From the moment this guy was born, I knew he was someone special.  Mickey...or Mick, as we call him at the farm, is an '05 gelding out of Mount Christie Ruby, by the legendary Lion King.  Sadly, The Lion King passed on in '08 but he left behind a very cool kid.  My heartfelt sympathies go out to the Bartko's for their loss. 

Mick is the most people oriented horse I've known.  Even as a very young foal, he would choose to follow me around the barn doing chores in the mornings instead of being with his mother.  As long as someone was around, he would stay for hours following us into each stall as we were cleaning or walking up and down the isle looking for something to get in to.  Every hour, or so, he would excuse himself and make his way to the milk bar, only to return when he had a full tummy.  When he was tall enough to reach his head out of the feed door of his stall, he soon found out how much fun it was to make the automatic, overhead door go up and down.  The button was located just below his feed door on the outside of his stall and  I'm sure he thinks that the day he discovered that button was the best day of his life.

Mickey has been started under saddle and is doing very well.  He is a bit lazy but oh so reliable.  He never seems to be nervous of anything new and is always willing to do what you ask of him...in a slow kind of way.  The first time I rode Mick, we went a few steps and he stopped and turned his head so far around to look at me that I could have kissed him on the nose.  By the look on his face I could tell he was saying, "WOW mom, this is cool...who'd a thunk we would be doing this!"  I think that we will go for driving training next and really knock his socks off. 

                         
                                           The Lion King             photo courtesy of Chris Bartko                                     Mount Christie Ruby
                                                    15.2 hh                                                                                                  15.3 hh
                                              dam:  PO Mare                                                                                      lineage unknown