Dallas Equine Photographer | Houdini the Spanish Mustang

Houdini is a Spanish Mustang. He came from a herd of Spanish Mustangs in Oklahoma.

Houdini is a Bay Roan with two hind socks and a star that trains with Diane Hanrahan from South Star Training that is based out of Double Diamond Equestrian Center. This horse has lots of personality, is very friendly and loves everyone. He is a bit possessive of his Mare and that is the only time he shows aggression with other horses. He’s always the one Erin introduces to children though, because he is so sweet.

His owner, Erin, says, “Houdini came from a managed herd of Spanish Mustangs in Oklahoma. When we got him, I got some information about his breeding. His sire is registered with the Spanish Mustang Registry, but I’m not sure about his dam. One of the papers that I received has a pretty full pedigree going back 4-5 generations, and I’ve been able to track down pictures and information about most of the horses through different breed association websites, almost all of them except his sire and dam, who I don’t know very much about! He was purchased by a vet named Dr. Sherman Mathey who broke him at his ranch and then sent him to my trainer, which is how I met him.”

She continues, “I met Houdini through my trainer, Diane, a little over 15 years ago. The first time I got to ride him in a lesson, I was blown away because I thought he was just the most beautiful thing that I had ever seen. I only rode him a few times before my parents told me that they’d decided to let me lease him. I was so excited that I could hardly contain myself. We took him for a pre-purchase exam, though I guess at 10 years old I didn’t realize that the exam wouldn’t necessarily take place if we were just going to lease him. We went out of town and when we got back I wanted to go see him and while we were there my parents informed me that I wasn’t going to get to lease him, they’d decided to buy him instead!”

“One of my favorite Houdini stories takes place the next day, my first day at the barn with my new pony. Diane told me to take him to the round pen to free-lunge him before I rode. I got into the pen and took off his lead, of course he realized before I did that the gate wasn’t quite latched and off he went. It pretty much set the stage for our whole relationship, he is always one step ahead of me.”

 Her best secret of horse care Mane and Tail Detangler, not the kind that comes in the spray, but the one that comes in a squeeze bottle. Houdini has a beautiful silver mane and tail but his tail is not very full. This detangler makes it SO shiny and look way more full.

Due to a tendon injury Houdini is semi-retired. Erin explains, “He had a tendon injury several years ago that put a big hold on our eventing career, but since then we’ve done a few events and some local dressage and hunter/jumper shows. I evented him from the time I was 10 until I was almost 20 and he took me from Beginner Novice to Training level. My trainer, Diane, had taken him on a few cross country schoolings before I ended up in the tack, but almost everything we experienced on course was a first for both of us. We overcame his fear (or stubbornness?) regarding water and learned how to tackle everything from ditches to banks to corners to big galloping tables together. He is so quick on course, I always felt like he was one step ahead of me. He can pretty much get himself to any distance, I could collect to add a stride in combinations or push him to lengthen for the horse distance depending on how he was feeling that day. He is such a careful jumper, it’s like the worst thing he can imagine is to pull a rail in show jumping. We’ve really never stopped struggling in dressage, despite what a fancy mover he is, he’s never really grasped the concept of submission to the aids. His gaits are very expressive and he’s always had very easy, expressive flying changes. I have no idea who taught him those, it wasn’t my trainer before I got him and I don’t think it was on the cattle ranch either! My favorite thing about Houdini is how in sync we are, we’ve been together for 15 years and it just feels like we always each know what the other is thinking.”

Erin explains Houdini as “quick” since everything he does is quick, he learns quick, thinks quick, acts quick etc.

He also is the least picky horse. He loves everything from apples to peppermints to Mrs. Pasture’s Cookies!

Houdini and Erin have evented in Area V through training level. They won the Training Rider division at Texas Rose Horse Park in 2010 and placed in the top 5 for the season several times in both Area V and CTEA (Central Texas Eventing Association).

Erin got a gift certificate for a riding lesson for Christmas when she was 8, and her horse love began! Im sure her parents didn’t quite expect a few horse riding lessons to turn into such a big ordeal. I too can relate to this, I remember when I started riding my parents said “You can get your feet wet..” and then not too long after that they had bought our first horse. Erin took lessons for about 2 years before she got Houdini, then when she started to get a little older, her family thought she would outgrow him and would need a bigger horse. Erin didn’t end up outgrowing him but she did get the bigger horse which is how she ended up with Maria. Fortunately, Erin never got much taller so she can still ride Houdini and look pretty proportionate!

Karinda K Equine Photography is a Dallas 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.