The Bookers: Focus On Foundation And Family
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588 – September/October, 2023
By Brittany Vermeer
A peaceful patch of land in Greensboro, North Carolina, is the setting for Michael Booker Quarter Horses, a small but successful business with a focus on foundation Halter horses.
“My family members were farmers, and my grandfather bought me my first pony,” Michael says. “We didn’t have a horse trailer at the time, and I rode that pony home for 7 miles, while my grandfather walked alongside me. I think I’ve been on a horse ever since.”
In his early teens, Michael’s parents raised a few foals each year, and he started competing at open horse shows. In 1985, he tried his hand at Western Pleasure under the guidance of trainer, Tony Burris. He switched over to Halter horses in 1992 and worked for Buddy Talbert, a program that helped put Wincredible on the leading sire list several times.
Dede started in the show pen when she was four years old. When she lived in Wyoming, she showed Hunter/Jumpers. In 1987, her family moved to North Carolina, and she started competing in Hunter Under Saddle and Western Pleasure. In 1993-94 she was on the North Carolina Youth Team at the AQHA Youth World Show and helped her team win the horse judging competition. Today, she competes in Amateur Halter classes and is the mother of the couple’s five-year-old son, Fletcher.
Don’t Call It a Comeback
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588 – September/October, 2023
