About Patrick King

Passionate about dressage and classical equestrian ideals, Patrick King seeks the wisdom of the great riding masters- both past and present- and shares this knowledge with his students. Patrick has devoted his life to learning and teaching great horsemanship. 

Growing up, Patrick was partnered with a number of ‘problem’ horses that lead him to seek something more than just a superficial base of horse training: real horsemanship.  The works of Ray Hunt, Tom Dorrance, and others offered a perspective on understanding horses through psychology and emotions... and that changed everything.

His deeper learning quickly developed into a business of starting colts and working with challenging horses. To date, he's started well over two thousand young horses under saddle. 

This led him to opportunities to ride and collaborate with some of the best horsemen and women in the industry across multiple disciplines including Tom Curtin, Craig Johnson, Richard Winters, Wendy Murdoch, John Lyons, and many more. He was also incredibly fortunate to be offered the opportunity to spend extended time with master horseman Ray Hunt. This uncovered many layers of feel and timing in his relationship with horses; pieces of which he continues to develop daily.

Along this journey, he met several "enlightened horsemen" including Mark Russell, a student of Master Nuno Oliveira, who brought new ideas and set him down another path in this horsemanship journey by introducing an understanding of the biomechanics of the horse and the influence that has on feel and timing. 

This combination of working with the horse on the inside as well as the outside, psychologically and physically, really helps us to understand a more "total package."

Patrick's teaching has now expanded beyond the US into Canada, New Zealand, Australia, the UK and more - and through his online coaching, he works with riders in many countries around the globe. He continues to study each year with many teachers and mentors: Charles de Kunffy, Luis Valenca, Rafael Soto and so many more. He has ridden and trained horses in the Grand Prix movements, advanced in-hand work, and haute ecole.

Recently returning to the show arena after a 20 year hiatus, Patrick earned his Bronze and Silver USDF medals, in just 1 weekend each... which goes to show that classical horsemanship principles CAN and DO still fit inside the competitive arena.