• Captain Gene McKensie, USA (dec.)

• Tawny Gaicoa, USET member

• Captain Roy Elderkin, Chief Equitation Instructor, Grey’s Scouts

• Captain Jack Fritz

• Colonel John Russell

Career Accomplishments

• Certified Mounted Police Instructor, United States National Mounted Police Training Group

• Advisor and Trainer to the United States Army for Mounted Training

• Advisor and Trainer for Film Production relating to Military Horsemanship

• Former member of the United States Army Equine Sport Team

• Producer of International Military Horse Shows

• International Competitor

• Nationally recognized Dressage Clinician

• Former USDF Region 9 Quadrille representative

• Quadrille Coach, Clinician, and Author

• Mounted Deputy, Montgomery County Texas

• NCOIC Mounted Color Guard 1/124 Cavalry TXARNG

• NCOIC/DSGT Mounted Military Police 4 REG TXSG

• Awarded by Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment, British Army

• Founding member of the Conclave of Cavalry Historians

• President, United States Tent Pegging Association

• Coach, United States Tent Pegging Team

• Stubben recognized Saddle Fitter

Background Information

Throughout my equestrian career, I have been granted extraordinary opportunities to study under some of the greatest military horsemen of the United States and foreign Armies, as well as Mounted Police Officers from across the globe. While growing up in West Texas, my riding was also influenced by the vaqueros that worked the local ranches. They were some of the best horsemen to ever sit a horse, and their methods had a significant impact on my riding. I learned to move and work with a horse in a practical sense, while maintaining an effective seat balance in varied terrain.

In 1963, I began my formal riding education under the guidance of Captain McKensie, an equitation instructor and retired cavalry officer that introduced me to traditional horsemanship. His experiences with the U.S. Cavalry School at Ft. Riley, Kansas, Tor di Quinto in Italy, and Saumur in France were passed down to me and formed the foundation of my riding and teaching abilities. Under his tutorage, I spent months on the longe line without reins or stirrups to establish an independent seat and solid riding basics. Today, I continue to use time-honored methods such as these to develop classical riding and horsemanship skills in my own students.