Gregory L. Horton

In today’s world there are not enough horses or men with horse sense ~ but Gregory Horton had both. In childhood, before the horses became his passion, Greg had two names. His friends called him Benny ~ the softer side of his later self. As a teenager, he branded his body with two tattoos, a butterfly on his chest and the Tasmanian Devil on his thigh. Born on the 6th of July, he was a Yankee Doodle Dandy, a northerner with ties to the south of West Virginia, where his great grandparents sold horse blankets to both union and confederate armies. Gregory grew up on the VA Hospital base at Lyons, New Jersey, with his sister Jo Lynn, his mother Garnet, and his father, Lawrence G. Horton, the VA hospital Chief of Staff. Life on the base he described like a storybook, where the grounds provided a unique environment of community gardens, a local canteen, an amphitheater, a golf course and acres to wander in fields and streams. Just outside, was the town of Basking Ridge, where Greg attended church and school. And beyond the town, were the tranquil horse farms, where Greg first came to know horses and horsemanship. When his father retired, Greg followed his family down to Washington, DC, after his high school graduation. He attended American University with a major in Foreign Service. He later became a resident of the capital city where he worked nights managing restaurants and nightclubs ~ most notably, Mr. Henry’s and the Bayou. During daylight hours he began caring for horses, further up the line, in the rural areas of northern Maryland. Perhaps, his happiest years were spent breeding horses, in Sunshine, Maryland and soon after Greg became a dressage instructor at the Days End Horse Rescue Farm. One summer he was hired as a therapy instructor at the Paul Newman Hole in the Wall Camp for sick children. Greg’s back was strong, and his hands were steady ~ no stranger to contractor work, he could lay a tile floor or blast a chimney. His thumbs were green to cultivate a garden of heirloom roses. As a youth he learned to fly a plane before driving a car. He surfed the Jersey shore in winter, played on the football team in autumn, and in spring took leading roles in theater productions. But essentially, and at long last, Greg was a horseman with true grit horse sense ~ to these noble creatures he was loyal and true. His wealth was his trove of fireside tales culled from a life rich in adventure. He travelled places far and near: Afghanistan, Germany, Italy, Panama, Mexico, Arizona & California. He was deeply patriotic and an avid student of American History. Favorite destinations were the battlefields of Gettysburg and Arlington National Cemetery. Greg moved through his life like a rolling stone curiously detached from goods and titles. Except for horses and family, little held sway. All I can say is he left us too soon. My prayer shall ever be that now he rides free, high in the saddle with the wind in his wings, at play in the fields of the Lord. We will be hosting a Celebration of Gregory’s life on Saturday November 13th, 2021 from 12 – 5 PM (stop by anytime ~ but bagpipes at 2 PM) Location: 1142 N 18th St Allentown, PA 18104 Food and Spirits Large outdoor deck onsite for concerns with social distancing

Gregory L. Horton

November 5, 2021