Ask Cari

Bugsy and Blaze are enjoying exceptionally warm weather in November at Windrock Farm.

Another colt by RJ out of Bay Prive, he is stunning and has a sweet disposition, he is very friendly, walking up to anyone in the field.  Bay is a wonderful mama and Bugsy is thrilled to have a buddy to play with.

Webster is an integral part of Windrock Farm and as you can see one of his specialties is hugging, come visit soon and meet the mascot of the farm.  Suzanne Clair Guard captured this image on a recent visit.

RJ and Mr. T will be giving a demo at 2pm at the Meadow Horse Park in Doswell, VA as part of the 40th year Birthday Bash for the amazing Big Red, Secretariat.  Come visit the park and meet us in the stables, or at the arena.  Check for upcoming demos and clinics on our web site  Swanson Peterson Producions

Cari ~ “I just wanted to let you guys know that Arabel had a massage tonight and was so relaxed after today’s session that she actually fell asleep on the cross ties.  Arabel is usually grinding her teeth and pawing on the cross ties.  Wow ~ what a difference already in just one session. AMAZING!!” –Karen

This young TB mare was rescued from the killers, finding a new home in a luxurious barn in NY.  She had some baggage from her experience at the track and everyone was giving up on her with the exception of the one person who believed in her.  Karen called us as a last resort and after meeting this mare, we believe she was simply misunderstood.  A highly intelligent mare with outstanding bloodlines, she completely transformed after one session of desensitizing, we will continue to work with her and build her confidence so that her owner can enjoy safe fun rides in the near future.

We believe all horses benefit from this easy lesson in building confidence.  All of our horses, young or old, go through this important lesson as a foundation to their training.  .

contact marty@topcatfarms.com for directions and times for the Demo and Meet and Greet the Celebrity horses
there will also be a special pas de deux with Cari riding Bond, and Rex on RJ–not to be missed!

Click here to see RJ and Mr. T are on the morning news in CT where we were teaching a clinic this week.

Mr. T looks stunning in his dressage gear along with RJ in his western saddle riding down main street in downtown Lexington, KY for the Horse Parade to kick off the opening of the World Equestrian Games which is being hosted for the first time in the United States.  These are two of the most famous horses featured in Hollywood films today.  Fans traveled from around the country to meet them at the International Equestrian Festival last week.  For more information, read Dressagedaily.com

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.

We recently took a trip to horse country in Virgina to teach a clinic and were hosted by Rex’s old friend Bobby Duvall and his lovely wife Luciana.  Bobby met RJ/Hidalgo, enjoying watching Rex work him through all his paces.  The two famous actors have a great deal in common.  Rex’s son, Ryan looks on, enjoying all of the family stories Bobby remembers from years of knowing the Peterson’s in Nebraska.

Trigger and all of his doubles were trained by the great horseman, Glenn Randall, Sr.  Rex had the honor to learn from this master horse trainer for nearly two decades.  Glenn could train a horse to do anything, including “empty out” on command.  This video is a great tribute to the legendary horse and his partner.

Check out the latest article about Rex in Saddle Up Magazine

Goldie is a favorite for the kids to ride, here she is learning to work off the whips in the round pen.  This talented filly by RJ has her Daddy’s talent for tricks and learning anything new.

In spite of the cold winter snow day, fans of Hidalgo and Secretariat came out to watch Rex work his two famous equine actors. To find out when you can meet Rex and his horses, check the Clinic Schedule

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

When:  December 5, 2009, 1pm  Open to the Public
Where:  Windrock Farm 724 Bangall Amenia Road, Amenia, NY
Contact:  Cari Swanson 914.456.3155
cari@cariswanson.com
www.SwansonPetersonProductions.com <http://www.SwansonPetersonProductions.com>

More photos available by request

“Secretariat” visits “Hidalgo” in Dutchess County this weekend.  Come meet Rex Peterson, the Internationally acclaimed Hollywood Horse trainer work with two of his famous horses, Harbor Mist (DREAMER, FLICKA, SECRETARIAT) and RJ (HIDALGO, TAKING WOODSTOCK) at Windrock Farm.  Rex is a master horseman who has worked for three decades in the film industry training horses for some of the most complicated scenes with horses, including THE HORSE WHISPERER, BLACK BEAUTY, DREAMER, FLICKA, THE BLACK STALLION, HIDALGO, DREAMER.

HARBOR MIST aka Mr. T is a 10 year old thoroughbred gelding bred to race he was started 51 times he had a career earnings of a little over 40,000 with a lack luster career as a race horse but the right look he was chosen as one of the horses for DREAMER. Schooled to do the lay down hang in the sling follow Dakota Fanning around and play with her I realized he had some charisma about him so after the film ended I took him home and continued to school on him. Mr. T has also worked in commercials and on FLICKA, APPALOOSA, TEMPLE GRANDIN, and most recently in SECRETARIAT.

Rex Peterson will also work his talented RJ, a very famous paint stallion who portrayed Hidalgo in “Hidalgo”, the Disney film co-starring Viggo Mortensen as well as several other films and TV shows.

Rex is one of the requested horse trainers in Hollywood, a favorite of Directors and Actors because of his well-trained horses.  Viggo Mortensen writes: “I have had the privilege of learning about horses and riding from Rex Peterson, and the good fortune to watch up-close the remarkable results he achieves with even the most challenging of horses and riders. He has guided me through the movies “Hidalgo” and “Appaloosa”, and I have been lucky to become his friend and ride many miles in all sorts of conditions with him. He makes his job as horse-master look effortless, but those who have trained under him over the years know it most assuredly is not. He does appear to have a gift for “reading” people and horses, always finding the most suitable teaching approach in each situation, but he works extremely hard every single day, often for many hours at a time”

Come meet Rex Peterson for this rare opportunity to work two of his talented Hollywood horses at liberty and recount many stories about working with horses behind the scene on motion pictures.

Contact:  Cari Swanson
914.456.3155
cari@cariswanson.com
www.SwansonPetersonProductions.com <http://www.SwansonPetersonProductions.com>

Jonathan Groff meeting RJ with Ang Lee on the set of “Taking Woodstock” in Millerton , NY.  Jonathan learned to ride with me with only 2 weeks to prep for the scene.  I started teaching him on my schoolmasters before having him ride RJ who is a seasoned Hollywood star.  RJ was one of the horses who played Hidalgo in the Disney classic film of the same name.  RJ spent months on the set in Morocco, Montana and California honing his craft.  Trained by Rex Peterson, RJ learned to work like a pro on set with tthe cast and crew.  Jonathan quickly learned to ride with the help of his background in dance and music, after all riding is all about rhythm and balance.  Jonathan’s riding experience helped secure a role in Robert Redford’s new film “The Conspirator”, currently filming in Savannah, Georgia.

This photo was taken on this mud field for the last scene of the film.  The groundskeeper watered the fields with fire hoses for two days to create the feeling of Woodstock after 4 days of rain.  The ground was so sloppy that RJ refused to walk in it.  The crew had to lay rubber stall mats to create a path for him to have secure footing.

Rex is a master of training horses to perform what many claim impossible.  He is one of the most sought after Horse Trainers in Hollywood known for delivering the shot.  While others may initially underbid him, they end up costing the Studios thousands of dollars when they do not perform the stunt.  Rex in known for performing without fail every time within a reasonable budget.  With a string of highly trained horses, he can handle any situation. Rex is highly regarded by many Directors,  Producers, Actors, Cameramen, and American Humane Officers for protecting them as well as the livestock.

Here you can see his mastery at work with his son Ryan Peterson prepping horses for a commercial film shoot.  The producers asked Rex to bring one trained horse he could rear under saddle for a scene with only 48 hours notice. Rex responded to the call with “no problem, what color do you want, I have a string of 19 to pull from”.   Of course when we arrived on set the scene was changed to have the horse led from the barn, rear, and run off at liberty.  Luckily Rex was prepared with two other mounts who were also trained to rear under saddle or at liberty so we had pick up horses on set to help accomplish the set up with no problem. Rex always shows up prepared and his motto is “Nothing is Impossible”.