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.
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>
Wyatt takes his daily lesson on RJ, his favorite horse at Windrock Farm. Wyatt is visiting for a month from LA.
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.
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.