By Ron Wilson, Director of the Huck Boyd National Institute for Rural Development at Kansas State University.

Let's meet someone who has made it possible for more than $60,000 to be donated to needy people. But this isn't your typical generous businessman. It's a horse of a different color – and I mean that literally. Today we'll learn about a beautifully colored horse in rural Kansas that generated lots of dollars to help people.

Jim and Sharon Borgeson live in Baldwin City. Jim is a chiropractor, with offices in Overland Park and Baldwin City, population 3,503 people. Now, that's rural.

One day, Jim and Sharon went to a paint horse sale to look around. As novice horse buyers, they knew they should get an older, well broke, gentle gelding. During the sale, Sharon came up to Jim and said, "I found the horse I want."

It was an 18-month-old, unbroke stud horse. Jim said, "Sharon, that's not at all what we were after." But she said, "Look at his eyes, he's so gentle and so smart." Most husbands can guess how that discussion ended up: Of course, they bought the horse.

Since Jim hadn't planned on buying that night, he had to drive 30 miles to get the trailer.  When he came back, it was dark and they were alone. Jim wondered, "How in the world am I going to get this unbroke horse into the trailer by myself?" But he put the halter on the horse and loaded for him with no problem. It demonstrated the gentle disposition that would become a hallmark of this horse.

Right after the sale, one man had said, "Congratulations on buying the toby." 

Jim hadn't realized that toby was short for Tobiano, which is the name for a type of horse with certain markings. Jim liked the nickname Toby and it stuck.

When they got Toby home, they called for the veterinarian to get Toby gelded. But the vet said, "I can't find a single flaw on this horse. Let's wait on getting him gelded."

Thank goodness that surgery has never happened.

Toby grew into a beautiful stallion. He was trained as a reining horse, won 12 shows in a row and was awarded the Register of Merit in open reining before retiring to become a stud horse.  Jim calls him the people's horse because of his personality.

One day Jim was talking to a retired minister and missionary friend.

Jim said, "You have done so many wonderful things to impact people. I would like to do just one significant thing."

The minister replied, "Well, you have a horse, don't' you?" But he wouldn't say any more.

Jim puzzled about what he might mean. Then he and Sharon decided to do a special project. They took a thousand dollars of Toby's breeding fees and went to Wal-Mart to buy 10 one-hundred dollar gift cards. The cards were placed in an envelope with a picture of Toby and a note explaining there are no strings attached to the gift. The envelopes were then passed out by Jim's church friends to people with financial need or who needed encouragement.

The response was great. They went to Wal-Mart and did it again. 

The store manager got interested, and now Wal-Mart is donating funds as well. To date, more than $63,000 has been donated through Toby.

The minister said, "You should write a book to generate some more funds for charity."

Jim wrote up a three-page book outline and shared it with his church one day, saying, "Here's the outline. Now we need someone who will write it for free."

Everybody laughed at the thought. Two days later, a former patient came into Jim's office, heard the story, and because she felt called by God, volunteered to write the book for free.

As of March 2006, the new book "Spirit Keeper" is being released to the public. For more information, go to www.peopleshorse.com.

It's time to say goodbye to this beautiful horse of a different color. We commend Jim and Sharon Borgeson and their friends for making a difference by using Toby to help needy people.  It proves a horse can be a wonderful resource.

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The mission of the Huck Boyd National Institute for Rural Development is to enhance rural development by helping rural people help themselves. The Kansas Profile radio series and columns are produced with assistance from the K-State Research and Extension Department of Communications News Unit. Audio and text files of Kansas Profiles are available at http://www.kansasprofile.com. For more information about the Huck Boyd Institute, interested persons can visit http://www.oznet.ksu.edu/huckboyd/.