Ask Cari

An afternoon at Windrock Farm after the kids play a game of baseball, practice hitting golf balls and playing capture the flag.  Wyatt celebrated his 12th birthday in style with hot dogs from Four Brothers and apple pie with vanilla ice cream.  Fiona is handing out birthday carrots to the mares.

Cari and Bond demonstrate many of the warm up exercises for the participants of the clinic in New Jersey last week.  Eight riders learned how to improve the quality of the horses gaits through a series of riding patterns to create better balance and rhythm.  Everyone improved and we look forward to seeing everyone again in October.

Mini was the star of a local play at a camp in Wingdale Sunday evening,

Lauren walked him on stage and handled him with finesse as the audience roared with delight.  The campers were so excited to meet Mini and many have never been close to a horse.

Estella and her sister, Matilda enjoyed a private viewing of RJ working with his trainer Rex at Thornedale yesterday morning.  The girls were thrilled to watch RJ perform his many tricks and to ride the famous stallion.

Anyone can learn to become a competent rider if you understand the basics of horsemanship and how horses think.  Horses are herd animals so it is crucial that you understand that you are the leader of the herd.  We train horses to listen to our command on the ground when working with actors who have little experience riding.  The audience rarely realizes that the horses on screen are being directed by a trainer off camera.

We are rehearsing a scene for a film where the main actors are riding double and the horse rears.  It takes hours of training and conditioning to prepare the horse for the days of shooting.  And then it takes a great deal of patience to work with the actors so they do not panic.  If the rider panics the horse will not perform and a day of filming could be lost.  As with everything, preparation is the key to success.  Remember the old boyscout saying, “be prepared.”

This horse came to us with an issue bucking and misbehaving.  After several weeks training you can see he is overcoming his fears with his rider and walking calmly over a tarp.  He became proficient with all the obstacles on the course and gained confidence in his rider who has this to say;

“My five year old Dutch Warmblood developed a serious bucking problem, using it to avoid working at all cost.  He even began bucking while walking on a lead line, especially if he were tacked up for work.  I’m not young enough to bounce off the hard ground anymore, and it was stressful to handle him, forget about riding him.  A friend told me about Rex, and I decided to bring my horse to one of his local clinics.  Sure enough, on the lead line, walking around the arena, he began to buck.  It was embarrassing, but at least he wasn’t hiding the problem I wanted to fix.  When Rex told me that in his book, my horse was a “convicted felon,” and that no horse should ever buck for any reason, I felt relief. I had secretly wondered if I was just chicken to ride my bucking bronco, but now I knew I was right to get help.  Rex’s partner Cari suggested I bring him up for 30 days of training, and that they would send him back to me super safe to ride.  I have to admit I was skeptical, but I was also desperate to move past this and start seriously training this horse.  Plus, Cari is a dressage rider, and I knew she’d understand my goals.  After one week, there was a noticeable change in his behavior.  After two weeks, Cari was working him in a dressage saddle, and I began riding him as often as I could.  Trail rides and obstacle courses gave me an opportunity to push his buttons, while using the set of tools that Rex and Cari taught me gave me-and my horse–confidence. He came home three weeks ago, and so far, he’s been perfect.  This is the horse I thought I’d bought last June!  He’s calm, a pleasure to handle, and a joy to ride.  He’ll even get “down on one” and bow for me!  I’ve entered him in his first schooling show, something I wouldn’t have even dreamed of earlier this spring.  Rex and Cari did exactly what they said they would, and I highly recommend them.” Linda Marciante

Bob proved he is a star at his first horse show winning best young horse in the show.  He started training with Rex as a yearling, learning to have excellent ground manners and how to behave like a gentleman.  In spite of the high winds and horrible weather at the show, he stood his ground and won every class he entered.  Bob is not yet two years old and is maturing into a lovely horse.  It pays to start training the youngsters early and will pay off in dividends in the future under saddle.  Contact us to schedule a private lesson with your horse.

Last weekend, our youngest student, Vanessa, age 3 rode Rex’s three year old stud colt who has only 16 rides on him,he is a lovely horse who proves if you start them correctly with no mistakes, you have a super horse.

Rex worked with two young horses starting under saddle, taught several how to bow, worked on trailering issues with several horses that eventually walked in the trailer at the end of a 30 foot lariat, improved the rhythm and gaits of a lovely quarter horse and gave a leading and ground manners lesson to a fell pony.  I worked with Barb and her young dressage mount, Paloma.  We had a full successful day and look forward to returning soon.  For future clinic schedule check the web site

After schooling all the horses through the obstacle course, we went on a hack to cool the horses down.  Many of the horses did not like the tarp initially, but everyone was successful at working through all he obstacles….including walking under a tarp, over a tarp, over logs, through hanging plastic bottles, backing around a tree, and various cross country jumps.  These are excellent exercises to improve your communication with your horse.  Jumpers, Dressage and Event horses improve each day.

Rex traveled to the New Jersey Horse Park to teach a clinic for improving communication with your horse.  Many different breeds were represented and riders from various disciplines came to learn from the master horseman who drove across the country from California just last week.  Over 150 people came out to meet Rex and RJ/Hidalgo at Rick’s Saddlery around the corner from the horse park.  check here for upcoming dates for upcoming clinics and an opportunity to meet RJ/Hidalgo and watch him work with his trainer.

Come to the Rex Peterson Clinic this weekend at Windrock Farm and train your horse to walk through the obstacle course…take the spook out of your horse and improve communication with him.   Contact cari@cariswanson.com to sign up

Levi is a confident bold jumper, he has a motor, great personality,

loves cross country, uncomplicated to ride, super event, dressage or hunter prospect.

Congratulations to Chip for his first foal of the season, this handsome colt is beautiful, smart and has a great sense of humor at one month old.  We just returned from a quick road trip to VA to drop off a horse and pick up a pony and have a quick layover at Chip’s farm in Berryville where Spring is in full bloom.

Learning to ride at Windrock Farm

sometimes hanging out with Webster is the best thing to do on a sunny afternoon….

Rules to Ride By

go slowly to go fast

patience, patience, patience

take one step at at time

Ride bareback to improve your balance

(excerpted from the new book Whoa Means Whoa! available soon)

Order the book, Whoa Means Whoa! at the web site

This is a useful guide for training kids or anyone how to ride.  Simple lessons teach the basics every rider should know whether you are entering the show arena or hacking across country.  Beautiful photographs and illustrations help the rider learn the correct position to become an effective equestrian.

Sliding stop illustration by Mary Bridgman.

Come to the next Rex Peterson Clinic to learn how to teach your horse how to obey your every command.

Check here for upcoming dates