Ask Cari

Will your horse clear these pooches??

At a recent clinic, Rex Peterson introduced this Ancora to a Grand Prix dressage horse who wrings his tail in piaffe and passage.

This simple device known as the Ancora, will help your horse stop wringing his tail, thus putting all his energy into his work.  The bells on the bottom also teach him to not be afraid of anything behind him.  You must ride your horse with this for a minimum of 10 days so that he learns that every time he lifts his tail it cannot go anywhere, eventually he will not even try to swing it.  Trick ropers ride their trick horses in this for the first 2 years of training so that the ropes never get caught under the tails.  Horses trained for the movies all learn to ride with this as part of their desensitizing routine.

“I can’t” is not in his vernacular.  Spoken from the man who has trained horses to fall into lion pits, fight on command, bury a horse alive, drive a team of ten horses, roman ride, trick ride, round up a herd of over 500 horses in less than an hour, and many other seemingly impossible stunts.  Rex Peterson is a Master Horseman.  Anyone can see that he connects to each horse he works with.  He is one with the horse, asking for simple tasks, bringing out the quality in every horse . His corrections are quick and efficient and he gets the job done.

Rex Peterson was born and raised in Ogallala, Nebraska into a family of horseman.  His father taught his six kids how to trick ride as soon as they could walk.  Dennis, the oldest brother was the World Champion trick rider of the year in 1960.  Dennis was famous for jumping a team of horses over a Chevy convertible. At the age of 17 Rex traveled with his family to Japan to ride in the Wild West Show for 5 weeks.  Every performance was “western” chasing the stagecoach, falling off a horse after pretending to be shot, trick riding and roman riding.

Rex learned from the greatest horse trainer Hollywood has ever scene, Glenn Randall, Sr. the man who trained the Triggers for Roy Rogers, the horses for Ben-Hur, the last Rex for Gene Autry and many others.    Rex knew he had to learn from this master of horses.  Upon arrival at Glenn’s ranch with several rogue horses he was given a memorable lesson of mannering a horse quickly and efficiently.  Glenn watched Rex rope the horse to catch them, disgusted, he quietly stepped over and  began to whip break the horse in less than an hour, teaching each horse to obediently follow him around the arena.  This was a life changing moment as Rex realized he must study with this Master.  Many people came and went, but Rex stayed the longest.  Glenn would sit in his swivel chair barking commands, not allowing any dialogue while training, but open to discuss any of his methods and techniques at the end of the day.  To this day Rex claims he knows only a fraction of the knowledge Glenn possessed.

“Cross training is the best thing for any horse.  I believe the more you do with a horse, the better they become.”  Rex has found this philosophy helps train horses for the movies as he has proven many times that teaching horses in more than one area of education creates a better and better athlete and performer.

A perfect example is Hightower, one of the best and most famous horses Rex has ever trained.  This extraordinary horse was ridden Western, English, Driven and trained at Liberty.  He  was roped off of, drug calves to the branding fire, roped wild bulls, turned back the cutters, team penned, team roped, and trained mules. He jumped five feet effortlessly and competed in dressage. His talent driving included a single, double and multi-horse hitches.  Most people who worked with Hightower, recognized that he was one of the greatest horses they ever knew. Hightower was also trained as a liberty horse that was unmatched in his career.

Rex has a clear methodology is that training horses is a lesson in persistence and patience and reward.  He says ,”You must be persistent in asking a horse to do something but also be patient enough to allow the horse to figure out the task requested, and finally reward him to let him know he made the correct choice.  By asking a horse very consistently it is amazing how successful the training becomes.   Being a horse trainer requires being patient enough to understand what your horse is doing and figure out what to do to make him do what you want.  The reward is a vital ingredient so that the horse understands he was correct.  Each and every horse is an individual so he must be treated as such. “

Rex says, “Teaching horses is like Piano, learning each and every key.  In the beginning you must hunt for them.  As time goes along and you know them individually, you play a chord and finally you learn to play a song.  Each note is equivalent to the individual movements such as, controlling the head, controlling the hips, moving each foot independently.  Put several of these together and you have a chord.  In the end you are dancing with your horse creating a song.”

Rex is known for training horses to do impossible.  One of the more challenging requests came from a British Rock Band who wanted to bury a horse alive in the desert so that he could be filmed bursting from the earth in an image of power and strength. Many said this would be impossible, however, after careful study, Rex figured out a way to bury his horse Justin alive 9 times for the camera.  Although pressed by many, he would never reveal the secret to this trick.

Hollywood Horses

Working successfully in film for over 30 years, Rex has created some of the most demanding and   spectacular horse sequences on film.  Throughout the years he has often been called upon to fix a scene if the regular wrangler cannot get the shot.  It is known in the industry that you save money by hiring Rex in the first place, because he delivers the shot.  Others underbid his rates and cost the studio hundreds of thousands of dollars when they cannot deliver for the scenes.  Many actors will not work with any other wrangler on a film because they must know that their safety is protected including Viggo Mortensen who insisted Rex train his horses in Appaloosa.

Rex has trained horses for over forty films including Black Beauty, All the Pretty Horses, The Horse Whisperer, Flicka, Dreamer, Runaway Bride and The Return of the  Black Stallion. The film he is most proud of is Hidalgo which proved to be an amazing challenge on all levels.  From logistical nightmares, communication breakdowns, a multitude of studs on the starting line and difficult cast members in a country with cultural barriers and language problems.  Not to mention that the film was shot in numerous locations in Morocco, Montana and California. Rex promises to write a book one day about the misadventures  and life threatening circumstances involved in the making of this film.

Now that fewer horse films are made in Hollywood, Rex has shifted gears to pass along his knowledge and experience through clinics, products, training DVD’s, and a TV pilot  which is in production.

For more information about Rex Peterson, visit Swanson Peterson Productions

Last weekend we broke 2 young horses to accept the saddle and rider.  Here you can see Rex controlling this young gelding for his first ride.  Steele stays close to Cache as he learns to accept the aids from the rider.  Rex is able to stop the horse from bucking or rearing with the neck rope so that he never learns these bad habits.

Rex trains a group of students how to teach the horses how to bow, say Yes and NO and do a camel stretch.  One client wanted to lay her filly down which was easy under Rex’s direction.

At the same time, Cari trained several students in dressage and jumping sessions.  This beautiful kind palomino quarter horse learned his changes.  Several other students worked on improving dressage basics which showed in much more elastic gaits and better obedience.

The jumping clinic was a great success with all of the horses improving the rhythm and balance to the jumps.  Each rider also improved their postion and confidence over fences.

Barb works with her mare teaching her to laydown and get up on command.  She learned the bow at last years clinic with Rex and went a step further laying her down completely.

Clinics with Rex are always fun because clients work on a variety of horse training issues from improving the canter, working on Spanish walk, teaching the horse to move off the leg, teaching tricks, breaking colts to ride,  and improving communication with the horse.

Every horse and rider leave the clinic with more knowledge and confidence.  For more information about Rex and his background visit Swanson Peterson Productions.

Check out this new Youtube video of Rex Peterson working Tuff at Liberty

Teaching a horse to trust and work this well takes hours and hours of patience.

We just returned from a successful weekend in Nashville, TN where the AQHA hosted the first of many Quarterfest Events honoring the Quarter Horse from many aspects of the horse world.  Reining, roping, mounted shooters, trail classes and amazing performances each evening kept us all busy each day.  Tuff  (from the films Flicka, Van Helsing, Appaloosa) and Cache (Viggo’s mount in Appaloosa) performed each evening in a liberty act , amazing the audience with a display of control of each horse with Rex using only body movements and the whips to guide his horses.