Sadie Melton and Champ receive a blessing from Jessica McCullough of the Shawnee Alliance Church at the Blessing of the Horses at the Allen County Fair on Saturday.
Dean Brown | The Lima News
LIMA — Winston Churchill once said, “No hour of life is wasted that is spent in the saddle.” Equestrians of various ages brought their steeds to the Allen County Fair to be blessed on Saturday morning.
The county’s 4-H horse clubs continued their tradition with the Blessing of the Horses as their initial activity of the fair. Through the years, various members of the Lima clergy have been given the responsibility of blessing the horses. This year the honor was bestowed on Jessica McCullough of the Shawnee Alliance Church.
Horses were rode or walked into the arena in the Schmidhorst Pavillion on the south end of the fairgrounds. When the horses were in the arena, McCullough shared the story from the Bible of the feeding of the five thousand in John 6: 1-14, in which Jesus and his disciples feed a huge crowd of people with a boy’s five loaves of bread and two fishes.
McCullough added this interpretation of the well-known story. It took courage for the young boy with the five fishes to step forward offering all that he had. McCullough explained, “Jesus wants you to be willing. It takes a lot of courage. We got to be willing to step up. He can use you and whatever you have to bring to help someone else.”
Horses then exited the arena one at a time. Each horse and each rider received a blessing from McCullough.
McCullough shared, “This is the first time that I have ever been able to do this. Actually, it is the first time I have ever heard of the Blessing of the Horses. But I thought it a phenomenal opportunity and a great show here at the fair. I think it should be in every barn.”
Reach Dean Brown at 567-242-0409
