Testimonials
If you have participated in, volunteered for, or just visited the M-Bar-C Ranch and would like to submit a testimonial to be published on this page please e-mail mbarcranch@whidbey.com.
Testimonial Submission Forms will available at all events or can be printed on-line. We'd love to hear your story and share your Ranch experience others.
Click here to print a Testimonial Submission Form
I want to thank you and all the volunteers for hosting The Arc of Snohomish County. Ole and I had a great time. Ole took many pictures and most of them were of the western village. It was nice to get out, relax and meet with the families. I heard from other parents that this is a great place to take our children. There are so many activities, everyone can enjoy all the fun.
I would recommend the M Bar C Ranch to everyone. The volunteers are just wonderful at showing all of us a good time.
Please tell everyone what a great time we all had at the ranch!! It TRULY was the BEST field trip I have been on with my kidlets. All you wonderful people made it fun and exciting for all of us. We appreciate all you did to make this trip go so smooth. You will hear from us soon with cards. We do want to come back next year! I have some cowboys who would have stayed!!! Can you book us again for next May and just keep the same date. I am going to frame the pictures of the kids on the horses to give to their dad's for Father's Day. Bless all your hearts!!!"
Love,
Lynn
The first time I came to visit, was with a sqaudron. Our husbands were deployed and we had so much fun, it was amazing. The kids deeply enjoyed it. The volunteers are very sweet and sincere. My kids were so excited to come visit again. Now 5 yrs. later we move back to Washington and my husband got the opportunity to be a volunteer for a weekend.
What I Love the most about this place, is the little miniature ghost town. Once in a while I will tell people about this place needing volunteers. Because I appreciated what they had done for us. This became a wonderful memory. Thank you so much for the great time.
Brendy Martinez
What I would do if I had 3 days to see
Day 1
First I would look at my guitar
The frets the strings and the intricate pattern around the hole in the middle
This would make me sad though to buy a guitar and only have 3 days to see
So I move on to my cello
I have seen this for 6 years so I will not be so sad about this. I marvel at its carefully curved scroll
I feast my eyes on the tiny little lines so gracefully layed out along the rim of the cello
But I have many things to see and so little time
I move on to my rats
I watch them wrestle around playfully
I scrutinize their tiny little strands of fur
For here black and white has never been so colorful
Day 2
On day 2 I get up and take an airplane to Washington state
My favorite place on earth
It is the location of my favorite ranch on earth too
The m-c (m bar c) ranch is where I learned to ride a horse
I savor the look of the horse that I usually ride – Midnight
With the same features but with brown and grey hair
Day 3
On my last day of being able to see I look at my family
I stare at my mother’s face trying to engrave in my memory her work hardened features my fathers balding head
And my grandmother’s wrinkled face
Then I look at my cousin Nicholas’s mature face and his brothers smaller childish face
I look at my cousin Jaeger’s more chubby face and his little sister’s tiny face
Day 4
The world is black now not a thing in sight so it is all I can do to write this haiku
The world is black
I think of good memories
It makes me quite sad
Julian Pryde
4/25/07
English C
I was an abused child. It was a very long time ago, but the memory of it is still there. Forgiveness and thankfulness have replaced the feeling of resentment and anger. Forgiveness for those who hurt me without meaning to, and thankfulness for a great and loving God, family and counselors, and for the horses I have had the privilege and honor of knowing in my life.
Abuse and neglect leaves you feeling disconnected from yourself and the world; a sense of numbness. Touching a horse and feeling its love and power, connect you again. Horses remind you that the world is a good place with beauty, awesome animals and good friends who want to help.
My first ride was Little Blacky, a small black quarter horse, I rode in the hills outside Denver, Colorado where I grew up. Back then $5.00 would give you 2 hours of riding with no guide and no trail, just riding as far as you wanted.. Certainly not the safe way we ride from stables today. Caring for a drug addicted Mother for 8 years and dealing with an abusive Father at the same time, I severely needed some escape. A few hours on Little Blacky allowed me to reconnect to the Earth and feel true freedom. She was loving and gentle and always took good care of me. As I got older, I rode trail horses from time to time and always sensed that they were my true friends. With no words, they would sooth my soul and take me on beautiful trails to calm my spirit and remind me how much the world had to offer. Horses are so giving and ask only our respect in return. They are the true heros of the west and hold our heritage in there being.
To give a child a chance to be with a horse, is to reconnect that child with a sense of well being and gives them the confidence in themselves and hope for a future of peace and joy.
And, in the end, I found the trail horse of my dreams in the mountains of Idaho, brought her home and every day, have the blessing of being in the presence of a beautiful, magical animal that connects me to the earth and all the love and power in the universe.
This is why I come to the ranch to volunteer, and why all children everywhere in every situation, should have an opportunity, even for a moment, to feel that awesome connection to a horse, themselves and the earth. Because.....the best thing for the inside of a kid is the outside of a horse.!!!!!!!
Betty Lightner
Volunteer
My foster son's Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder group attended the M-Bar-C Ranch last Sunday. The children and parents are raving about their wonderful experience. I agree; this was the single most fun thing our children have done in a long time.. Our group is comprised of children with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders and the families who care for them all over Washington. All of the FASD affected children have permanent brain damage that has resulted in motor impairments and/or learning disabilities, and most have an array of varying health challenges such as, in addition to FASD, Down Syndrome, hearing impairments, vision impairments, Crohn's Disease, brain tumors, and more. I have taken in just one child, but some families in our group have adopted six or seven alcohol affected children. I can't tell you how much I admire them.
And we all can’t begin to express our deep appreciation for what was done for our children last Sunday at the M-Bar-C Ranch. The volunteers and the program were just fantastic; we plan to schedule another event next year..
Thanks so very much,
Sue McKinney
Greenbank, WA