Early on Gay knew she was horse crazy. When she was just four years old
she asked Santa Claus for a horsey. He brought her a metal one that you
had to push down on to ride. Gay was very disappointed as it was hard
to push and wasn't a real horse. Every year for her birthday and
Christmas she asked for a horse but never got one.
Luckily there were a lot of kids in the neighborhood who had ponies and
horses. They were very kind to let her ride and help them.
As Gay got older the horses in the neighborhood began to go away. Plus
with Jr. High and High School there was more than horses. But, she
never turned down a chance to ride when it was offered.
When Gay was in her late 20s a good friend had bought several horses and
invited Gay out to ride one weekend. After that, Gay almost wore out
her welcome and went to visit almost every weekend. Gay paid for
farrier, helped buy hay and grain in exchange for having a sweet deal;
having a horse but not having the responsibility.
Then one day another friend called and said “I have the perfect horse
for you”. Gay told her that she didn't need a horse as she had a
friends to ride. However, Gay did agree to go look at that horse.
Well, to make a long story short, Arah Jahda is still in Gay's pasture.
During those first several years as a horse owner she was invited to
ride every week with a group of ladies called the Numbutz. These ladies
made sure that she had a trailer ride to where they were riding and
showed her no mercy as she had bought this hot little Arab mare. The
horse knew it all and taught Gay quite a bit thanks to these ladies. If
you wanted to ride with them you had to keep up and there were many
people who could not keep up and were not invited back.
In 1994 Gay was unemployed from the typesetting profession that she had
been in for 20 years. Due to desktop publishing Gay's profession became
non-existent. The Arabian Horse Club that she was a member of was
having a clinic on Microchipping. As she had never seen this done, she
wanted to learn more.
While she was there, the vet asked her why her horses weren't at the
clinic. As Gay told her that she was unemployed and didn't know
anything about it and was just there to learn the vet suggested going
and getting her horses. The vet said she could pay her when she could.
While eating lunch that day at the microchipping clinic the vet had a
brilliant idea. She was the vet for a Carriage Driving company in
downtown Dallas and she felt that Gay would be perfect for the job and
called the owner. An interview was set up and training began.
Gay took to driving and was taken under the wing of Bunny Morrisey who
now owns Belle Starre Carriages in Dallas. Bunny had grown up on the
track and knew a lot of tricks about harnessing and driving. Bunny
respected Gay's horse safety and natural horsemanship that she had
learned from her riding group, the Numbutz.
After several years, Gay decided it was time for her own carriage and
horse. A carriage was ordered and the cutest Belgian in the world was
found. The horse was only a 4 years old but took to it like Gay had.
Within two months of working in Dallas he was one of the best behaved
horses there.
Gay finally got to the point that it was time to leave Dallas. She went
to work for a Friesian Farm as Director of Sales and Marketing
(Glorified Secretary) for 3-1/2 years.
In 2001 Gay moved back to Cleburne, TX, where she was born, to live with
her elderly father. She decided that while she was there, had all the
equipment and the best horse in the world; why not start up the business
again.
Being trained by the best and also having to compete in the cutthroat
Dallas Carriage market she can do a job in the most tasteful and safe
way possible. She has excellent ideas for anniversaries, weddings, and
all sorts of jobs.
Thank you!!!
There are so many people to thank so if I leave someone out please do not take it personally.
To my Dad for helping me to get all the equipment needed and bringing me drinks.
To the Numbutz (Lee, Joan, Cindy & Bonnie) for being so patient with me and teaching me so much when I first got into horses.
To Larry for always letting me use your trailer and helping me out when I needed it.
To Scott Trees for the fabulous photos. I never dreamed I would actually have Scott Trees photos on my website one day.
http://www.treesmedia.com
And last but not least, to Julia and Scarlett for helping me find Sebastian.
