About David R. Gabriel

I grew up in a rural setting and was active in livestock shows and judging. I took part in livestock judging, poultry judging, land judging and forestry judging. After High School I began a career in Law Enforcement. I worked at Athens-Clarke County for 26 years (UGA) before retiring to pursue elected office.

 During this time I helped my father build his first real koi pond. He originally had a small preform with three koi in it. The koi grew to a size to where they could not maneuver in the pond. So after a lot of digging and learning how to build a pond, he gave his koi a new forever home. That was about 25 years ago and that pond is still going strong. When I built my new home, obviously you have to include a koi pond. It was eighteen inches deep and I was very proud of it. That was until Mr. Heron showed up. So a pond rebuild it was , eight feet deep this time. 

In my professional career I ran successfully to be elected Sheriff of Oglethorpe County. More responsibility, more stress, more koi. I had many special memories with my four children around the koi pond. They even gifted me a three ton boulder for a bench we could all sit on and watch our wet pets. After the kids all grew up, graduated and moved out we had an old pool that wasn’t used anymore. So obviously we made it a koi pond. 

I always enjoyed judging against a standard and working with animals so I decided to pursue being a koi judge. I was attracted to the challenge of learning the finer points of my favorite pets while also appreciating the great variety and unique forms koi can come in. The koi community is a great group to spend time with. They are always cordial and wanting to learn better husbandry, filtration and feeding regimes. These are my people.