Jim Gath

It’s funny how life’s trails can lead a person into strange and wonderful diversions before eventually leading him or her back home.

Jim Gath comes from a family of horsemen – his grandfather was a trick rider, trainer and horse trader, one of his uncles was a jockey and another was an owner of rather questionably talented racehorses. As a kid, horses were an important part of his life, but he began his adult life taking a different trail.

There was a time when the first thing Jim Gath did when he got to work every day 6:30 a.m. was look at the prior day’s revenue figures.

Now, the first thing he does every morning is walk around Tierra Madre Horse Sanctuary and makes sure that the 31 horses living there have spent a comfortable, quiet night. He tosses a little hay to a few of them – his day beginning at 3 a.m., 365 days a year.

Tierra Madre Horse Sanctuary in Cave Creek is a sanctuary rescue ranch – a “Forever Home” to 31 previously unwanted, neglected, injured or abused horses. Ex-racehorses, ex-show horses, ex-rodeo horses, ex-ranch horses, ex-trail horses – horses of all sizes and breeds have found their way to Tierra Madre.

The one thing they all have in common is that they had nowhere else to go and are now living out their lives in a happy, healthy, loving home.

Jim Gath was one of the founders of USA TODAY and eventually rose through the ranks to become the head of its advertising sales department. He moved on to Turner Broadcasting, where he worked with CNN, TBS, TNT and The Cartoon Network, before developing the marketing platform for the 1998 Goodwill Games.

He was the publisher of College Sports Magazine. He produced the first-ever Insight.com Bowl, a post-season college football game. He produced Phoenix 2000, a huge turn-of-the-century extravaganza in downtown Phoenix that drew tens of thousands of revelers. He became a concert promoter in Las Vegas producing, among other things, the first-ever major open air concert in the Las Vegas suburb of Summerlin, the country’s largest master-planned community.

Jim finally decided none of those achievements – or the pursuit of them – was making him happy or satisfied. Upon reflection, he realized the best times in his life were spent around and among horses. So he took another, more fulfilling trail.

He worked at a Summer horse camp for kids. Gave riding lessons at the Los Angeles Equestrian Center. Guided trail rides through LA’s Griffith Park. Got a few of his own horses. Moved to Phoenix. Found a ranch he and his family would take over. Trained horses. Trained riders. Boarded horses. Rescued horses. Cared for horses.

And here he is. At Rancho Tierra Madre, home of Tierra Madre Horse Sanctuary, with thirty-one rescued horses. And his dog, Levon.

He has never, ever met a horse he didn’t like. “You just have to listen to them”, he says. “They’ll tell you everything you need to know.”

Jim Gath donates all of the proceeds of his books to support Tierra Madre Horse Sanctuary. Tierra Madre is a non-profit organization – it has a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS – and must depend on donations and contributions to raise funds.

TIERRA MADRE HORSE SANCTUARY is simply a very nice, very loving home for horses who, through no fault of their own, have no better place to go. Good food, good care, a lot of room, a lot of love and understanding and a lot of treats – a place where horses can enjoy being horses. No pressure to perform just to assuage fragile human egos.

To find out more about this great organization and to donate go to:

www.tierramadrehorsesanctuary.org