BY JODY REYNOLDS, INTERNET EDITOR
Steve Gunn pilots Motion By Pro in the trail finals at the 2008 Bayer Select World during his first year of showing horses.
For more than a decade, Steve Gunn has been a professional horse show dad, rooting on his daughters, Jessica and Caroline, to numerous AQHA and AQHYA accolades.
When the youngest, Caroline, left for college two years ago, the Greensburg, Indiana, farmer decided he needed a hobby of his own.
So why not try what he knows?
He only thought he knew.
“My kisser and clucker don’t always work properly,” Steve confessed. “So far, I haven’t blown a pattern, but I regularly get the wrong lead or the wrong gate.”
Making his debut aboard a horse less than two ago, Steve tried his hand at trail with the guidance of his trainers, son-in-law Jason Gilliam and daughter Jessica Gilliam of Greensburg.
Steve entered his first show in January 2008 with tried-and-true trail expert, 20-year-old sorrel gelding Motion By Pro.
“I’m the ‘motion,’ and my horse is the ‘pro,’ Steve joked. “He takes great care of me. He’s reliable, reminding me, ‘Did you know you pushed the wrong button?’ We have a good time together. He’s the perfect teacher.”
Steve’s first Bayer Select World proved to be a success. Steve was a trail finalist.
“I’m competitive, so I was hoping to make the top five, but making the finals was my first goal,” he said. “A year ago, I never thought I’d get this far.”
Steve’s goals are to be more consistent with “Mo.”
“I want to get better at knowing what to do with my body,” he said. “I didn’t know you have to use your feet and legs to ride a horse! The girls always made it look so easy. “
Steve’s family is proud. Caroline talked her professors into letting her take time off from the first week of college to watch her dad show in Amarillo.
“I’m so proud of him,” Caroline said. “It amazes me that someone who’s never sat on a horse until two years ago can make it that far and do such a fantastic job. I told him I can’t imagine marking a 224 in the trail (Steve marked a 224 in the prelims)!
“He’s really smart with math, so the counting part of trail is easy for him,” she continued. “He has a hard time remembering what’s cluck and what’s kiss. He didn’t realize it took so much to get to where we were when we showed. He didn’t realize there was so much involved. He works really hard at it.”
The family agrees that Steve couldn’t possibly have a better show partner in Mo.
“We could not have gotten Dad a better horse,” Caroline said. “He’s the easiest show horse ever. If you let him find his spot, he works better. When Dad’s farming, Mo spends most of his time giving kids lessons. He’s so good-minded about it all. We don’t try to do too much with him. He’s easy to get back to show ready. He is officially a member of the family.”
And Steve is officially hooked on showing. He said he doesn’t plan to add new events yet – until he fine-tunes his trail skills. But he does plan to come back to the Bayer Select World.
“It’s a very nice show,” he said. “It’s laid back, and everybody congratulates everyone. It’s great that AQHA came up with the Select division so people can continue to be competitive as they get older.”
Steve’s parting words of wisdom: “If you’re not learning, you’re not gaining.”
