Features

Into The Sport

 

Out of the blue is a good way to describe Mikayla Zayas’ quick rise through the ranks of mounted shooting. She’s just 14 years old and she’s already a Ladies Level 5.

 

It also says something about her love of horses. She didn’t grow up with them. Her parents don’t ride, and never have. But through strange circumstances, Mikayla’s focus is firmly on horses.

 

If nothing else, the Florida Cowgirl is definitely surprising. You might say, out of the blue.

 

Meet Mikayla

I have to admit that I was a bit surprised—and more than a little impressed—when I first met the young lady. We spoke on the phone for awhile in March, preparing a story on the Junior Class, and she came across as well spoken and mature. Thoughtful. Yet still a kid.

 

When we first met face-to-face at the Behlen Classic in Guthrie, Oklahoma, those impressions were confirmed. The curly blond hair and baby face, the lean and gangly bearing, the braces on her teeth remind you that she’s a teenager (just 13 at the time). But she does act much older than that; her words are more advanced than you might expect. She’s got a good perspective on things—“I’d like to become a vet, but certainly that could change by the time I get to college.” And it’s no surprise when she mentions that she’s a straight A student, and always has been.

 

Mikayla is smart. And hard working.  And not intimidated by competing against folks who are two or three or four times her age. She charges through patterns with a certain sense of abandon; she’s still learning the game, especially how to manage a course.

 

She’s an L5 and moving up fast.  But how she got there is, well, a bit different.

 

Surprise!

The surprises started early—just ask her folks. Felix and Lori Zayas were expecting (or hoping for) a boy, and had already picked out the name Michael. So when the baby turned out to be a girl, they called her Mikayla (“My mom still calls me Mikey.”).

 

The kid was into little girl things—like cheerleading, which she started at age 6.  But things changed a couple of years later.  Her mom was a hairdresser, and a client’s father-in-law had some horses and asked if Mikayla might like to ride.

 

She did. And she was instantly hooked: “I don’t know where exactly I got the whole horse thing. Nobody in my family was into horses. I just made this odd decision to go into horses. My parents had no idea why I was into horses. But everyone said I was a natural rider. So they just kind of accepted it and had faith in me.”

 

It was a faith that proved out.

 

When Mikayla hit 9, she tried barrel racing. It didn’t impress. “It was really boring,” she remembers. “It was the same pattern, over and over and over again.”

 

Mikayla and Mounted Shooting

But two years later, she found a sport that offered the challenge she was looking for—Cowboy Mounted Shooting. “We went to Majestic Ranch when I was 11 and we saw them compete in a miniature jackpot,” she says. “And we went to one of their practices a week after that. And they supplied the horses and guns and gunbelts and everything.” Mikayla supplied the grit and desire.

 

Not long after, she entered her first match near her home in Ocala, Florida. “I came in second; there were only two Wranglers.” But that didn’t deter her.

 

By this time, Mikayla had given up cheerleading (“I used to be able to do a back handspring and all that other cool stuff—but I can’t anymore.”). Her parents bought a horse and the necessary mounted shooting equipment. She worked her way through Wranglers for about a year before moving up.

 

Her first Junior match was in North Carolina. Riding a brand new horse named Belle, Mikayla won her class. More wins came at the 2008 Easterns and Worlds. And then it was time to move up to the adult ranks.

 

After the 2008 Worlds, the CMSA board allowed Junior riders to join the main classes. Officials suggested to Mikayla and her mom that the youngster become an L2—“But Mikayla thought it wouldn’t be fair to the other competitors or herself,” says Lori Zayas. “So at the Tennessee States [held in December ‘08], she registered as a Lady’s 3.”

 

She won her class and was fourth overall in Lady’s.

 

By the time we spoke in March, just three months after her CMSA adult debut, Mikayla was already a L4. Her goal?  “Well, I’d like to become a 5 by the end of the year.” She met that mark three months later, in time for the Behlen Country Classic.

 

Even she was surprised by how fast that happened.

 

A Little Help From Her Friends

Mikayla is the first to give credit where credit is due. Her parents, of course, deserve a lot of praise for who she is and what she’s accomplished (mom Lori got into the spirit of things—she’s now an L3).  She also points to the help provided by Rock, Terri and Cody Clark, who gave her advice and (in Cody’s case) some serious competition as she was riding in the Wranglers and Juniors. Marvin Rickman let her ride his horse Andale in several matches (including Guthrie), allowing her to experience more speed and control.

 

And then there’s Tammy Sronce. The World and National Champ has taken Mikayla under her wing (“Mikayla loves horses, and that reminds me of me as a kid.”), working on horsemanship and shooting technique. But the main thing is “Course management, one of the most important things in CMSA. Tammy talked to me about how you can save some steps and strides, and then she showed me.”

 

Tammy also provided a new horse, Silver Cat, that Mikayla has already ridden to wins in a couple of shoots since Guthrie.

 

So it will be no surprise if Mikayla hits L6 before too long. The young lady who came out of the blue has nothing but blue skies ahead.
 

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