Ask Cari

McCoy is a 7 year old gelding by Makuba, a German Riding Pony who the the first imported German Riding Pony Stallion imported into the United States.  Makuba scored extremely high in his 100 day test, 10 for temperament, 9 for rideability, 10 for walk, and 9′s for trot canter and free jumping.  McCoy is an exceptional young horse who will excel in eventing or dressage.  Come try him for your next partner.

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

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.

Learn the new USEA dressage tests for eventing before the season begins.  Practice at home and always train at a level above the one you plan to show.  Be prepared.  You will greatly improve your scores if you ride with confidence and determination.  I highly recommend riding the test on several different horses to confirm that it is automatic in your head so that if you are distracted on the day by wind, unruly horses in the next arena or equipment failure, you will carry on like a pro. Study hard and have fun!

This is a lovely horse for someone looking to move up to Prelim or who wants a solid training level horse.  Chloe is Dutch Warmblood, 15.2 hands, perfect for a young rider or adult wanting to be competitive.  Chloe scores in the leaderboard in dressage and is an honest bold jumper.

I had the pleasure to show Belladora at Dressage at Devon where she earned 71.5% in Three Year Old Filly Materiale Class.  Bella is an outstanding  young horse for sale, owned by Diana Murphy.  Contact Windrock Farm to schedule an appointment to try her.

bella, a three year old Dutch/Oldenburg mare, won her first dressage class with a score of 68%. She was tense and not quite her elastic self in the electric atmosphere of the NEDA Fall Festival of Dressage at Saugerties. Bella also watched the top jumpers compete in a nearby arena. After hanging out around the arenas she began to relax a bit and enjoyed the festivities. Bella was started by Rex Peterson and Cari Swanson 3 months ago and has progressed remarkably fast in her education. Bella is an outstanding young horse capable of excelling in dressage, eventing or jumping. Contact Cari to come try Bella at Windrock Farm.

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.

17 hand gelding, very elegant, easy to ride, this horse is a very special guy.  If you are looking for an Equitation horse, jumper, dressage or event horse, he is talented, a bold jumper, light to the aids and a true gentleman on the ground.  At 6 years old, he shows tremendous promise to excel in any job.  contact Cari to schedule an appointment to try this exceptional athlete.

Plan on attending the next clinic with Rex Peterson at Windrock Farm.  Teach your horse how to have perfect ground manners, improve the communication between you and your horse, develop better quality gaits, and develop more confidence training your horse. Contact cari@cariswanson.com for details.

Meet RJ, one of the famous horses Rex has trained for film, RJ starred with Viggo Mortensen in Hidalgo and recently worked with Ang Lee in “Taking Woodstock”.

This photo demonstrates hours of training.  Justin is one of the most successful movie horses, starring in Black Beauty among many other films.  Now in his mid twenties, he is enjoying retirement, however, his ears still prick up for his trainer Rex  when he comes out to feed him each day.  You must always remember to be patient and take one step at a time when training your horse.  Remember to be very clear about what you are asking and reward your horse when he gives it to you.  After working your horse every day consistently you will see a remarkable change and improvement.  Generally horses have a good work ethic, enjoying their daily routine.  Spring is finally here and it is time to get back into your training routine.