Okraj Farms was originally a cattle farm. We had a nice stock of Hereford/Angus crosses and even a select few registered Angus. We purchased the original place in 1995 from the late Grace Meyers. The property included several watering holes (ponds), a chicken coop (now removed), a two car garage (now removed), a large barn with two run in areas and a feed room, and a smaller 3 stall barn with a run in on the east side of it. Not to mention it was also the location of the Meyers School House and has its own section of Panther Fork Creek on its backside.

In 1998, we purchased our pony, Lightning, from the late Esther Hickey. Lightning was originally from the Circle K Paint Horse Farm of Centralia, Illinois owned by the Fortag family. Lightning ended up being the start of what has now became borderline equine obsession! She introduced the three girls to horse showing and eventually barrel racing, and they never looked back.

Midnight was purchased in 1999, at the age of 6 months old, and don't regret a minute of it. She was purchased directly from her breeders at Circle K Paint Horse Farm. She was a wild-eyed, gangly filly, but Schuy seen something in her that made her ask for the solid breeding stock Paint Horse over the rest of the loudly colored weanlings. Midnight was a hellion when she went home. She kicked, bit, and charged anyone or anything that came near her except her new owner, Schuy. Midnight and Schuy bonded and she was eventually sent to Tom Hayes of Hayes Quarter Horses in Mt. Vernon, IL for her first 30 days under saddle training.

We remember trying to load her onto the trailer to go home with Tom the first time, she caught him in the chest with both rear hooves, and we thought we'd never get this crazy filly calmed down. She did well at Tom's and eventually came home with a warning, "She kicks when you tighten the girth." We knew this filly was something else! We spent the entire rest of her 2 year old year trying to break her of her kicking habit. She never once kicked Schuy, but several others had bruised bodies and bruised egos. She ended up becoming a heck of a Youth barrel horse and started the craze that has not ended at the farm; Barrel Racing. She is still rode to this day by several kids and inexperienced riders. It's amazing that this little kicking hellion has become one of the best horses anyone could ever own.

We've had our ups and downs here at the farm, and we've also had our triumphs and failures. But now we've got some really nice stock, that we may have never gotten if a pony named Lightning and a horse named Midnight, hadn't came in and showed us how much fun Barrel Racing was.