Patrick King has been a student of the horse for as long as he can remember – growing up riding and competing with many breeds of horses in various disciplines, from jumping to driving to western pleasure. He has been fortunate enough to make friends and spend time with some of the industry’s top horsemen. Sharing the knowledge that he has gained along the way, and continues to gain, is Patrick’s number one passion.
Patrick has the pleasure each year of working with a large number of incredibly varied horses. In any given month, he may have ranch horses, gaited horses, draft horses, racehorses, mules, and warmbloods all in the same barn to start under saddle, polish for performance, or solve specific troubles. He may climb off of a dressage horse to climb onto a roping horse, or a reining horse or jumper, and eventually finish the day out on a backyard trail horse. To Patrick, they are all great horses and his goal is to help develop them into the best they can be. They are all ridden like champions, whether they will ever enter a competition arena or not.
In 2007, Patrick was offered the rare opportunity to spend extended time living and learning with master horseman Ray Hunt and his wife Carolyn. This experience, offered to only five individuals from across the US, catapulted Patrick’s horsemanship. It became a simple way of life to have a ‘real job’ for each horse, even from the first ride. Horsemanship turned from a ‘practiced science’ into a ‘living art’ under Ray’s watchful eyes and priceless guidance.
2009 had Patrick competing in the Extreme Mustang Makeover with not one, but two wild Nevada mustangs. Within days, Patrick was riding both horses and continued to use them as clinic and demonstration horses until the competition in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. When the final scores were tallied, ‘Reno’ and ‘Vegas’ came out at 9th and 11th place overall. Following the competition, both horses went to great adoptive homes.
Throughout the year, Patrick travels with his wife, Nicole, helping people and their horses through his horsemanship clinics, seminars, and demonstrations. His clinics are attended by riders of varying levels, from backyard 4-H riders to Olympic-level Dressage riders. What he teaches is not so much an exercise or drill, as so many other clinicians and trainers teach, but a feel. It’s a feel that becomes a connection and a synchronicity of two minds and two bodies, the horse and the human.
With over a decade of experience teaching horses and riders to understand each other, Patrick King is a man on a mission – to develop solid foundations in horses and riders.
It’s time to explore your potential & reach deeper understandings of yourself and your horse.
It’s time to define your goals and focus on your progress.
It’s time to become the kind of horseman that a horse admires and gives his all to.
Patrick King wants to help you become that kind of horseman.
