Texas Equine Photographer | Mikey the APHA Gelding
Mikey, AKA Dakotas Painted Jet, is a 15 year old APHA gelding whose breeding consist of a mixture of quarter and paint horses. Mikey resides at Austin Equestrian Center in Cedar Park, TX.
Mikey is an APHA with a white blaze and three white socks, he is owned by Emily Zeringer, and the pair train with Catherine Campbell at Austin Equestrian Center.
Emily came to own Mikey when she “actually leased Mikey for six months before I purchased him almost 7 years ago. I was taking lessons from Catherine on a property outside of Austin and the property owner had purchased Mikey from a friend to train and then sell. Catherine put some training/rehab into him. You could tell he had been a working horse at one point, but had been to auction 6-7 times and was quite a handful. When he was ready, she had me ride him for a lesson I kinda fell in love with him right then and there. It was winter and he had a nice fluffy coat plus a little extra weight and looked just too cute for words. He was wearing this horrendous blue plastic bridle (not mine) and was super sassy and grumpy. That combined with the fact that he had a chip on his shoulder and was short like me; I knew I had to find some way to make him my horse.”
Since then the pair have ridden Mikey western pleasure, English (pleasure and jumping), and reining, but currently they ride Western Dressage. Due to an injury several years ago, Mikey has developed stringhalt and the western dressage discipline has been very accepting of that. Emily’s favorite thing about riding Mikey is really just that she is able to ride him at all, which wasn’t a certainty after the injury. Emily says that “Mikey is fun to ride…just the right mix of stubborn, chill, and energetic.”
Emily notes that “Mikey is such a character; he is extremely smart and uses that to his advantage when it comes to food and to get out or work. He is very friendly to people and horses and always eager to meet new people, especially if he thinks they have a treat for him. The only exception is ponies. Mini horses are fine, but he does not get along with ponies despite being their size.
When it comes to other horses, I like to call him my little herd boss. He is tough and ready to defend his food or ground, but at the same time, he is always on alert and ready to act if he feels another horse is in distress. Something else I love about him is that he can be a bit of a grump…we jokingly call it his “snarly nose” face because he curls up one of his nostrils when irritated.”
Mikey is described as “Strong” and loves watermelon!
Mikey’s greatest accomplishment thus far is not the numerous awards he has received, it is his return from his potential career ending injury.
Emily has been riding for close to twelve years. She says “I have always loved horses, but wasn’t able to ride much until I got out on my own (and could pay for my own lessons). I started very simply with group western pleasure classes once a week and slowly but surely progressed to private lessons, then leasing and then owning my own horse and progressing into training. At one point I was riding 4 times a week! That has backed off now due to job commitments but horses and riding are still very much a passion of mine. My favorite thing about owning a horse is the bond I have with him. It was hard earned but so so worth it.”
When it comes to riding/training Emily shares “I don’t really have any tricks, but I do use a piece of advice I found in a training book I read ages ago. It recommended to make yourself appear the better and bigger horse when working with them. If I appear that I can handle anything that might be scary, then the horse I’m working with is more apt to trust me. Most horses I’ve worked with have been pretty laid back so it hasn’t been an issue, but I still keep that piece of advice in my mind.
Also, having treats in your pocket always helps too.”
A favorite memory Emily shares is “One of the best, though, was a jumping lesson I had on Mikey after coming back from a broken collarbone (caused by a fall off another horse). I’d only been riding again for a few weeks and still was trying to shake out my jitters. I’d just gotten a new jumping saddle and we were trying out some very small jumps (like 18in) in different patterns. Mikey loves to jump but it’s never been my favorite. Anyway, I was a little wobbly going through but we made the line several times no problem. However, the 3rd time we took it I over corrected my balance at the last jump. We made it just fine, but I fell forward and ended up slowly rolling off of Mikey and landing on my behind. While I’m frantically checking to make sure I didn’t re-injure anything, Mikey just stands there quietly. The best part of the story, though, is his expression when I finally look at him. Instead of sympathy or an “I’m sorry, are you ok?” face, he has the most irritated expression. Almost as if he is saying: “What are you doing?! I made the jump perfectly, could you not just hang on a few more seconds?”. I got back on and we did the jump line again without issue, but I’ll never forget that expression or how it truly encapsulates his personality.”
Karinda K Equine Photography is a Texas 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.
