Adam Sutton

Adam is based in Cooranbong, NSW, where he grew up riding neatly with the local exemplary Pony Club once a fortnight and hooning around the Watagan Mountains like a mad thing the rest of the of the time. Later, Adam developed passion for rodeo and camp-drafting that took him all over Australia. Adam went on to build a reputation as a skilled and respected rodeo competitor, colt starter, riding instructor and trick rider – culminating in a stint as a wrangler for the movie 'Ned Kelly', where he also helped the actors with horsemanship skills.

His star horse is Archie, an unraced Thoroughbred stallion who Adam saved from slaughter and who has undoubtedly become a flagship for Adam’s training. Archie stole the show in an episode of ABC TV’s Australian Story with a series of tricks at liberty and is siring a string of outstanding foals. 

Adam specialises in starting and re-training horses, especially sensitive characters with problematic behaviours.  He regularly finds that horses have been confused by conflicting signals from their riders.  Keeping things simple and taking the pressure off these horses helps enormously. But Adam points out that this philosophy works just as well for all horses, not just those who have learned evasions and resistances.

He takes his time to listen to the problem responses as clients describe them. The owners usually have a great deal to say about the horse. Adam finds that the horse’s responses to his cues during remedial training usually alert him to errors in the regular rider’s technique. So when he hands back the horse after training, he is able to tell them what their horses have had to say about them.

Adam is a great believer in minimising distress during training. He likes to dismount with a smile on his face and he aims to do so when the horse too is effectively smiling.