About Us
Gates Practical Horsemanship is owned and operated by Bert and Angela Gates and is located in Grovetown Georgia. Grovetown is just minutes away from Augusta, Evans, and only a short drive from Aiken South Carolina.
Angela Gates has always had a passion for horses and began riding at the age of 10 when she began taking lessons at a local barn. She has shown horses in both English and Western disciplines and loves to teach others as much as she can about them. Bert began riding at the age of 6 with a great friend and neighbor, Miss Geneva. She taught Bert a lot about horses and fueled his love for them at every opportunity. Bert and Angie were married on November 5th. 2005 and along with their 5 children, Andrew, Greg, Heather, Brooke, and Tyler, have made the Blue Line Ranch their home.
The ranch started in 2003 when a lovely Appaloosa mare caught Bert’s eye. Hard to handle and very standoffish, there was just something about her that Bert could not resist. Known at that time as Pretty Girl, Bert bought her and brought her home. Changing her name to Duchess, she has proven herself time and again to be the equine partner Bert had been looking for. Next came a playful little colt, Sol Anson’s Peppy. Better known around the ranch as Pepper, the stocky bay roan colt is a true people horse. He loves his humans. We loved Pepper so much, that we went back to our good friends, Cathy and Fred Heistand from Trenton SC. and bought Pepper’s mom, a beautiful blue roan mare named Bonnie. Along with Bonnie, another foundation bred quarter horse mare came home with us. River of Tears, a grullo mare now calls the ranch home. Duchess and Bonnie accompanied Bert while he attended the John/Josh Lyons certification program in 2008.
Bert graduated
in November 2008 from the John and John Lyons Certification Program and began training
full time in December 2008!
b.gates@bluelineranch.com