About Us - Biographies
Jake Gorrell
Jake
grew up in Idaho, where his parents were an
active and integral part of the horse industry, raising him to appreciate the
athletic ability, intelligence and value of horses. His mother was a competitive
barrel racer; his father was a world class saddle-bronc rider who rode with the
greatest in the field during the sixties. When his father began to train
horses,
he worked along side of Jim Roeser. A particularly fine horse, owned and trained
by Jake's father, who won the Idaho Snaffle Bit Futurity, turned out to be the
first bridle horse Jake would show at the age of ten. He rode throughout high
school and earned the title of District All Around Champion and Reserve All
Around at the state level. In addition, he won the District Cutting Championship
four consecutive years, and went on to win the State Cutting Championship.
Jake's solid foundation as a rider and showman is reflected in his abilities and
achievements in the Reined Cow horse industry today.
Gorrell Performance Horses is located in Hanford, California, and is operated
and owned by Jake and his wife Sonia, who is an expert trainer and competitor in
the world of competitive Barrel Racers. After training reined cow horses on a
professional basis for a mere five years, Jake has earned in excess of a quarter
of a million dollars, and is currently rated third highest money earner for all
ages, all divisions in the reined cow horse world.
Jake was raised to value education, both traditional and the kind he could
receive in his field of interest. He earned a degree in business administration,
with an emphasis on marketing, from the highly accredited Albertson College in
Idaho, and then moved to California, to work as an assistant trainer to Jon
Roeser, one of the top trainers and competitors in the cow horse industry. After
three years, Jake began to train on his own. His continual success, as evidenced
by his winnings, speaks to his work ethic and dedication to excellence. Jake has
combined his business knowledge with his horse expertise to build Gorrell
Performance Horses. Teamed with wife, Sonia, Jake's business offers clients
unique diversity. They believe in the inherent ability of each horse, and they
have the experience to get the best from the horses they train. As a result,
they are able to take horses to unusual levels of success in differing
disciplines.
Sonia Gorrell
Sonia Gorrell grew up in Northern Nevada on her parents' ranch
in the Great Basin Cow Country of Elko County. Her parents were second
generation ranchers who passed their strong work ethics, knowledge, and interest
in the industry on to their children. Sonia began to compete in Junior Rodeos at
the age of three and
won several All-Around titles at local Junior Rodeos
beginning in 1986. She stared team roping with her father at the age of nine and
roped with her twin sister on the girl's team in High School Rodeo. Sonia's
ability with and interest in animals in general and horses in particular led her
to compete in FFA as well as in High School Rodeo. She worked diligently to win
the National FFA Horse Proficiency Contest and was awarded a partial scholarship
to Colorado State University in Fort Collins, Colorado. During high school, she
helped her father retrain spoiled horses. They would use the horses on their
ranch until they were solid then sell them for a shared profit. This way, Sonia
put herself through school and also used the profits to slowly invest in a small
herd of cattle.
She and her sister eventually decided to go to school in California's warmer
climate. Sonia met Jake Gorrell, her husband of six years while attending school
in Visalia, California. Sonia's passion for barrel racing led to her win two
regional finals and a respectable placing at the College National Final Rodeo.
She then bought her WPRA card, (Women's Professional Rodeo Association), and
went on to compete and place at Cheyenne, Calgary, Ellensburg, Caldwell, Red
Bluff and numerable other top PRCA, (Professional Rodeo Cowboy Association),
rodeos during the past five years. Additionally, she continues to train her own
futurity horses, trains for others, and sells disciplined, well-mannered
barrel horses. She started the two colts she competed on in the recent Barrel
Futurities and PRCA Circuit Rodeos which took her to her third California
Circuit Finals. Sonia practices what she believes in: honesty, determination,
and hard work. Together, she and Jake have built a successful business rooted in
the ethical treatment of the clients they work with and the horses they train.