition logo, meticulously handmade star on star conchos of silver and copper blends. A Royal Chevron wall plaque accompanied the saddle.

Amy, who was thrilled and in shock by the news, first thought she was receiving a call from the Midwest Horse Fair® office to inform her that the person she nominated had been selected. Amy did not know that anyone had nominated her for the Random Acts of Kindness.
 
“I’m just touched that other people appreciate the little things that you do to make people’s life a little easier,” she said. “I don’t go through life thinking that you’ve got to be rewarded. So I was surprised, shocked, stunned, and of course, ecstatic.”

With a small herd of Bashkir Curly horses at her hobby farm in northern Wisconsin, Amy has been bringing horses to the Midwest Horse Fair® for three years to participate in the Curly horse demonstrations.

“My luxury is going down to the Midwest Horse Fair® every year,” she said. “The people I know and have come in contact with are all such super nice people. I can guarantee that the saddle will be traveling with me to Madison every year. I can’t thank the Midwest Horse Fair® and Orthoflex enough. They have my heartfelt thanks, it’s a dream come true for me to own a saddle like this.

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