photography by Glenn Hunt Photography whose outstanding work can be seen at http://www.glennhunt.com.au/
Remember to practice schooling your cross country jumps with rhythm and balance as the basic criteria when approaching a fence. You must also be straight to the jump and coming at it with an appropriate speed. Practice makes perfect, so be sure to take your time and do your homework.
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.
This horse has had ear plaque his entire life. After several vets have tried to treat it by burning it off, the owner gave up until Rex came along and had a simple solution. Rub baby oil on the fungus and it will kill it. Easier said than done because this horse would not let you touch his ears, let alone put cotton balls inside to rub the baby oil on. In fact he always has to have the bridle or halter taken apart to put on because of his panic around his ears from the painful fungus.
After an hour of patience and using the Sugar String, Rex was able to rub the cotton balls soaked in baby oil inside his ears. Treated every day for 5 days resulted in perfectly clean ears with new pink skin emerging. The hair is even starting to grow back after 10 days and still no sign of the fungus returning.
Sometimes the old methods are far less expensive and more effective than the newer solutions of drugs. You can see this horse is actually enjoying the treatment now, learning to allow his ears to be touched and rubbed without the panic.
Send any problem you have to us to solve, Rex Peterson loves a challenge and has not met a horse he could not improve or fix yet….we look forward to your challenge!
You have heard it from many trainers-ride every stride. This will eventually become automatic when you train yourself to count your strides. One of my greatest teachers, Tony Mason, taught me to count the length and width of the arena. He was adament about knowing the size of your arena and how to carve out space to work in when it was crowded with many horses. I imagine he learned this years ago when he was trained by his Master in Europe, when riders had to navigate among dozens of horses in small arenas. There was etiquette about how to pass one another and when to change direction.
If you learn to count the strides in your circles, you will eventually learn how to ride a perfect circle. This is not as easy as you might expect. I start all my students whether children or adults learning to count and it pays off quickly as they progress up the levels.
This image is of Ashley Cox riding Classy, winning the dressage test at Kent Horse Trials. If you are interested in lessons or have any questions, contact cari@cariswanson.com.
DIED: Hightower,26. One of the most famous and talented trick horses ever to grace the silver screen, Hightower appeared in dozens of films during his long career, most notably as Pilgrim in Robert Redford’s The Horse Whisperer (1998). He was the steed of choice for actress Julia Roberts, who bonded with him during the filming of The Runaway Bride (1999) and famously insisted that the charismatic quarter horse be shipped back from his California corral to an East Coast location for post-production re-shoots. Owned and trained by Hollywood Horse Trainer, Rex Peterson, Hightower also appeared in Winter People (1989) opposite Kurt Russell and Kelly McGillis, in Simpatico (1999) with Jeff Bridges and Nick Nolte, and in writer-director Caroline Thompson’s 1994 adaptation of Black Beauty. “Hightower had a heart as big as the great outdoors”, said veteran trainer and USDF Silver Medalist Cari Swanson, “and he will be remembered as one of the most intelligent and noble equine actors of our day.” In Tehachapi, California, October 30.
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.
This is Tuff, owned and trained by Rex Peterson. Tuff is one of Justin’s sons (Justin played Black Beauty), who was featured as Jeremy Irons horse in Ed Harris’ film Appaloosa. Come meet Tuff at the AQHA Quarterfest in May, where you can help celebrate the American Quarter Horse.
May 1-3, 2009
Tennessee Miller Coliseum
Murfreesboro, Tennessee
These side hobbles are made out of a soft nylon diamond braid rope. They can be used as shown laterally or converted as front hobbles. They are a simple design easy to put on and take off. Hobbles are used to teach a horse patience. For the movie business, Rex has found that it is imperative that all of his horses are well mannered and can stand anywhere calmly for hours. As a result of his experience, all of his horses are broke to the hobbles from day one. This also teaches the horse not to fight if he is ever tangled up in wire, rope, nets or anything else. They are availabe for $40/set directly from us.
Front Hobbles-another style-easy to use
RJ/Hidalgo’s three year old filly is wearing a war bridle, made from a 30 foot lariat now available for sale at SwansonPetersonProductions.com
They are $45 plus shipping and can be purchased by emailing cari@cariswanson.com, you can either send a check or use a Visa/Mastercard.
The war bridle is an invaluable tool when breaking a horse to lead, teaching a horse to trailer or mannering a horse for any purpose. You will quickly earn the respect of your horse. Several of Rex Peterson’s training dvd’s demonstrate how to use the war bridle, they can also be purchased at SwansonPetersonProductions.
Ryan demonstrates how to use the Lariat on his new horse, Pard, who he is preparing to teach to load on the trailer. After a five minute lesson, Pard was quietly walking on and off the trailer.
This uniquely designed tool, the Sugar String will help you teach your horse to put his head down whenever and where ever you ask him to. Designed by Rex Peterson as an easy and humane way to teach a horse to drop his head and open his mouth for effortless bridling and clipping around the head. Taken to an extreme, the Sugar String can help teach your horse to walk next to you with his nose at your ankles. In the movie Dreamer, the horse had to walk next to Dakota Fanning, the kid and safely keep his distance. He also learned to carry her backpack and nudge her gently along. Everyone wants a well mannered horse, and this tool is ideal to train your horse to drop his head and become submissive to you on command. Check it out on the following web site!