ZAINE | 11 YEAR OLD DUTCH WARMBLOOD GELDING | ROLLO, MO

Zaine is a Dutch Warmblood Gelding. He was bred by Betsy McQuery and he is out of the stallion Domino.

Zaine is owned by Andrea Stephens. I photographed him while he was having a small stay at Katalyst Sporthorses,where Andrea trains with Karissa Cassidy, after his owner Andrea sustained an injury and was unable to ride for a couple of months. Zaine typically lives at Whispering Creek Farm in Rolla,MO. Zaine is a GIANT, he towers above all of the other horses at Katalyst Sporthorses. Zaine is super sweet and snuggly. He loves attention and enjoyed any treats he can get. He is a big lovable, goofy, gelding that tries to make you happy anytime you are with him, which is a plus given his large size, he stands at almost 18hh. If he wasn’t so sweet it would be a lot to handle.

Zaine is a jumper and a super horse. He tries to help his human every chance he gets. Andrea shares that even if she misses a distance or comes in under confident to a fence he will typically just say, “hang on Mom, I got you!” Even if things don’t go quite right, eh is very forgiving and always ready to try again. He may occasionally celebrate his job well done with an exuberant buck, after jumping over a fence.

Andrea’s trainer at the time found Zaine and called her and said, “I have found your dream horse, you have to buy him!” Andrea has owned Zaine for almost 4 years. The first time she met him she was visiting her trainer and she had Zaine in for consignment. He was huge, black and white, and gorgeous…which is her favorite kind of horse. Andrea has always had a thing for paints and Zaine is perfect.

This hungry horse loves oatmeal icing cookies.

Zaine had a bit of a rough start, because of his large size his former trainer was a little rough with him, so he worried all of the time. Zaine’s biggest accomplishment has been learning to trust people again, he knows that he will be taken care of and that life is ok even if someone makes a mistake.

Andrea has been riding since she was a kid and she just can’t get enough. Her husband is in the military so their lives change a lot, the one constant in her life has always been Zaine. He brings her happiness wherever they go, and without him she would be lost.

“Its hard to narrow down a favorite memory of Zaine. He is a funny guy and has done a lot of things that are memorable. One of my favorites though is when I was very first trying him, I think it was my second ride, we where jumping around and we landed from a fence and he bucked! It was this massive, heels in the air moment for him and I went flying! I hit the dirt and realized that this horse was one of the most athletic animals I had ever had the privilege to ride. If I could learn to ride him we would be able to accomplish a lot. After my lesson I drove the 6 hours home, sore but so sure that Zaine was the horse I needed in my life.”

Andrea shares that patience and commitment are the two most important parts of training, if you are in a rush, nothing good will happen and you have to be committed. Being inconsistent with training is unfair to the horse and will not get you any kind of results.