SMOKEY JO | 27 YEAR OLD GELDING | CORPUS CHRISTI,TX

Smokey Jo is the resident old man at CEC Elite Training. He is so incredibly lucky to get to live out his life roaming freely around the barn and wherever he chooses to go on any given day.

Chloe shares a little more about a day in the life of Smokey, “Smokey roams free around the property. He really does whatever he wants and is constantly in the way. He goes from stall to stall cleaning up after everyone and licking their salt licks. He has bad arthritis in his front knees and looks like he shouldn’t be able to walk, but when he wants to go somewhere he moves fast. Then if you try to move him he pretends he can’t move. He is a real character who gets into everything, but when you have been around as long as him we are fine with that. He is also blind in one eye, but that doesn’t slow him down. When he wants something he will bug you until he gets it. Once he wanted my popcorn and I threw away the bag. He preceded to flip over the trash can and roll it around until the the lid came off and he found the bag. He is a persistent old man.”

Back in his day Smokey taught lessons to beginners. We call him the energizer bunny because he just keeps going. There are so many things working against him but he doesn’t let them bring him down. He is a really cool old man with tons of personality.Chloe loves having him in the middle of everything around the barn, because let’s just be honest, without him it wouldn’t be the same.

People always email me saying “I don’t think my horse is pretty enough…fancy enough…they aren’t a show horse…” the list goes on and on. Well Smokey Jo is here to prove to you that you don’t have to be a fancy show horse to still have a great session. I don’t think I will ever forget when the ladies at CEC Elite Training first saw Smokey Jo’s pictures, they couldn’t believe it was him. Even the old guys deserve their moment in the spot light. I am guilty myself even as a photographer of not having pictures of my old guy who is 26. I just recently convinced a photographer friend to come take pictures of us together so that I would have amazing images of us together. My PSA of today is no matter how old, fuzzy, crooked legged, or scarred up your old horse may be, don’t forget to get pictures taken of them.

It was so great getting to capture Smokey Jo’s kindred spirit and finding creative ways to photograph him to show off his best features, from that beautiful dished face of his, to his signature smokey eye.

Smokey has the life of royalty, he pretty much gets to go wherever he pleases, most of the time he ends up standing in the barn begging to be scratched any time someone is in the barn. He is the ultimate grandfather of the barn.

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.