Life is a Journey —
Enjoy the Ride

What is an ideal trainer? One that will develop a relationship with the horse in such a way that earns the horse's trust.....not his fear. At Journeys End Training Center, horses receive top quality training and care provided by an exceptional trainer that truly cares about horses. From halter and ground training to trailer loading, from your initial ride to the miles that follow, from the racetrack to the jumping arena, we can help. Patience is our virtue. If it can be done a 'horseback', we can help your horse (and you) achieve your personal best....every horse deserves proper training.

Tom Gavin is an Oklahoma cowboy who has over 35 years of professional training behind him and still "learning" new things every day. He has a passion and commitment to excellence with horses and horsemanship. Horse sense is stable thinking and hard work. His approach to training is always being conscientious, and having a keen awareness of the horse and the way the horse sees his surroundings. His number one concern is that the exercise rider or jockey on the horse's back be as safe as they can possibly be. He consistently works toward a relaxed horse which has confidence and trust in his rider through mutual respect.

Tom began professionally breaking and training horses on his family farm "Good Times Ranch" at the age of 13. He comes from a family of horse training, racing, and breeding. His experiences include racehorse training, racetrack starter, stud management, breeding programs, ground breaking (from start to finish), and just plain "horse sense." Tom's most used words are "easy", "listen," "stay with me" "I don't want your butt I want your head," and at very few times "Hello mother earth." Tom does not train the "old cowboy way." He trains to earn respect, He takes training slow and believes in starting young horses with a solid foundation.

References provided upon request.

Training Fees: $35 daily rate. First month is required up-front. Contracts are required.

Our rates are extremely competitive with most. We are conveniently located off I-40 in North Carolina and able to have your thoroughbreds in shape, listening, and ready for your track trainer. We have exercise riders available, a 5/8 training track with Equibase-published workouts available, covered round pen and eurosizer, and are qualified for lay-ups and rehabilitation care. We make it a point to keep in contact with the owner and request talking with the track trainer to let them know how the horse was trained and what to expect.

Happiness keeps You Sweet, Trials keep You Strong,
Sorrows keep You Human, Failures keep You Humble,
Success keeps You Glowing, But Only God keeps You Going
'Worry looks around, sorry looks back, Faith looks up.'

Living on a Prayer, LLC


\Tom Gavin, Trainer

— Tom Gavin —

" Training horses .... keeping yourself open to learning from each one because they are all unique individual equines. Treating them the same way you would like to be treated. Trust, friendship, determination and a large willingness to please are the results because they want to...not because they have to. It is always an amazement when all you have to do is ASK, and it is given. The result is a companion for life and there is nothing better than that. Could you ask for more? I don't."

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— Pamela Gavin —

"Journeys End does not mean the end of a journey. When you begin a journey, a new path begins. My attempts toward achieving this goal led me to the point of view that you should never just put in time living but rather you should live life to the fullest. You should love deeply and explore everything. You should be accepting and open minded to all. You should never stop learning or growing. You should participate whole-heartedly in making our world a better place. You should be playful and energetic and never just live a life of status quo. I believe that life must always be a journey. The minute it is not you are not living."