Cari Swanson

RJ on Cover of Saddle UP Magazine

Check out the latest article about Rex in Saddle Up Magazine

Ryan Peterson at Equine Affaire in Pomona,Ca

Ryan Peterson working his yellow horse in preparation for a demonstration with his father Rex in Pomona, California, thursday January 29th at 12:15 in the outdoor arena.  They will work with Doc, Ryan’s Palomino and Mr. T, one of Rex’s famous trick horses who has starred in many films including “Dreamer” and “Temple Grandin.”  This is an event not to missed as the father son team show us how to work these very talented Hollywood Horses.

2008 Equine Affaire drawing to a close

Rex and RJ just finished their final demonstration to a pleased crowd. We have three hours remaining at this year’s Equine Affaire–an event that shouldn’t be missed for horse lovers.

The thing that stands out the most from our time here is the number of devoted fans of RJ because of the film “Hidalgo.” This stallion is truly a star. Men and women alike see him and melt. Stories abound of how people have seen the movie over and over and over. The fans know that more than one horse played Hidalgo and they know which horse Viggo Mortensen (the human star of the movie) bought. Rex spoke about why he kept RJ and how Cari pried RJ away from him, at least partly. It’s RJ’s larger than life personality that won Rex’s and Cari’s hearts as well the hearts of millions of devoted fans.

Final preparations

Today is a busy day at Windrock Farm as we make final preparations for the Equine Affaire in West Springfield, Massachusetts and Rex’s arrival.

We are excited to launch the initial three videos in the new series–Rex Peterson’s Horse Wisdom: One Step Makes a Thousand.

Please send an email to any and all friends who may be going to the Equine Affaire and tell them to be sure and see Rex and RJ in action and stop by our booth. They can email us at cari@cariswanson.com or call me at 928.300.8010.

Cari’s brother Jim Breitinger is helping out during the Equine Affaire. He is an Arizona-based writer.

When you have a problem with your horse(s), who are you going to call?

The film industry—aka Hollywood—is the home of the great, and sometimes not so great, story tellers of our times. Every day on the set represents a lot of money spent in an effort to capture some movie magic.

For that reason, working with animals on films is a risky, tricky, and increasingly high stakes business. Directors and producers don’t need to mess around with animals who can’t do their job. They have too much at stake. Rex Peterson has become the gold standard when it comes to horses in film. When Julia Roberts was portrayed galloping through the woods away from one of her weddings in “Runaway Bride,” she rode one of Rex’s horses (that is actually Julia on the horse). See Cari’s blog for many other examples of Rex’s film work, including of course the filming of “Hidalgo” with our own RJ, the star horse of that film.

Have you ever had a problem with your horse that you didn’t know how to handle? If you’ve ever had a horse we know the answer to that question and we are here with many new solutions—most of which are in fact very old and are passed down from generations that preceded ours.

This week and weekend in Massachusetts you will have the opportunity to meet the legendary Rex Peterson in the flesh at the Equine Affaire. Not only that, Swanson Peterson Productions is releasing a new series of training videos available on DVD. More details on that this week.

We look forward to seeing you at the Equine Affaire.

Jim Breitinger is an Arizona-based writer.