Trae LaPorte is owner and resident trainer of Gatewood Farms Sporthorses. The farm sets on 120 acres on Lake Blackshear in Cordele, Ga,. The land has been in his family since the early 1990s when his father and mother ran a successful Holsteiner breeding farm. Then the farm was known as Gatewood Farms.
Gatewood Farms Sporthorses offers a 13-stall horse barn, tack room, feed room with a washer/dryer, three wash racks with hot/cold water, palpation chute, two lighted outdoor rings with well-manicured footing; one full-sized Dressage Ring with mirrors (20x60 m) and one Jumping Arena (35x90 m).
There are nine five-acre paddocks and one 30-acre pasture. All paddocks are in a pecan orchard and combine open grassy areas with shade. There are miles of riding trails through a 25-acre section of Southern pine forest.
The farm offers full board, pasture board, and dry stall rates.
Gatewood Farms Sporthorses’ name is fitting with the field of training the farm offers. It offers both training in dressage and hunter/jumper. It also works with basic training of riders and deals with the buying and selling of warmbloods.
LaPorte is the resident dressage trainer who follows the classical training method with all of his horses. He teaches his students with a "hands on" approach by communicating clearly and concisely the best plan for each individual. He establishes strong basics with each horse and never veers from the training scale.
Sherryl Hill is the resident hunter/jumper rider and trainer at Gatewood Farms Sporthorses. Since the age of 18, Hill has been training with the top Olympians such as Peter Grey, Julie Gomena, and Stuart Black. In the 2004 Olympics, Hill achieved some of her goals by competing successfully in three-day eventing at the advanced level with many top riders, placing a spot on the long list.
In 2003-04 Hill worked and trained at a top steeplechase facility, Kinross Farms, and since 2005 Hill has been spending her time training and competing in the hunter and jumper ring while working with the top show jumping trainer Mariano Bedoya.
There is no maximum number of students LaPorte and Hill teach at a time and any one is welcome at their barn.
Vitoria Kay McLeod bought her horse, Mattimeo from LaPorte and has been training with him for the past three years.
“He has helped me become a more confident rider. He challenges you to learn and figure movements of yourself and horse. He enthusiastically shares his knowledge of the sport and wants you to love and learn the sport you are in,” says McLeod of Laporte.
One can learn more about contacting LaPorte and Hill on the Gatewood Farms Sporthorses website http://www.gwfsporthorses.com/index.html.
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