Ella Grace Gantt rides Shiloh at Crooked Creek. Only a few miles west of downtown Columbia tucked away off Mineral Springs Road in West Columbia is Crooked Creek. Horse owners can board their steeds, and a lucky few can take riding lessons at this retreat away from the hustle and bustle of city life. And until recently, Crooked Creek was the home of a pretty Palomino named Shiloh who spent his days, along with his buddy Catawba, a sorrel quarter horse, teaching youngsters to ride.

Shiloh fell ill last month and when the vet came out to look at the 30–plus–year–old horse, he determined that Shiloh wasn’t going to recover. Saying good–bye to the horse that had been at the stables since he was eight years old wasn’t easy for anyone, especially owner Walter Porter and manager/ riding instructor Vikki Hill.

“It’s never easy to lose a friend,” Hill said shortly after Shiloh’s passing. “But Shiloh was so sweet, and he loved to teach new riders. It won’t just be us missing him. Catawba will miss him too and so will his students.”

Ella Grace Gantt rides Shiloh while instructor Vikki Hill walks beside them. One of those students was nine–year–old Ella Grace Gantt who had been riding Shiloh since early spring and learning to post, trot, and canter. Gantt has her own pony she boards at the stables but Hill, who is also the girl’s teacher, said she loved riding the big Palomino.

“I think it was partly his size that made her feel like a great rider,” Hill said with a wistful smile. “But Shiloh was an old pro at teaching. He loved it, and all of his riders knew it and loved him for it.”

Telling the young student about the death of her teaching horse was no easy feat, Hill said.

“She was on a vacation with her family when Shiloh died and there was no way I could call and tell her over the phone,” Hill said. “I spoke to her mother, and we decided not to tell her until after the vacation.”

Ella Grace’s mother, Danielle Gantt said she told her daughter when they got home.

“Ella Grace is a stoic child,” the mother said. “When Vikki called me I broke down, but Ella Grace just looked sad and said she was going to miss him. I think it hit her when she went back to the stables for her riding lesson.”

Hill decided that the best way to move forward with the girl was to start her riding her own pony, Lucy. She said that it was a tense moment when Ella Grace arrived the first time after Shiloh’s death.

“She just sort of looked around like maybe she expected him to come trotting up to her,” Hill said. “I think both her mother and I got a lump in our throats then.”

Ella Grace said she was going to miss the big Palomino but she was grateful for what he taught her.

“He was so patient,” the bright eyed little beauty said. “He would let me do just about anything with him. He was so big, and he didn’t have to do what I said at all but he always did. He was my friend.”

Both Shiloh and Catawba were purchased specifically for teaching, and it’s worked out well for all concerned according to Hill.

“We used to have a program for special needs children as well as young school groups, and both horses were great with kids,” she said. “To see the smiles on their faces as they rode around the corrals was a wonderful thing.”

Crooked Creek came to be when current owner Walter Porter’s mother, Mildred, inherited the land and decided to buy horses. Porter said he still considers his mother the co–owner even though she put him in charge.

“This was my mom’s dream, and she will always be the one really in charge,” he said with a laugh. He remembers the first horse his mother bought.

“She found this horse she liked on a Friday, and it cost her about $100,” Porter said. “She paid for him, named him Friday, and Crooked Creek was born.”

“It started with pony rides,” Porter said. “When she got enough ponies she would just put up a sign and people would stop and let their kids have a ride.”

Mildred Porter was a school teacher so when she decided to build a stable on her land, she naturally began giving lessons. At one point she had a mare that would jump over any fence of any pasture or corral they put her in.

“When mom couldn’t break her from jumping, she decided to teach her to do it right,” Porter laughed. “We both began lessons in English style riding and then we began giving lessons ourselves.”

The matriarch of Crooked Creek still lives on the land, but her son said she’s reached an age where she’s just watching and not riding the horses.

“She rode into her 80s,” he said. “Who knows? She might decide to give it another try sometime.”

These days the stables are used mostly for boarding with Hill only giving lessons to a very few students. She said it was a matter of time that made the decision to cut back.

“We enjoyed the teaching but both Catawba and Shiloh were in their 30s which is getting up there for a horse,” she said. “A few students are fine, but I think both of them deserved a little retirement time.”

Ella Grace’s mother Danielle said that after she had been to the stables, the child had a poignant question for her about God.

“She just looked at me and asked me if I thought Shiloh and all animals went to heaven when they died,” Gantt said. “Without hesitation I told her yes, that God created all creatures, and He called them all home in His time.”

Ella Grace smiled then and seemed satisfied, the mother said.

“Well that’s okay then,” the child said, relieved. “Because if God didn’t want the animals, I don’t think heaven would be any good at all.”