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SOPHIE’S PONY TALES

Her Experiences from being a Reject to a Carriage Driving Champion

St. Gertrude a.k.a. Sophie as conveyed to Glenn Van Oort

Sophie wanted her tales to be told as an encouraging word. She was born with a physical defect. Difficul-
ties followed her. Circumstances seemed impossible. A crisis at her barn resulted in her being sold as a
young untrained horse. She was transported hundreds of miles. She was rescued from a sales pen before
being sent to slaughter in Canada. Opportunities came to her, but she was not able to accept them. Yet
somehow over time she overcame. Her story is one of emerging, changing, and finally finding a way to a
bright future. She was lost and then found. She tells her tales hoping that the reader will find in them a
word of hope.

The author Rev. Glenn Van Oort is a Minister of Word and Sacrament in The Reformed Church of Ameri-
ca. Since graduating from New Brunswick Theological Seminary, in New Brunswick, New Jersey, in 1966
with a Master of Divinity degree he has been serving in his profession with a variety of congregations. A
number of years ago he began incorporating horse and pony tales in his sermons, both to adults and chil-
dren. All related to the stories. Many have requested that the tales be made available.

Glenn grew up on a Iowa farm surrounded by fields and horses. As an adult he has been active in the eq-
uine community in several capacities. Experiences include being an adjunct instructor of Light Horse Driv-
ing, at Cobleskill College, and for a number of years being a consultant to the New York State Department
of Agriculture as an inspector for County Fair Standard Bred Racing. He and his wife Eileen were 4H Horse
Club leaders for a dozen years. During that time their three children became enthralled with horses. That
condition has been passed on to their children. After years of children and teens in and around the barn
with a variety of equines, he started carriage driving with a daughter’s left behind Morgan. His claim to
horsemanship derives largely from his twelve years of experiences driving that horse, Miss Sophie.

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