Ask Cari

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.

As Spring approaches, the show season is just around the corner.  Now is the time to consider a program to bring your horse to optimum condition considering your discipline of dressage, jumping or eventing.  It is critical to consider the age and amount of activity your horse has had in order to create an effective plan of conditioning.  Horses who are turned out need a shorter warm up than those standing in their stall or small paddock.  A progressive warm up allows time for the muscles to reach their optimal working temperature (during warm up the muscles rise by about 1 degree C) before increasing the excercise intensity.

After a warm up phase, move into the workout which pushes to horse just beyond his ability to build muscles and stamina.  It is important to work the trot and canter in an active rhythm, thus working the skeletal muscles hard enough to stimulate an increase in blood circulation.  The main objective is to achieve relaxation in all gaits.  Next should come the suppling excercises of lateral and bending movements.  Remember wet saddle blankets make good horses.

Finally, an important element of your conditioning is the warm down period.  This is a time to allow the horse to recover from the workout and helps him release muscular tension and possible soreness.  A walk on the long rein is a great finish to this workout.  Slowly build your horse back up to his optimal fitness, allowing several weeks to reach your goal.  Careful systematic training will help build solid muscles and a happy fit horse.

Westfield Whips have been designed with impeccable craftsmanship for over a century.  With perfect balance, action and flexibility, these whips never feel heavy in your hand.  All Westfield, whips are built on cores made to precise specifications to guarantee that they replicate the feel and performance standards of the original whalebone and rawhide whips which have never been surpassed in quality and feel.

“For me, the Westfield whips are the finest available in the world today.”-Bruce Davidson

Bruce is one of the finest and most accomplished equestrians of our time.  He is a two time Three-Day Event World Champion and a five-time Olympic veteran, holding two team gold and two team silver medals.  He is a two time World Champion, has won the Rolex Kentucky Three Day a record six times and is one of only two Americans to have won the Badminton Horse Trials.  He has been the US Combined Training Assoc.  “Rider of the Year” a record fourteen times.

“In my industry where every detail matters, I count on the handling precision of a Westfield whip to deliver a perfect performance.”-Rex Peterson

Rex has trained horses for film for over four decades, creating some of the most complex and exciting horse action sequences every filmed.  His credits include dozens of films including Black Beauty, Dreamer, Hidalgo, Runaway Bride, The Horse Whisperer and The Patriot.  His concern for the well being of horses has earned him the praise of humane organizations and animal advocates.

Westfield whips are well balanced, light in weight and of the highest quality.  I love these whips and so do my customers.”  –Olaf Nyby

Olaf Nyby of Norway is one of Europe’s top driving instructor and horse trainers.  His expertise includes pleasure and commercial driving and international competition in pairs; four-in-hand combined training and driving dressage disciplines.

The Westfield whip-dressage, straight lash (6 foot), Lunge line, and jumper bat are available at swansonpetersonproductions.com

Here Ryan uses his Tufflex Stock Whip (6 foot), and Diamond Weave Pro Lunge Whip from  Westfield  to cue Doc to perform many tricks and movements.The whips are an extention of his hands to guide his horse, who must never be afraid of the whips.

I just returned from 2 days of business meetings at the USDF Convention in Denver.  I attended the Region 8 meetings where members updated everyone present about local and national news affecting us. The primary concern was of course the budget in light of the current economic climate.  How do we continue to support our members, grow the membership, implement the budget fairly and effectively and remember to have fun.

I also attended all the open judges meetings where discussion was all about how to score consistently while developing a methodology that the riders and trainers can relate to and understand. The emphasis was on the riders score which is multiplied times 3 in an effort to encourage riders to learn to ride more effectively and correctly.

The collective scores are at the end of a dressage test, and consist of the gaits, submission, impulsion and rider. In the past each of these scores have been times 2, but with the added emphasis on the rider, now times three, the final results of a class can be altered significantly.  Imagine two close scores and one rider receives at 8 (x3=24) vs. a rider who scores 6 (x3=18), those 6 points will dramatically affect the final score.

There was also discussion on judges learning to use the scale more completely rather than relying on 6 and 7’s, that is we need to give more 3 and 4’s when deserved and not be afraid to reward good riding and well executed movements with nine or a ten. Also, judges must remember that scores of 6 or less must receive comments using the glossary of terms, and care must be given that comments are observations rather than teaching. The Judges job is to reflect what they see to the rider and the final results should place the best horse/rider combination at the top of the leaderboard.

The highlight of the convention was meeting Robert Dover who graciously answered a variety of questions about his career. Although he rode many great horses in his illustrious career spanning several decades and many Olympics, his favorite was Kennedy, a small horse under 16 hands with a heart of gold and a mind who only thought forward no matter what. Robert also had us laughing about stories from each of the many Olympics and Champioships he rode in,  speaking about how we must all keep the sport in perspective. After all he said, it is a silly to think we ride around a small rectangle perfecting these movements, but he agreed it is a high form of art when performed in harmony.

Although he has officially retired from the sport, Robert remains active on the International board of FEI as an important voice to guide the sport in a new direction away from the stacked deck of politics that has evolved.

I also introduced the new training series of DVD’s to many friends and colleagues from around the country with excellent input and ideas for future training sessions.  Swanson Peterson Productions is working on a TV pilot which will be an opportunity to showcase the sport of Dressage and hopefully expand our sport in new directions.

Don’t forget to order your Rex Peterson training videos by Christmas (and receive free shipping) at http://www.swansonpetersonproductions.com