In June of 2013, a 15-year-old Lillie Keenan, already a decorated rider in the hunter and equitation rings, won her first grand prix in the $125,000 Purina Animal Nutrition Grand Prix (N.Y.) with a relatively unknown horse named Pumped Up Kicks.

Two years later, both Keenan, who would go on to win the Pessoa/USEF Medal and ASPCA Maclay Finals as well as earn individual gold at the North American Junior & Young Rider Championships, and “Kix,” a 12-year-old Brandenburg gelding, have become staples in the grand prix ring and are fan favorites for their nearly flawless jumping style and infectious personalities. On March 5, they were 12^th in the $127,000 Ruby et Violette WEF Challenge Cup Round 9 at the Winter Equestrian Festival (Fla.).

Here’s what you need to know about “Kix”:

• He wasn’t bought to be a grand prix horse.

“We thought he’d jump 1.45-meter to 1.5-meter max and give me some experience in some of the lower FEI classes and go to Young Riders,” Keenan said. “I was just so, so confident jumping any kind of course with him that we figured we’d give it a shot and try to do bigger at home. I schooled him a few times over some really big tracks, and it was just so easy for him. He proved to be much more than any of us expected.”

• His original name was Levistus, but Keenan knew immediately upon purchasing him that the name did not suit him.“His name was Levistus, because his sire is Levisto,” Keenan explained.

“At the time, I had two equitation horses, Clearway and Levistano, and Levistano and Kix had the same sire. Levistano and Levistus were just too similar, and I really loved the song, ‘Pumped Up Kicks.’ I thought the title was so fitting for him, so I named him that, and it’s definitely true to who he is, because he is very pumped up.”

• He could have a career as a professional body builder. His muscular physique is maintained without much effort.

“He’s a horse that’s naturally athletic,” Keenan said. “He stays in unbelievable fitness. It’s unreal. He doesn’t have to do much heavy work during the week. I work him properly and he’s so well broke, so I don’t have to ride him for an hour. I can ride him for a much shorter period of time and still do any exercise that I want and them take him out on the trails, because for him really, it’s just about relaxing and having some down time. That’s one of his treats—to walk out onto the grass field and be able to sit there and eat and not have to worry about anything else. He loves that.”

• Stuffed animals, beware.

“He needs to be entertained all the time, but we have to be a little bit careful. I’ve given him a few stuffed animals, but he destroyed them, like a dog,” Keenan said. “I actually have to go get him another one, because last week we got him a little purple fuzzy animal, and I put it in his stall on Saturday morning, but when I came in Monday morning, the stuffing was everywhere. He won’t eat any of it. He just wants to pull it apart.”

• If you had to describe him in one word, that word, undoubtedly, would be “observant.” He notices the slightest change in surroundings, is the ultimate people horse-watcher, and has to know what everyone is doing at all times. He would win the ultimate game of Eye Spy.

“He’s got a lot of personality,” Keenan said. “He’s very observant, and he knows he’s kind of like the big man on campus. He really feels alpha out of the group. From the outside, he looks very powerful and aggressive, but he really isn’t. He’s really just a sweetheart.”

• His pre-competition routine: finding his Zen.

“I always take him out as the sun’s going down and it’s quiet and I give him some time to himself, let him walk around for a while, keep him moving so he can mentally relax before he shows,” Keenan said. “Then he knows when he goes in the ring it’s time to work.”

• He has mastered the Paso Doble. “Before he goes in the ring, he has almost like a Spanish walk,” Keenan said. “He paws as he’s walking. It’s very unique what he does. Before I showed him for the first time at Spruce Meadows, in front of a big crowd that didn’t know him, he walked into the International Ring for the Queen’s Cup, saw himself on the screen, and he stood in the middle of the ring and started really pawing like a dressage horse.” 

• He’s the ultimate confidence booster. “When I was mainly doing the equitation and before I started jumping bigger on jumpers, I said that I thought there was no way I would ever jump a grand prix. A lot of people didn’t believe me,” Keenan recalled.

“But I thought it was so scary to watch and that they were jumping such huge jumps. He is the one horse that I’ve ridden that has never made me nervous. I’ve never walked into any ring, or looked at any course, and felt that, ‘Maybe it’s a little much for him,’ or been at all nervous that I wasn’t going to be successful. He’s been a huge confidence builder and a real partner. To own a horse like him, to have that huge confidence and feel like I could jump anything in the world, is unbelievable.”