7 year old TB, 16 hands tall, very nice horse for eventing. Classy is an intelligent, (he learned to bow in one session) he is an uncomplicated, balanced and a bold jumper. He has a wonderful personality and is reasonably priced to a good home. call Cari at 914.456.3155 to come try him.
The Fourth of July was a day to take a break from the horses to enjoy a day with James Taylor and friends at Tanglewood. My friend Ken Regan was photographing the event for Rolling Stone, so I was his assistant for the day. Music and horses have much in common with rhythm and balance. It was fascinating to watch the rehearsal and sound check prior to the concert with all of the various guests including Carol King, John Travolta, Kelly Preston, Yo-Yo Ma and the band worked out the timing and cadence of the performance. This is a testament to the importance of practice and preparation before any performance.
It was a great honor to meet the owner and breeder of the greatest race horse of all time, Secretariat recently at the Belmont. Penny Tweedy Chenery is a generous kind woman with a wonderful spirit. I was sitting at the finish line watching over several remote cameras for my good friend Ken Regan, who was on assignment for Sports Illustrated. Penny was lovely and enjoyed learning that one of my horses is a Secretariat grandson, and that Mashantum was a highly successful event horse and FEI dressage horse. Life is strange sometimes how these intersections occur. The old saying that we are all connected is true.
Stunt rider Jered doubles for the character Rex on One Life to Live, riding the Ghost in several scenes to be aired on ABC in July.
Elegant 2 year old TB filly, super mind, started by Rex Peterson, already trained to walk, trot, canter in ring,
hacking cross country, she loves the water and hopping over ditches, she is uncomplicated with excellent
ground manners, very flashy under saddle, 15.2 and growing. Bay is a lovely prospect
for eventing and she is reasonably priced to a good home. Contact cari@cariswanson.com for details.
Bob Woods from One Life to Live hangs out with Danny Aiello, Jared, Vincent and Cari who are handling all the stunts for the latest episode being filmed on location at the Farm.
Vanessa is already following in her parents hoofprints.
It is never too early to start to ride.
Winston Churchill said “No hour of life is wasted that is spent in the saddle.”
Sadly, Monday morning we lost one of my best friends and teachers, Tony Mason.
Cosmo was relaxed at his first Dressage Show this Spring. The weather was beautiful with sunny skies and cool breezes. Cosmo showed in training level four and first level one with great success. Joa rode him beautifully giving him a great experience over the weekend.
Saddle by Rudy Mudra
Don King was born August 19, 1923, in Douglas, Wyoming, on the North Platte River about 100 miles north of Laramie. His father, Archie King, was a cowboy and itinerant ranch hand who traveled all over the Western United States. By the age of 14, King was beginning to support himself doing odd jobs on ranches and at rodeos, and trying to learn to tool leather in his spare time. Within a year, he was selling and trading belts, wallets, and various small gear of his own making. “Cowboys always trade,” King said. “I traded for pants, shirts, hats, spurs, anything. Sometimes I ended up with nothing.”
For years, King worked in saddle shops and on ranches in California, Montana, and Arizona before returning to Wyoming, where, in 1946, he married and settled in the town of Sheridan. There, he became an apprentice to his friend Rudy Mudra, an expert saddle maker, doing piecework and assisting in the building of saddles for the local cowboys. Later, King was able to acquire his own 200-acre ranch, where for several years he raised cattle and horses while working only part-time at the leather trade.
In 1957, King devoted himself full-time to saddlemaking and leather tooling, focusing primarily on highly ornamental trophy saddles, which are given as prizes in rodeo competitions. He developed his own style of tooling, characterized by wild roses with a distinctive shape (as though they were viewed from a 45-degree angle), arranged in complex, scroll-like patterns of interlocking circles.
King became known for his impeccable craftsmanship and incredible precision that were demonstrated in the making of what is now known as the “Sheridan-style” saddle, a type of saddle he is credited with almost single-handedly developing. The Sheridan-style saddle is, in its general form, a classic high plains roping saddle: short, square skirts; a low cantle with a broad Cheyenne roll; large swells and a prominent horn; small side jockeys; and relatively narrow fenders that are at a 90-degree angle to the skirt. King was one of several saddle makers who were responsible for the increasing popularity of this saddle, although its most distinctive element is the characteristic wild rose tooling he created. In addition, King used unusually deep stamping to give greater three-dimensional depth to his tooling and relied more heavily on the swivel knife to emphasize the lines of detail more than the shading.
By the late 1950s, King had established his reputation among ranchers and rodeo cowboys. Sheridan, where he lived, had been a center of the cattle industry since the late nineteenth century and has supported numerous leather workers and saddle makers. King’s apprentices have included a number of top-notch saddle makers, including Billy Gardner, Chester Hape, and Bob Douglas. His sons, Bruce, Bill, Bob, and John, have all become accomplished leather toolers.
Over the years, King’s saddles have been acquired by working cowboys and celebrities alike, such as Queen Elizabeth, Ronald Reagan, and the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia. He has made trophy (prize) saddles for virtually every rodeo event, working regularly to meet the needs of the PRCA (Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association). His work has been exhibited widely in museums and festivals, such as the Edward-Dean Museum of Decorative Arts (Cherry Valley, California), the Nicolaysen Art Museum (Casper, Wyoming), and the Pro Rodeo Hall of Fame (Colorado Springs).
