Meet, Helmig-K, “Hemi”, who is a 9-year-old Dutch Warmblood. His Sire was Cardento and his dam was Royal-Rosa. Hemi is a bay gelding with a white stripe on his face and a white snip on his nose. He also has white markings on his fetlock. Hemi is owned and loved by Isa Lippman and lives at Madrone Ranch Stables in Austin, TX. The pair trains with Rachel Lindsey.
Isa’s trainer, Rachel, found Hemi when she was thinking about selling her old jumper. A good friend of Isa’s was the trainer who had Hemi and was looking for a short rider since he’s not a huge horse and her trainer thought that Isa would be the perfect fit.
Isa ended up trying him in Katy and fell in love immediately! Hemi gave her such incredible confidence that she hadn’t felt before. She jumped the highest she ever had and felt like she could accomplish anything with him. About a week or two later, her parents surprised her for her birthday with Hemi as the best birthday gift yet!
Isa shares her favorite memory with Hemi was showing him at WEC Ocala after only having him for 2 months. “I was finally starting to figure him out and I felt the exact moment in the show ring where I felt like it all came together. We were on the same page and had one of the smoothest rounds to place second in a large class. It’s one of those rounds I watch on repeat on video all the time to remind myself what it felt like since it was such a confidence-building moment.”
“He has a huge personality. His favorite thing to do is smile by opening his lips as wide as they can go and usually does it when he sees you have a treat. I have countless pictures of him smiling. He also likes to use his tail as a propeller when you ask him to go forward and is very active with flipping it over jumps.”
Hemi will eat practically anything but he especially loves fruit-flavored treats Isa got him from the Katy show.
“I got into horses through a family friend when I was around age 8 or 9 and have been riding ever since. I didn’t get my first horse until about 4 or 5 years ago and now I have two of my own junior jumpers. I love owning horses because I feel that it teaches you a lot of lessons which help you build such deep connections with these huge animals, it’s incredible.” Isa shared that she especially loves spending time with them and keeping them healthy as well as training herself to be a better rider for them. “It’s amazing to bond with your horse and be able to trust them over these huge obstacles.”
