“I really got to know Mike when Mike Neal was training here,” Mishek continued. “The two Mikes were great friends. In 1992, when Mike Neal got hurt badly, Mike V would come up and spend a week here every month, visiting Mike as he was recovering, and pinch-hitting for him in the barn. Mike V was at Paul and Dody Wood’s Colonial Wood Arabians in Arlington, Texas, when Mike Neal got hurt, and that 2,000-mile round trip every month spoke volumes about the man’s character, loyalty and compassion. “He was the best salesman and marketer. Mike was fluent in English, Spanish and Portuguese, so when Arabian Horse Times began doing business in South America, I enlisted his help. We would meet in Texas and put together a proposal to take to South America, where we would sell it. We were a very effective team. We worked together until July 2008, when I sold the magazine. Mike stayed in Waseca and we remained friends. We would often go to horse shows and equine events together, and both of us loved playing golf.” Mike was born on June 17, 1949, in Oxnard, Calif., the son of Fidel and Mary (Cerne) Villaseñor. He attended Chatsworth High School in Los Angeles, and served in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserves. He is survived by one daughter, Jennifer Romeo, and Mike’s granddaughter, Sofia Romeo; his mother, Mary Villaseñor of Escondido, Calif.; and four siblings: sisters Christina Wagner, Mary Lou Villaseñor and Virginia Scharbarth; and brother Denny Villaseñor. Mike was preceded in death by his father, Fidel, and a niece, Katherine Scharbarth. ■ Don’t miss a very special tribute to Mike Villaseñor in an upcoming issue of Arabian Horse Times.
Volume 43, No. 2 | 257