Family Showcase MARGIE GASS MAKES IT A FAMILY AFFAIR By Barbara Pinella O regon’s Margie Gass has gone from taking care of
upwards to hundreds of thoroughbreds at their highest number on her farm in Hermiston, Oregon, to being occasional baby sitter for her daughter’s two little boys. All the while still being involved in the show horse business, it has been an interesting journey in the years between then and now. When I caught up with Margie she was in fact at home with her grandchildren.
Her daughter is Megan Jordan, a successful hunter / jumper rider and trainer who travels the show circuit. When it is not possible for Megan to take her children with her, Margie fills in. “It’s a lot easier to hire somebody to help you with the horses than to help with kids,” she quipped, laughing. The family breeding operation all started back in 1969 when the Gass
family moved from the Portland area to Hermiston, OR and started raising thoroughbreds for hunter and jumper competition. Back then someone would usually buy a horse off the track because it wouldn’t run, but it worked the other way for Margie’s horses. “Actually, we sold our rejects to the racetrack,” Margie says. “If we didn’t
think they were going to jump in proper style or if they were a little too hot and silly, then we sold them to race horse owners to go to the racetrack. But our basic goal was breeding thoroughbreds for the show ring and to sell.” Both she and husband Howard showed, which is how they got into the
business of breeding horses in the first place. “We used to buy them off the racetrack to re-train, show, and sell. Then Howard found a stallion at the
Margie Gass
Megan Gass and Atlantis
Howard Gass
Venture Farm
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iJumpSports.com
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