PERPLEXITY | 10 YEAR OLD HALFLINGER MARE | AUSTIN,TX

Lexi, Perplexity, is a Halflinger Mare. She is a Flaxen Chestnut with Pangare and a Blaze. She was bred by the Amish.

Lexi is a funny little mare. I can attest to her adorable and sometimes hilarious personality after photographing her in Austin,TX at the barn she lives at. She is very mouthy, but not in a bad way. She wants to feel and explore everything so she grabs things with her lips. She adores being around people, despite her rocky past life. She was formerly a buggy pony in Amish country and eventually landed up at a rescue. She lived her life as a walk/trot lesson pony until she started resenting it and throwing kids, and eventually Margo purchased her.

Lexi is pretty unique, she loves to drink Arnold Palmers, and even snack on Hot Cheetos and Milkshakes. Margo says “she is truly a once in a lifetime pony,” and Lexi has found her forever home.

Margo and Lexi do dressage, and jump a little bit for fun. ” She is such a pleasure to ride. Lexi is very hot when jumping, but she’s one hundred percent reliable and I trust her completely. She has an amazing mind and I can jump on her bareback in a halter after being turned out for a month and she is the same steady, mellow, bombproof pony.”

Lexi and Margo first met when Margo was riding at a lesson barn where Lexi was kept in 2013. Margo instantly fell in love because of her breed, but soon after when she started riding her in lessons Margo discovered her “pony-tude.” After a rocky start of falling off of Lexi almost every ride, Lexi’s owners too her back to their house because she was not working out as a lesson horse. In true fashion, Margo had already fallen in love and couldn’t stand to be apart so she started riding Lexi at her owners house.

“Her owner offered to let me take her to pony club camp that summer at Pine Hill, but I declined because I thought I was too good to be seen on a pony. Boy, do I regret that. That summer, I free leased Lexi and brought her to a local barn where I started riding with Kim Arnette. Kim did such a fantastic job of teaching green horse and rider together, and I am blown away by how much patience she displayed with us. Every lesson with Kim was a blast. A couple years later (present), I realized what I really wanted was to pursue dressage as a passion. I moved Lexi to a small quiet barn close to my house and started riding with Alannah MacGregor of AM Dressage. Lexi and I still jump for fun and we love to school cross country, but she really has an aptitude for dressage.” The pair also jumps under the instruction of Madison Watts.

When I asked Margo to describe Lexi in one word she said, “Perplexing. It has taken so long to figure her out, and we still frustrate each other sometimes, but she tries so hard to please me and does everything she can to the best of her ability.”

Lexi’s favorite treats are the funnel cakes at Great Southwest. Sounds like a pretty awesome reward to being a good pony at a show!

Lexi and Margo are just starting to compete together, and Margo hopes to get her Bronze medal on her in the next couple years. Margo has been riding for around 4 years, she has ridden at summer camps her entire life. She shares that the difference between riding a lesson horse and owning a horse is HUGE, and is something that she often times takes for granted. It is so different when you can do what you want whenever you want with your horse, and it is truly amazing! She loves being able to go for a trail ride whenever she wants to or just go out to the barn any time of day for a ride.

I always ask for each owner’s biggest tips for grooming their horse or their favorite products and I love Margo’s advice. “Honestly, my biggest tip is ditch the ShowSheen and invest in some Avocado Mist. Show sheen is great for right before a class for artificial shine, but the silicone in it doesn’t moisturize the hair at all. Eqyss Avocado Mist not only makes your horse’s coat soft and shiny, but it’s great for their hair and smells AMAZING!”

“My favorite memory is the first day I rode Lexi when I moved her to our first barn. I took her on the gallop track and she ran us straight into hot wire! Well, I went into the hot wire, Lexi ducked out of the way hahaha. I got right back on and fell off four more times after that. Since then we’ve established steering and brakes, and I’ve learned to stick a bit. Summers at that barn were so much fun!!”

Karinda K Equine Photography is a Austin equine photographer located in Montgomery, TX. Karinda creates timeless portraits of you with your beloved horses, and other farm animals. Serving locally Houston, Dallas, San Antonio, and Austin, Texas communities. KEP also serves Wellington and Ocala, Florida, Lexington and Louisville, Kentucky, Aiken, South Carolina, Tryon, North Carolina, and Norco and Woodside, California and their surrounding communities.