Gills Bay Boy (1977 – July 4, 2012), nicknamed "Scamper", was a ProRodeo Hall of Fame timed-event horse notable for his success in barrel racing.

His owner, Charmayne James, rode Scamper from 1984 to 1993 in the National Finals Rodeo (NFR).

They won the Women's Professional Rodeo Association (WPRA) World Championship consecutively from 1984 through 1993.

He is also the recipient of the 1992 American Quarter Horse Association Silver Spur Award.

Scamper was resold several times via auction before landing in the James family's feedlot in Clayton, New Mexico.

[1] One of the cowboys in the James' feedlot, Ron Holland, patiently retrained the horse so there were no issues with him any longer.

However, Charmayne, had been searching quite some time for a replacement for her last barrel racing horse, Bardo, who had broken his leg, and appealed to her father for help.

When her father was watching, he commented, "He sure wants to scamper around those barrels", providing his nickname.

[2] A couple weeks after James started running Scamper, they took their first win at a small playday.

He knew he had a purpose.”[5] In 1984, James and Scamper won their first WPRA World Championship[2] and their first NFR.

[6] Photographer Kenneth Springer witnessed the moment when Scamper's bridle fell off.

He related that "Charmayne’s focus was on keeping that bit in Scamper’s mouth for as long as she possibly could.

He was so smooth, but he proved his speed to me at times when he would get by the first barrel a stride and have to make up for it and still win the rodeo by two tenths.

The cool thing with Scamper is that some horses are ratey and some are free runners, and he had the perfect combination of both styles.

He also excelled in big arenas and harder type ground, which made him awesome at the rodeos[2]There were other notable horses riding the barrels during Scamper's competition years, such as McRae's Dutch Watch and Deb Mohon's Brown.

According to James, rodeo announcer Bob Tallman approached her and said "'Well darlin’, we all knew this day would come,' meaning an end to our streak of world titles.

A major factor to his success was keeping him conditioned and sound with a lot of physical therapy.

[7] Scamper died on July 4, 2012, at the age of 35 and was laid to rest at James' ranch in Boerne, Texas.

[13] She chose ViaGen, an animal genetics corporation based in Austin, Texas.

[14] Because the AQHA does not accept cloned animals for registry, Clayton and his offspring cannot be registered.

However, breed registration is not required for horses to compete in barrel racing or other rodeo events.