Carleton Brooks & UpHill Farm, Inc.

Dual Inspiration

by Jackie McFarland
In a conversation with Carleton regarding the horses he’s worked with over the years, I was fascinated with the sincerity of his connection and the methods that evolved from this union. The inspiration was two-sided: he was inspired by each horse’s innate desire to perform, and through innovative training, the horses were encouraged to enjoy being at the top of their game.

Carleton considers himself a producer, not a rider. He doesn’t just train; he channels the horse’s focus, bringing out the best in a horse by allowing them to do what they do best. His methods are inventive, inspired by the horses themselves, and by legendary horsemen from a variety of disciplines. “One of my favorite ways to allow a horse’s hind end to come up underneath him I learned from cutting horse trainers.” He wants the horse to guide him as to what works in their program.

“All my horses went in a snaffle, or occasionally a thick sweet metal twisted wire because they would like to balance on it. I also created my own bit by taking a piece of cotton rope, re-braiding it and attaching to two D-rings. They liked to suck on it.” He further explained, “I tried to feel what they were going through, to see it through their eyes. Once I did, I could figure them out.”

Carleton was often asked to work with horses that were refusing to jump, not performing to their potential. “I would spend days just trying to figure them out. Once we were on the same page, many of the horses became overachievers. They wanted to give and give.” After investing this time, Carleton would know what made the particular horse tick or not, and then gave as much breadth as possible for success.

As a horseman, “I didn’t dominate my horses – I allowed them. I allowed them to think. I was the guard rail, keeping them from going off the road.”

The Horses
We discussed the stories behind some of the horses in his rich history. The list is extensive – “Looking down five columns of horses over two pages (handwritten), I can tell you I learned something from each and every one of them.” Below is a small grouping, with more interesting stories to come.

This just in: we've heard that Just for Fun, one of Carleton’s first conformation horses, will be inducted into The National Show Hunter Hall of Fame this month!

Doubletake

The word is WOW. An amazing horse. Wise and extremely talented as well as subtly sensitive. He was a 2nd year horse out of the Northwest. I rode him in a warm up class and bought him. I competed on him at Indoors with a broken elbow. And later sold him to Eva Gonda.

Trinity

A 16h Thoroughbred, he was the little train that said ‘I think I can, I think I can... I know I can’ He never ceased to amaze me. Who would have thought he would jump 3’9”, let alone 4’. Just kept firing. He won so much we gave him a year off showing.

Vested

Extremely intelligent Thoroughbred with an amazingly spectacular jump. He was one of the overachievers. We never schooled him in the warm-up ring. A bit quirky, you had to be a horseman to deal with him. Just incredible in the air.

Penn Square

This was a horse that could fill Vested’s stall (and shoes). Another that we never schooled, he went straight to the ring.

Both Vested and Penn Square communicated with me from a distance, they would look at me when I came around the corner of the barn. I spent hours riding these horses at the walk, just becoming a part of their team.

Calvin

When I purchased him he had a difficult lead change. I didn’t ride him until the horse show. Went to the back ring and jumped off a bank, kicked him for a lead change. By teaching him to change his balance in the air via the bank jump, he was able to carry that over to changing leads across the ground. He didn’t have a problem after that. He was also a Thoroughbred and an overachiever.

Buccaletti

A Thoroughbred that had a mentally rebellious personality. The day before the winter circuit started I went out to the paddock and worked with him for 30 minutes on the ground. He was 3rd in his first two classes and then he started winning everything and never looked back. His warm-up was vertical-vertical combinations, maybe at 2’6” or 3’. Never a single jump.

Play with Fire

A large Thoroughbred that we found difficult to figure out. One day I decided to ride everything opposite to what I had been doing and it worked perfectly. He had trouble holding his lead from the hind-end, and I was using a balancing outside rein. So instead I used inside leg and no outside rein and it worked. He was a beautiful jumper. I judged him in Pennsylvania not too long ago. Now I’m a Facebook friend with his owner!

Corporate Profit

A true champion. Great mover, phenomenal jumper. Square, stylish – and ideal jump. Some found him difficult, not me. You had to understand him. He was also a Thoroughbred; I had a lot of success with Thoroughbreds. He was a consistent Champion, including the Garden (Madison Square Garden, former location of the National Horse Show)

Clay County

He had a great dislike for the warm-up ring. So we didn’t school him. First time I took him in the show ring he stopped. I spanked him on the shoulder and left the ring. Next time in I flipped my hands so my palms were facing up. He went beautifully and that was it. The judge knew the horse and asked me how I did it. I figured out that he fought the rein pressure, so that’s why I changed my hand position, less pressure.

Inspired

A fabulous horse that somehow got hurt. She started to lie down when we tacked her up. We went to a Buck Brannaman clinic, used his ideas and figured her out. For the first year, she had to be a one-person horse; once we picked the right person she won everything. After that year, more riders had tremendous success on her.

Can We Talk

Originally a sidesaddle horse that would rub all the jumps. This is due to the tendency for sidesaddle riders to jump ahead or fall behind the motion at the jump. She learned to feel her way around as self-preservation. Obviously not good for a show hunter. Once Lesley and I figured out how to ride her last few strides before the jump and how to position ourselves off the ground, we were able to successfully change her jumping style and she was a winner.