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Minikus Is a Maverick Among Jumpers

"I guess you'd have to say I'm the cowboy who rides show jumpers," Minikus said with a Midwestern twang.

Minikus is unusual among show jumpers. He has three Harleys, trained to be a bull rider and played high school football.

When Washington International Horse Show managers were looking for volunteers to compete in Friday night's barrel racing show, they came straight to Minikus. Of course he accepted -- and won. Afterward, he swiped a microphone to trash-talk his main competition, Aaron Vale.

Over-exuberant clapping is unusual in show jumping; smack talk is unheard of.

"I think they all need to open their horizons a little bit," Minikus said. "They need to come [Harley] riding with me to Daytona this weekend. But they're too chicken."

"He hasn't asked me," British riding legend Michael Whitaker said with a chuckle. "If he does, I don't think I will be too keen."

Minikus likes the sport and the horses. It's the people he likes to get away from.

"There are people in this industry that are in the horse business and there are people in the people business," Minikus said. "I like to think of myself of being in the horse business."

Minikus, who was Horseman of the Year in 2001, placed sixth in last night's Open Jumper President's Cup Grand Prix. But his gracefulness in the ring is almost out of character for the rugged, 43-year-old Des Moines native.

Maybe it's because Minikus was on the back of a bucking bull 15 years ago. He still owns several bulls and attends the National Finals Rodeo in Las Vegas every year.

"For sure he has a daredevil side to him," barn manager Amanda Langley said. "But he will get as much enjoyment out of winning with a Grand Prix horse as teaching a baby horse to make its first jump."

Ever since his grandfather bought him his first pony when he was 1, Minikus's passion has been horses. He worked at a stable in exchange for riding lessons and exercised racehorses. He believes horses are the best athletes on the planet and is still amazed at their speed and leaping ability, which reaches over seven feet.

"There's a few people that ride at this horse show that think it's them" doing the work, he said. "They're going to get a good dose of reality one day because it's all about the horse."

Asked to name his friends on the show-jumping circuit, Minikus couldn't come up with an answer. His peers say he's an easygoing, well-liked guy. He's just different.

"Your passion for people sometimes can come back to bite you," Minikus said. "The horse, good horse or bad horse, they're not lying to you. They're not pretending to be something they're not. That's something I try not to do is pretend."