Ask Cari

Fiona reads her book while Goldie grazes in the late afternoon.  Nothing could be better on a summer day than to spend time with your horse relaxing.

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.

A new book to teach you how to ride effectively and safely from day one to day one thousand.  Excellent exercises to test your skills as a rider and your horse’s training.  Beautiful illustrations by Mary Bridgman and photographs demonstrating clearly how to ride better.  Order Whoa Means Whoa! from Blurb now.

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.

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.

You can see how Cache Jr. is gaining more and more confidence walking the plank, he is very careful to put his feet on secure footing.  This kind of extreme training takes hours of practice and patience….it is amazing what you can teach your horse if you take the time to explain to him what you want and give him the opportunity to learn to have the confidence.

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>

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”.

Lilah looks on as RJ performs behind her, brother Liam talks to McCoy, Lilah practices for the Kentucky Derby, their dad,Tom Petersson of Cheap Trick will have to pen a song inspired by their new companions.

Last weekend we took a drive to the New Jersey Horse Park to compete in a Judged Trail Ride. We were lucky to stay with our friends Sandy and Ryan Gaum who live nearby.

This event was held at the New Jersey Horse Park on the cross country course with 15 stations where we were judged on how we accomplished the task at hand. Most of the stations were comprised of situations you may encounter on a trail ride such as jumping over a fallen tree, walking over a tarp, walking over a bridge that moves, dismounting and flagging your horse, roping a calf, walking by scary obstacles etc…. Nearly one hundred horses showed up for the annual event, including english and western riders.

I rode Black Gold, RJ’s 3 year old filly who has barely a month of training and she finished an astonishing fourth place! Nothing seemed to phase her as she tackled each obstacle and situation with patience and grace. Joa rode Brownie and Lauren rode Peadar who also performed very well.

This was such a fun event to take any horse to, I would encourage everyone to participate in a Judged Trail Ride with their horse to test their skills and training of their horse. It is also a wonderful experience for any horse to get out in an atmosphere with lots of activity.

After 5 years from its premiere, the Disney film “Hidalgo” remains popular among many horse lovers. Every week I receive emails from fans asking about the number of horses used in making this epic tale. Here are good friends, Viggo Mortensen (the human star) and Rex Peterson (the horse trainer) on TJ and RJ behind the scenes on the set in Morocco. You can see the make-up running off the horses faces. Each morning the 2 main cast horses had to sit for over an hour while the make-up crew painted them to look alike. Just another example of the magic of making movies.

Al I can say is Thank you so much Rex and Cari for your wonderful job and safety you gave Tye. He was terriffied of the monster horse trailer that bites, but you guys showed Tye the way to over come his fear of the trailer by being gentle and patience and so understanding about his fear. Tye had a bad experience in the trailer and he never forgot it. I tried for years to help him over come his fear but to no avail I couldn’t do it. People told me to get rid of him he’s never going to trailer, he’s a waste of time,i was just about to give up till Rex and Cari took Tye into there hands and worked with him and with there knowledge and huge hearts they showed Tye the way and NOT to be affraid, its a good thing to be inside the trailer. The horse knowledge they have is a unbeleivable site to watch. I am know bringing Tye all over with out any problems at all!

Thanks to Rex and Cari at Windrock Farm I have a new horse that is in the same body. I thought this would NEVER happen in my wildest dreams and I am know laughing at all the people who told me to get rid of him. I want to say from the bottom of my heart Thank You so much for helping Tye find his way through his fears. You guys are remarkable, awesome horse trainers/people and words will never express my feelings towards you and your training. I will recommend Rex and Cari for any kind of problems you might be haveing. They have the blood of a horse and the will of the horseman and a 1 in a million master horse trainer Thank you for putting faith and heart back into Tye and me and with your help and kindness tye is know a horse that can do it and trust me to do it. I will never have enough words to say how much we look up to you wonderful people.
Thank you from the bottom of our hearts Tye and Heather Poughquag NY

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. He has an iron will, and will not quit on any horse or rider, but is remarkably patient and leads with a steady and kind hand. One of the most helpful bits of advice he passed on to me – which can be applied to working with horses and to life in general – is “go slow to go fast”. He would never, unlike others not as gifted or patient in his line of work, rush things unnecessarily or ever ask anyone to do something he was unwilling to first try himself. He invariably has the safety and well-being of his horses as his topmost priority. He speaks highly of his own legendary teacher, Glenn Randall, Sr., often saying that he will never know as much as his mentor did. Although I never met Mr. Randall, I cannot imagine anyone asking more of themselves or getting more out of horses and riders than Rex Peterson does. I look forward to working with him again soon.

Viggo Mortensen

Rex will be teaching a clinic at Windrock Farm this weekend, June 19-21, bring a horse to work with him or come watch him work RJ/Hidalgo at liberty at 3pm on Saturday.

contact cari@cariswanson.com for details

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”.