Jerry Davis, a leader in the state Gymkhana association, died
Aug. 6
Gilroy – Gymkhana, a form of horseback riding that takes the riders through a timed obstacle course and traces its roots back to Colonial India, began in Gilroy in 1929. Though it may have perished in Gilroy 40 years ago, the ancient form of horseback riding has flourished statewide recently under the direction of Gerald “Jerry” Davis.
Davis, who helped start the California Gymkhana Association’s first district in the Gilroy/San Jose area in 1972 and was a founding member of the CGA, died Aug. 6.
“He wanted to support his children with a club for gymkhana riders,” said Charlea Moore, CGA secretary. “It’s been amazing to see the club grow and evolve. Today we have 32 districts and some 5,000 members.”
A group of 25 members of the California State Horsemen’s Association held a meeting in 1972 to discuss starting a gymkhana organization, said Hugh King, a founding member with Davis.
“We believed that we needed an organization run by gymkhana people to promote the development of gymkhana,” King wrote in an e-mail. “To elevate it to the status being enjoyed by the English and Western riders.”
Davis served as the Chief Executive Officer for CGA from 1976 to 1999, using his business savvy as the club grew.
Each year, an outstanding match race rider is awarded the Jerry Davis Match Race Award, in honor of his contributions to match racing. Davis came up with an idea for an electronic timing system and had it built to his specifications in Paso Robles at his own expense.
Gymkhana is still going strong in South County. Nearly 300 hundred riders, young and old, gathered at Bolado Park in Hollister for the California Gymkhana Association’s 33rd Annual State Championship Finals from Aug. 7 to 13, starting just one day after Davis died.
Many participants attended services Aug, 11 to remember the founding member of CGA.
But Gymkhana’s history in Gilroy dates back long before Davis and 24 horse enthusiasts decided to launch CGA.
The first Gilroy’s Roundup and Gymkhana Annual Rodeo dates back to 1929, when George C. Milias founded the Gilroy Gymkhana Association.
The gymkhana brought cowboys near and far to the valley. Brahma Bull Riding attracted plenty of spectators.
The event involved an animal bred from Indian Water Buffalo and Texas Longhorns.
Gilroy even boasted the “Gilroy Gymkhana song,” played to the tune of “The Red River Valley:”
“Get your chaps and your saddle and blanket
For you’ll soon be ridin’ along.
When it’s gymkhana time down in Gilroy,
That’s the place where the cowboys belong,” wrote song writer Vivian Moore Barshinger Head in her gymkhana tune.
The arena and grounds for the Gymkhana sat north of what is now the South Valley Middle School athletic field, near the railroad tracks.
Floats and participants in western garb paraded from the Southern Pacific train depot up Monterey to the Gymkhana grounds for the opening of the event each year.
The last gymkhana was held in Gilroy in 1956, but less than 20 years later Davis and his group of horse riders revived the sport and spread it throughout the state.
