I first met Gatlin when I went out to a friend’s boarding barn, in the mid 90’s. I had been away from horses for many years while busy raising a family and being a ‘soccer mom’ and was ready to get back to my love for horses. I was looking to lease a horse and my friend showed me Gatlin. He had been boarded there for several years. His owner just sent the check every month and only came out to see him a few times a year. He was a young horse with very little training and his owner was terrified of him. I felt sorry for him because he was really cute and seemed very lonely. So, I leased and later bought him.

We learned together. In the beginning, he was skittish, he spooked at everything. He had no confidence. While leading him, he was looking for monsters and would practically jump on top of you; especially, on a windy day. So just getting him from the back pasture to the barn was fun. Soon he began to recognize my voice and would whinny as soon as he heard me arrive at the barn. He was thrilled to have his own ‘person’ and I was thrilled that he knew he was mine.

I kept working with him and six months later many people told me that he did not even seem like the same horse. His confidence grew to the point where I could take him out on trail rides alone; of course, the first time; it took over an hour to get past the scary mailbox at the end of the road!

Within the first year I had him, I started taking Gatlin to open shows and he really tried his heart out for me. He was such a good boy, always well behaved. In his later years, he taught many young riders how to ride. He was a spirited little horse but always safe. One young rider fell off him and he just stood wondering what happened and waited for her to get back on. He was so tuned in to me that at home, all I had to do was point and he seemed to know where I wanted him to go or what I wanted him to do. When I first got him, I taught him to bow for a carrot and from that moment on, anytime he saw a carrot or even heard the sound of the bag, he would bow and wait for his reward. Once you got him started he would keep bowing and bowing and bowing….he was like a comedian! There were times that I had to walk away and he’d still be bowing while trying to look at you out the corner of his eye to see if you were watching. A very special boy! I will never forget him.