Hanover Shoe Farms has been a world class breeding establishment for nearly three-quarters of a century, producing countless winners of some of the most prestigious events in harness racing. Hanover horses have stood in the Winner’s Circle at the Breeders Crown, Hambletonian, Kentucky Futurity, and Little Brown Jug, and continue to make history month after month, year after year.
Along with the tremendous horses that stand at Hanover, and the offspring produced, is a solid, knowledgeable and talented staff. One of their most valuable members is Gunjan Patel, Syndicate Administrator and Social Media Coordinator.
An internship at Hanover while she was at Penn State led her to the famed breeder. “Hanover only picked one from those interviewed (for the internship), and luckily it was me!” Gunjan laughed. “I did a spring internship for twelve credits, from January to June. It was a great program!” After graduation, she worked at Winbak Farms for three years, but her career path led her back to Hanover, where she joined them full-time in 2007.
As a child in India, she always had animals, and she developed that passion to work with them at early age. “I grew up with animals. My uncle had a horse that we would go ride once in a while, but that was my only background with horses that I had. When I started taking all my classes, and in my junior year, I started taking equine classes, and I found I just enjoyed those classes more than anything. So I figured, let’s try to see where that takes me. That’s how I started with horses!”
When she got to Hanover, she jumped right in and started with multiple responsibilities. “I mainly did stallion syndication and reports, data entry, billing and staking for the farm. In the fall, when it was really slow, I got so bored, I grabbed a camera and started taking pictures and Jim Simpson, at the time, said ‘you have a talent with photography’. So he got me a nice camera and that got me started taking pictures of all the foals, or I try to take pictures of all the foals, but definitely I take pictures of every yearling we sell. I do enjoy that part of my job,” she said.
She manages the Social Media for the farm, as well, taking on that task several years ago. “We started with Facebook, then added Twitter. On Instagram, we feature photos and videos. Our website also has an extensive photo gallery. That’s a big part of the job that I don’t think people understand, to come up with content. This year I hope to promote the employees as well as the horses, giving everyone a chance to see the people that work so hard behind the scenes.”
With regard to posting, Gunjan follows a particular guideline. “I like to keep it simple. I like one post a day, that’s usually my formula, and the majority of time I stick to that. I know when I go on social media, if there’s a person or business that posts all the time, I don’t like that. So I stick to my own formula.”
She has seen and worked with many horses over the years, and there are her particular favorites. “I loved Donato Hanover. He won the Hambletonian the year I started working at the farm, and he was the first stallion that was syndicated when I started here. So, for me, the sort-of hands-on stallion syndication part came with him.”
“And he was so goofy,” she laughed. “I really really liked him. I was pretty sad the day he left.”
There are a few others she cites as her favorites. “I like Greenshoe. He’s got a great personality. Captaintreacherous is very nice. And Somebeachsomewhere was great, but it was so sad he left us early.”
When she’s not running around photographing yearlings, preparing for or working a sale, or knee-deep in stallion syndication, she finds the time to travel to a racetrack, especially to watch her horses race. “I’ve been following my horses and going to different tracks. I have two horses that I bought at Harrisburg last year – Holt Hanover, that’s a Huntsville, and Abraham Hanover, a Greenshoe. I’ve gone to see Abraham at the Meadows, and Holt Hanover at Goshen Historic Track this year. I go to the Hambletonian every year, since 2003, and the only year I missed was when Ramona Hill won because that was the Covid year. And I plan on going to the Breeders Crown at the Meadowlands.”
With the Harrisburg Sale coming up the week of November 4, she’s busy with multiple duties. “Right now, I’m in the fairgrounds taking pictures of all the yearlings, and those go on the website. We use that for social media a lot. I also help out with the hospitality part. We are having buyers coming in soon to inspect our yearlings, so I help out with that.”
She sums up her career and job duties with the farm, posting on social media, and the yearly Harrisburg sale enthusiastically. “It’s busy! But it’s exciting!” she said emphatically.
