Latest / Live Free Ride Free with Rupert Isaacson / Medieval Times & The Art of Horsemanship: Joy, Trust & the Old Masters | Mario Contreras | LFRF 55

Transcript

Medieval Times & The Art of Horsemanship: Joy, Trust & the Old Masters | Mario Contreras | LFRF 55 · Live Free Ride Free with Rupert Isaacson

0:00
Rupert Isaacson: Thanks for joining us.
0:01
Welcome to Live Free, Ride Free.
0:03
I'm your host, Rupert Isaacson, New York Times bestselling author of
0:06
The Horseboy and The Long Ride Home.
0:08
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0:34
So now let's jump in.
0:36
Welcome back to Live Free, Ride Free.
0:39
I've got Mario Contreras with me.
0:41
You may not know him, but you might well know what he does because you may-
0:45
â¦ have gone there as a tourist without ever knowing he was behind the scenes.
0:49
If you've ever heard of or gone to the chain of medieval-themed entertainment
0:55
in the USA called Medieval Times, it's kind of an iconic thing you will have
1:01
seen horses doing incredibly good, like impeccably good dressage fro- in the
1:09
manner of the Renaissance to the Baroque.
1:14
And I remember the first time I went there, and I didn't
1:17
quite know what to expect.
1:18
I thought, "Oh, it'll be all right.
1:19
Probably be a bit kitschy, you know.
1:20
Fine, I'm up for it," you know.
1:21
And Iâ¦
1:22
Someone took me there, and I sat there, and the horses came out,
1:25
and I was absolutely blown away.
1:28
I was like, "But the standard here is, this is crazy good."
1:32
And I was sort of looking around at the crowd, and they're like, they
1:36
don't know what they're seeing.
1:37
Like, they don't, they don't understand, like, how ridiculously amazing.
1:43
Like I, I saw someone riding three huge caprioles one after the other, boom,
1:49
boom, boom, with ease and relaxation.
1:52
I'm likeâ¦
1:53
and, you know, there's people like, you know, having a beer
1:55
and talking to each other.
1:56
I'm like, "You don't realize what you're seeing."
1:57
Like, no, you don't realize what you're seeing.
1:59
Anyway, so I've got the man sort of behind all of this, Mario
2:03
Contreras from the Contreras family.
2:06
And he's got a really interesting story to tell about how all this
2:10
was built, how it's maintained, what are the life lessons and, you know,
2:15
what, what he's learned along the way and what we can learn from him.
2:19
So Mario, thank you so much for coming on the show.
2:22
Welcome.
2:23
Mario Contreras: Thank you.
2:23
Thank you so much.
2:24
Rupert Isaacson: Please tell us about, tell us about yourself.
2:25
Mario Contreras: Well, first of all, you know, thank you so much
2:27
for inviting me to your podcast.
2:29
It's a privilege to me to be here with you today talking, and I'm probably gonna
2:33
just tell you a little bit about my story.
2:35
I was born and raised in Mexico.
2:37
I'm the third generation of horse trainers in my family.
2:40
My grandfather, Don Marcel Contreras, my dad Jose Trinidad Contreras, and
2:47
of course all my, my brothers that are horse trainers, my nephews that
2:51
are continue to follow the you know, the tradition to be with our horses.
2:55
So my dad actually started in Mexico with my grandfather and then he
3:02
moved on to Mexico City, close to Mexico City in Estado de Mexico,
3:07
where he continue and startedâ¦
3:09
he was actually the founder of the Escuela of Jinetes Domeq with
3:13
Don Antonio Ariza back in the day.
3:16
So that's where my family comes from with horses.
3:19
If you ever hear about brandy Presidente and Don Pedro in Mexico to promote
3:23
the the brandy back in the day, it was throughout the Andalucians that Don
3:27
Antonio Ariza Ca- Canadilla brought to Mexico to promote the brandy.
3:33
So each each fair back in Mexico, they used to promote the brandy with
3:38
the horses, you know, bringing the show with Alta Escuela and all that.
3:41
And then through time, as you know, thank you to Don Antonio
3:45
Ariza, now Mexico we have our own breed, which is the caballo Azteca.
3:52
So after a while, of course, you know, we start growing up, I never had
3:55
the opportunity to be in that show.
3:58
My, of course, my dad, who was the founder in 1968, and then after that,
4:03
my My brothers, Marcial Contreras, Jorge Contreras, Trino Contreras,
4:09
my cousins that also joined the the the show Ruben Contreras, Roberto
4:14
Contreras, my cousin, El Portugues.
4:17
Pardon.
4:17
I'm sorry, the El Cordobes, that they were the foundation of that school.
4:22
And then of course, through time after a while when my brother Marcial
4:26
initiated working with Medieval Times, 19 1986, that's when he was there for a
4:33
few years, and then I came in in 1990.
4:37
Yeah â¦ he's the one who got me, give me the opportunity along with Don Victor
4:41
Delara, who who was there at the time.
4:43
I started in California Medieval Times in 1990.
4:47
And then of course I start, you know, working and learning as much as I could
4:53
Rupert Isaacson: Well, you've made that all sound rather
4:57
easy, but I know it wasn't.
4:59
Let's just go back to the beginning, and you also haven't told us, you
5:02
know, how you got to the US, et cetera.
5:04
But let's start back in Mexico.
5:06
Yeah.
5:06
So for people that are listening or watching it's really interesting.
5:09
The dressage world in the USA is a really weird one for me as a European because
5:18
they look to Europe for their inspiration, I suppose, either usually to Germany,
5:25
Germany, Northern Europe, or they look to the Iberian Peninsula, they look
5:29
to Spain and Portugal, sometimes both.
5:32
But what very, very few American dressage riders that I've
5:36
ever met do is look to Mexico.
5:39
I was fortunate to live for many years in Texas, and I met you, Mario,
5:45
because we used to help show for a very big Spanish horse breeder Rancho
5:52
del Lago, there outside of Austin.
5:54
So I met Mario at the big breed shows and of course there was- That was the,
5:59
Mario Contreras: International Andalusian and Lusitano Horse Association.
6:02
Rupert Isaacson: Indeed.
6:03
Correct.
6:03
Up there in Fort Worth, and it was one of the only places I saw in the
6:06
USA where Hispanic and Anglo horsemen got together and learned from each
6:13
other and created culture together.
6:17
Yes.
6:17
Everywhere else I went, it was completely separated.
6:21
And, you know, as you know, Mario, when you go to a show like that in the USA,
6:25
you see these master horse trainers, most, most of whom are Mexican or
6:29
Tejano or some, some of them born in the US, but many of them from outside,
6:35
and anyone in their right mind would go, "I want to learn from those guys.
6:38
How do I learn from those guys?"
6:40
And in the town we lived in, Elgin, Texas, just outside of
6:44
Austin, there would be a rodeo.
6:46
There's a rodeo ground.
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There would be an Anglo rodeo and there would be a charreada.
6:50
There would be a Mexican rodeo.
6:51
Right.
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But you would never see any Anglos at the charreada, and you wouldn't
6:56
see any Mexicans, unless they were working, at the Anglo rodeo.
7:00
It was like two separate worlds.
7:03
And I remember as a European going, "This is so bananas."
7:06
Like, the, th- there is all this wealth of horsemanship.
7:10
The conquistadors came over in the 16th century, brought the high school riding,
7:16
the doma vaquera, the, the classical riding with them, brought it very quickly
7:21
into North America, and it's been living and breathing there for 600 years.
7:25
Why wouldn't we learn?
7:26
So tell us a little bit about the horse culture in Mexico, and the horse culture
7:31
in Mexico that you grow up, grew up in.
7:33
Are you from Guadalajara?
7:35
Mario Contreras: Well, let me tell you a funny story.
7:37
Yeah.
7:37
My whole family was born in Tlaquitetlan de Corona, Jalisco, which is
7:42
probably- Wow â¦ like a 40-minute drive from Guadalajara downtown.
7:46
Okay.
7:46
And when my whole family moved to Estado de Mex- Me- Mexico, Mexico,
7:51
which is Texcoco, I was born there, in Texcoco, but- In Mexico City?
7:55
Correct.
7:56
So- Right â¦ a couple days later, because everybody was from Guadalajara,
8:00
legally I'm from Guadalajara, but I was bor- Okay â¦ I, I, w- I,
8:03
I did I was born in in Texcoco.
8:06
So
8:06
Rupert Isaacson: here's a question quickly on this.
8:08
Yeah.
8:08
Is Guadalajara a particular center of the horse culture in-
8:13
Mario Contreras: That is correct
8:14
â¦ Rupert Isaacson: in Mexico, and why?
8:16
Mario Contreras: You know what?
8:16
I think because everybody's it's for the tradition.
8:19
You know, we were born with the horse.
8:20
Of course, now horses are kind of like a luxury.
8:24
But back in the day, you know, it was, horses were everything before
8:28
the machinery came into place.
8:30
You know, before the tractors, before the cars.
8:32
You know, I think all Mexico's was used to having a horse.
8:35
I think as you know, throughout the history, horses are the only
8:39
animals who have, you know, continue to be in our lives, and to me, I'm
8:44
so grateful to have it in my life.
8:46
Talking about, you know, back in the day when my- father used to be a
8:51
charro and do the, all the you know, chores around the barn in Mexico.
8:56
It was everything with horses.
8:57
But when the, he met Don Antonio Ariza and start mixing his charro, his charro
9:05
you know, stuff with the alta escuela, that's when you start seeing horses
9:09
or trainers back in the day to start teaching horses how to not just to do
9:15
the lados, spinning, and the slicing, which is in charreria, you know, lassoing
9:21
the horses, I'm sorry, the bulls and all that stuff, or the wild horses.
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So eventually you start seeing more, like, show.
9:28
Like, eventually, of course, everything, everything became competitor, which
9:32
is now you see, nowadays you see competitions, alta escuela, charreria.
9:37
But mixing it was, you know, very difficult back in the day to see,
9:41
especially, you know, we Latinos as Mexicans, we love our tradition.
9:46
But I think it's always important to be open, have an
9:49
open mind to learn everything.
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Me, I- that's why I always emphasize to to educate and teach and learn
9:57
as much as I can from anybody.
10:00
My dad when he start mixing his charro movements with alta escuela, you
10:05
know, when we g- when we used to go to parades, to presentations to the fair,
10:10
La Feria de Texcoco in Mexico, which is one of the most important ones.
10:14
And then through time when they start promoting the brand, the Presidente,
10:18
they went to every single fair in Mexico- To promote the fair, but
10:24
the, with beautiful why Andalusians.
10:27
So I grew up with Andalusians.
10:29
They are in my heart like you have no idea, you know?
10:32
Mm.
10:32
I, I bond with them.
10:33
And nowadays, you know, I like I said, I have a very
10:36
open-minded, I work with any horse.
10:39
I learn from horses that people told me that they weren't gonna be good
10:43
for nothing, and we get to click, and then we transfer them into the horses
10:49
that the owners want them to be.
10:51
But with that it becomes, you have to have that skill, you have to have that
10:56
patience, and you have to have a good understanding of the horse's ability.
11:01
I think that all horses can do everything, just like people, but not with the same
11:06
ability, not with the same â¦ Some horses and some people are extremely gifted.
11:11
But you as a coach, you have to search and give them time and really look
11:17
for the proper exercises and, more than anything, have the patience
11:22
for e- everything, and teach people to have patience for themselves.
11:26
Throughout the years, you know, I was just a rider.
11:28
When I came to the US, you know, when I was with my dad for so many
11:32
years, and my brothers, I always thought that I knew everything.
11:36
And then I started getting into competition.
11:40
That was, that was in, you know, that's when I- When I really
11:45
felt that it was important for me to continue with my education.
11:49
And I, as always, I never wanted to be one of those that I know everything and, you
11:54
know, what I do is the right thing to do.
11:56
You always learn something.
11:57
You know, you go to different par- different barns, you go to
12:01
different countries you do- you go to different states here in the US.
12:04
I go to cl- I still go to clinics and learn as much as you can.
12:08
Even though you hear the same story sometimes, like, that kind
12:11
of confirms that you are going and you are in the right path.
12:14
Rupert Isaacson: Mm.
12:15
Tell me, how not everyone who's watching this or listening to this will
12:20
understand what is, what is a charro?
12:23
What is charreada?
12:24
And what is alta escuela?
12:27
Can you explain those for, as if someone had no horse knowledge at all?
12:31
Mario Contreras: Well, charreada is a Mexican tradition, and it is actually,
12:35
we are very proud to have our discipline in Mexico, you know, charreria, and
12:42
you know, and it's kind of like every- it's like working with at the barn, you
12:46
know, working with the horses, working with the cows, working at the ranch.
12:51
But charreria, we now in the association, of course it has developed in a
12:55
way where you as a rider and with your abilities as a, as a rider, as
13:02
a trainer, you know, you show the best of the horse being in the ring.
13:07
And right now, I think charreria is super popular in Mexico in a way that
13:13
it's not just for, you know, for daddy.
13:16
It's not for the old guys.
13:17
It's for, it's for the, the, the girls, the little kids.
13:21
It's like a family thing.
13:23
If you ever go to one of the perfo- or one of the competitions or just a
13:27
traditional little fiesta in Mexico, you're gonna see that everybody goes.
13:32
You know, every- it's like, it's like a family thing.
13:34
It's likeâ¦
13:35
And I think that's one of the things that I love the most.
13:38
Mm.
13:38
That it has to be, you know, it's not just for, you know, for ladies.
13:42
It's not just for, you know, older guys or, or, or a guy thing.
13:46
It's like, it's for everybody.
13:48
So the tradition in Mexico is like when you see, you know, if you ever
13:52
went to one of them, you see that there is the traditional, you know,
13:57
mariachi band the banda de viento tacos, tortas, all their food.
14:03
It's like a family thing.
14:04
It's like a huge fiesta.
14:06
So, you know, and I'm very, very proud to have that in my country, you know?
14:11
Mm-hmm.
14:11
Even though, you know, I never got the opportunity to, to be a charro, I have
14:16
done, tried, you know, to lasso the bulls and all that stuff, but I think my heart
14:20
always went into learning as much as I could with alta escuela and, you know, and
14:26
dressage, which is my passion nowadays.
14:29
Rupert Isaacson: So let's talk, so Alta Escuela translates to high school.
14:33
Again for the people who've, just really don't understand horses, what does that
14:38
mean when it comes to horse training?
14:39
What is high school horse training?
14:42
Mario Contreras: Well, high school and Alta Escuela to me, it has helped me a
14:45
lot, not just to become a better rider, but it's like it's, it, the discipline
14:50
and the detail that you have to put into it to really connect with the horse and
14:55
to have precision as much as you can.
14:58
You know, perfect doesn't exist.
15:00
But I think through time, through practice, and sometimes,
15:03
you know, oh, that was, you, you were lucky and good luck.
15:05
Well, I think that, that pays off with a lot of repetitions, with
15:09
a lot of training, with sometimes you don't have to work the horse
15:13
for 30 minutes or 45 minutes.
15:15
It's only a couple minutes until the horse really connects and understanding.
15:20
So precision riding, you know, that's why when you combine Alta Escuela with
15:25
dressage, of course, Alta Escuela back in the day teaching the airs above the ground
15:29
when horses were thought to be killing machines, you know, and, and were- Mm
15:34
like, you know, to really advance, to move the, the troops, you know, from one
15:39
side to the other, doing leg yields or half passes and pushing people around.
15:43
And of course, eventually, you know, teaching the horses how to do the
15:46
high school maneuvers, the Spanish Spanish walk to get people out of
15:50
the way, to get to do courbettes, to, you know, jup- Jump on people's heads
15:55
jump on top of people, and doing cabrioles, you know, getting
15:58
people from, from behind.
16:00
You know, teaching all these horses to do that.
16:01
Of course, nowadays it looks fancy, it looks- A lot of
16:05
people used to call it circus.
16:07
You know, I think to me, one of the most you know, inspiration, you know, things
16:12
for me to continue to keep going, you know, back in the day now it was very
16:17
hard to trying to find a video of the Real Escuela Andalusa de Arte Ecuestre- Mm
16:23
to find a book or, or something to see from the Spanish Riding School, from
16:29
the School of Saint Martin in France to, you know, the school in Portugal.
16:34
Nowadays all you have to do is just Google it.
16:37
Go on YouTube.
16:37
All you have to do is just, you know, sign up and all these platforms that
16:42
Facebook, Instagram, and you can see these beautiful horses doing perfect cabrioles.
16:48
You can see all this cool stuff that back in the day was so difficult to do.
16:52
So now, you know, thanks to internet and, you know, the connection that we have
16:57
all over the world, it's so easy for me, especially to my students, to, you know,
17:02
sit down for an hour and watch videos and explain the different disciplines.
17:07
Alta Escuela, I, I think to me, I continue to practice it pr- practice
17:12
it throughout Medieval Times, because that's what we do at Medieval Times.
17:16
We don't just teach horses to do the medieval games, you know?
17:20
Every single horse that you will see when you come next month to our show, every
17:24
single horse and every single rider, I, I train 'em from scratch, you know?
17:28
Most of these guys, they're either very athletic or they're actors, and our
17:32
horses, you know, back in the day when we first opened our first castle in
17:36
Kissimmee, Florida, which is still there Medieval Times, you know, in 19- 1983
17:43
we used to import our horses from Spain.
17:46
Nowadays Me- Medieval Times is pretty big.
17:48
We have 10 Medieval Times, nine in the US and one in Canada, and, When
17:53
you come to see our show and you're gonna see, okay, that, you know, you
17:57
see thousands of people screaming, and the lights, that sound, and
18:01
horses are listening to the rider.
18:04
So it's, like I say, it's hard to transfer or transmit that to the riders
18:09
or to the horses, but I think when you have these program of training, I think
18:14
putting the program into, into place is one of the most important things to make
18:18
sure that sometimes if you come, when you come to our castle, you're gonna
18:22
see riders that been with me for a lo- around 15 years training with me, and
18:26
then you're gonna see riders that they've been only with me for, like, around five
18:30
years, and then you see people that they never touched a horse in their life.
18:35
And then through time, you start teaching them all these
18:38
things from different schools.
18:39
Every time I get the opportunity to go to a clinic, I bring it to the castle,
18:44
I bring it to my riding school over here in, in Maple Park at the Gate at 45.
18:49
That's the new barn that I've been, you know, showing and
18:52
teaching for the last 10 years.
18:54
And and to me, like I said, it's important to continue to educate
18:59
myself, to always have an open-minded to, to try new things if necessary.
19:04
But at the end of the day, as a trainer, you always put what works
19:07
for you and what is easier for you to develop as a trainer, as a coach.
19:12
And, you know, sometimes you can coach people, and you tell them the
19:16
same thing for the last six months, and then somebody comes along in a
19:20
clinic, and they're like, "Oh, I just
19:22
It just clicked to me the way he said it."
19:25
Back in the day, when I first came to the US, I did not speak a word of English.
19:31
In order for me to communicate with people, I have to go to
19:35
school and learn the language.
19:37
I still have little problems here and there.
19:39
My accent is not the greatest, but I try to do my best to communicate
19:44
in a way that people can understand me as well as the horses, you know?
19:47
One of the hardest thing to do, teach people timing and feeling, you know?
19:53
Mm-hmm.
19:53
You can't just put your hands like this, and transfer it, and
19:55
wait for a miracle to happen.
19:58
You know, sometimes you give a lesson, you say, "That was it.
20:00
Do you feel that?"
20:01
Well, sometimes you are not really aware of what you're doing, but, you know, a
20:05
couple days later, a couple months later, a couple years later, it'll say, "Now
20:09
I, I know what you're talking about."
20:11
So that timing, that feeling, when you achieve that consistency,
20:14
it's it's a, it's a great feeling.
20:16
It's a, it's a payoff, let's say.
20:19
Rupert Isaacson: So, okay, why would you take people who've never sat on a horse
20:25
before to train them up for a show that requires a really high standard of riding?
20:32
Surely you would be looking for people who already come
20:35
with a lot of equestrian skill.
20:37
What would be the logic there of taking somebody from-
20:40
Mario Contreras: Well, you know what?
20:40
Through Medieval Times- Mm-hmm â¦ we always, every time
20:43
we hire people, we do castings.
20:46
So as you see, our show requires actors.
20:50
So most people are actors or very athletic.
20:53
So when we do these castings and we interview these people, we always look
20:57
for people that has a good background on, they have to be animal lovers.
21:03
They have to have a good, you know, they have to like to work out and, and
21:09
exercise all the time because that's gonna really help us out to achieve what we
21:13
want to achieve with them in the future.
21:16
You know, out of 100 people that we interview, maybe five will cut it
21:21
to, to, to get into Medieval Times.
21:24
And then through that, we go through the whole test, and then
21:26
we go to the, we go through the, through the process of training.
21:30
And in order for them to be in the show, let's say as a knight, as a squire,
21:34
they have to be involved with horses.
21:36
Same thing that I, when I hire people, like right now at the castle, just
21:41
for stables, I hi- I hire people that loves horses, hire people that has a
21:46
little bit of background with horses.
21:48
And eventually those people become in the future, they, they, they become
21:53
either knights or squires, or they can become assistant trainers or
21:58
trainers in the future for our company.
22:01
Rupert Isaacson: Okay.
22:01
So there's a real career ladder there.
22:03
Mario Contreras: That is correct.
22:04
And then I think one of the beauties is that we have the ability, and
22:07
that's why I love Medieval Times.
22:09
Medieval Times gives you the opportunity to grow.
22:11
If you really like horses, if you really like acting, if you really like to be
22:15
in the spotlight, Medieval Times is it.
22:18
To me, you know, Medieval Times has give me and has make me into
22:23
what I am, and I'm very grateful.
22:25
I love the company.
22:27
I still, you know, try to do my best every time people comes to a show.
22:31
You know, out of Medieval Times in Chicago, it actu- it's actually
22:34
the biggest castle of all.
22:36
We fit 1,500 people per show.
22:39
So most castles are 1,000, 1,100, but Medieval Times in Chicago is the biggest.
22:44
So to me, being in front of people and performing with the horses, it's, it's
22:49
it's it brings me back to life, you know?
22:52
And and teaching our horses and our riders, when you see a horse when they
22:56
first come out of our breeding farm for Medieval Times in Chapel Creek Ranch
23:00
in Texas, you know, they come green.
23:02
We consider mature our horses when they are three, four, and five years old.
23:06
When it, when it's time for us to retire one of our horses, which we
23:09
do retire horses in the ages between 18, in our program 18 to 20 years
23:14
old, and then we get a new horse.
23:16
We start 'em from scratch.
23:18
We have our program at the ranch where horses are, you
23:21
know, with the halter break-in.
23:23
They put they start lunging them.
23:25
They start kinda getting the horses in shape by walk,
23:28
trot, canter, both directions.
23:30
In the round pen, we put the saddle, we put the bridle for the first time.
23:33
And then when they come to Medieval Times, we start theirâ¦
23:36
And, and as a trainer and as a coach, we, I decide, for example,
23:40
in my castle, I decide what they're going to be doing in the show.
23:44
We usually start with easy stuff, you know, doing the carousel, doing
23:49
the medieval games, and then after that we start deciding what they're
23:52
gonna be doing for them in the future.
23:55
Cabrioles the hind walk, the Spanish walk, the passage, the piaffe the
24:00
solo, which is one of the most, difficult routines in our show.
24:04
You know, we combine- What is the solo?
24:05
The solo, it's a combination Alta Escuela with dressage.
24:08
Okay.
24:08
In the Alta Escuela we do, of course walk, trot, canter in a collected gait.
24:13
We do flying changes.
24:14
We do canter pirouettes.
24:16
We do piaffe, passage, a Spanish walk, levades flying changes,
24:21
bow, and, you know, something.
24:23
It's a, a, an artistic routine.
24:25
In this caseâ¦
24:26
Well, I'm not gonna tell you the whole thing about the show, but I want you
24:29
to come and see it so you are- Yeah â¦ you know, excited when you see it.
24:32
But that in- And you
24:32
Rupert Isaacson: also put airs above the ground in that, too, I, I think.
24:35
Do you not?
24:35
Mario Contreras: That is correct.
24:36
Rupert Isaacson: Yeah.
24:36
Mario Contreras: That is correct.
24:37
Mm-hmm.
24:37
Rupert Isaacson: So which were these old battle moves that have
24:40
now been sort of formalized into art, one could say, equestrian art?
24:43
Mario Contreras: Yeah.
24:44
But- So I don't know if you know, but nowâ¦
24:45
So I'm sorry to interrupt.
24:46
No.
24:46
Now they w- every five years we change our show in Medieval Times.
24:51
Okay.
24:51
So every five years we have a fresh new show.
24:53
We change, of course, the choreography, the costumes, the lights, a new storyline.
24:58
And right now it's been a year since the new show.
25:02
So right now when you come, you're gonna see the new show.
25:04
Rupert Isaacson: Fantastic.
25:06
Okay.
25:06
So I want toâ¦
25:08
There's, there's a bunch of questions here.
25:10
Yeah â¦ but first, how doesâ¦
25:13
We, we, we've established that you were born into a horseman's family
25:16
that had come out of that horsey area of Guadalajara, Mex- Jalisco,
25:21
which is a horse hub in Mexico.
25:24
And then your dad got involved with this promotion company which
25:30
featured Andalusian horses, and you were lucky, fortunate enough
25:34
to grow and, and learn with that.
25:36
But then how does a boy, a Mexican boy, even with those skills, how does
25:40
a Mexican boy in the 1980s with no English find his way- into the US and
25:48
into this Medieval Times franchise.
25:50
How did that happen?
25:51
Tell us about those, that early transitional time for you.
25:55
Mario Contreras: Well, when I was in Mexico of course riding with my dad and
25:59
my brothers all the time it's I think it's in our blood already with the horses.
26:04
So when I came to Actually, I used to sing a lot when I was little.
26:07
I still sing, but now I just kinda do it for fun.
26:10
Uh-huh.
26:10
I do more karaoke than anything.
26:12
But when I came to the US and my brother gave me the opportunity as long
26:16
along with Victor De Lara, to work for Medieval Times, that's when everything
26:21
came back to life with the horses.
26:23
We, when we were in Mexico, my parents sold the barn and everything
26:28
in Texcoco and moved, and we moved to the city for me to go to school.
26:33
Believe it or not, but I was a mistake.
26:35
I was born like almost 20 years later.
26:38
My brothers, some of them were already married.
26:40
I actually grew up with my nephews.
26:42
Okay.
26:42
And so when I came to the US, my brother gave me the opportunity
26:47
to work for Medieval Times.
26:49
I started working with Medieval Times, and when they gave me the opportunity to start
26:52
riding horses, I could do things that other people took them a year to ride.
26:56
Rupert Isaacson: Mm-hmm.
26:56
Mario Contreras: To do, I'm sorry.
26:58
And when I felt that, I don't know, I was hooked.
27:02
I was hooked, and then from there I tried to learn as much as I could.
27:07
I started learning English.
27:08
I worked with my brother and Victor alone for many, many years.
27:12
And I will say probably two or three years later, I have the opportunity to become
27:18
not just the assistant horse trainer, but a horse train- a head horse trainer
27:22
here at Medieval Times in in Chicago.
27:25
I was so involved also with fighting.
27:27
I also learned how to fight.
27:29
I was a knight for around three or four years, and and it was a lot of fun.
27:33
I loved it, and everything had to do with being in the spotlight,
27:36
working with horses, and being in the n- in the entertainment world.
27:40
I love to entertain.
27:42
Rupert Isaacson: Was your, was your brother your main teacher there?
27:46
Mario Contreras: You know what?
27:46
My brother, yes he still, he still is.
27:49
I respect and I love him, and one of the things that I always gonna
27:54
say about my brother Marcial is that even though I was his brother,
27:59
he never give me a room to slack.
28:02
He never give me an opportunity to say, "Oh, you know what?
28:04
He's my little brother," you know, "Let him get away-" Yeah â¦ "with it," being
28:08
late or n- You have no idea how I, I, I was pushed by him, and I, even nowadays
28:16
I still go and try to maintain, just like my dad's legacy, to continue to be
28:22
a hardworking person and try to be as good as, as I can be with what I have.
28:29
You know, sometimes just like anything in life, you can be a, you can be a
28:32
really good rider or you can be a really good trainer, but if you don't have the
28:36
horse to develop your skills, it's- Yeah
28:39
it's gonna be very hard, or vice versa.
28:42
Sometimes you get a horse thatâ¦
28:44
I have had horses, and I still get, get them once in a while,
28:48
that are misunderstood, horses that nobody can deal with them, horses
28:52
that have been ruined because they don't understand their personality.
28:56
They don't get into their mind or their brain properly, and these
28:59
horses are, get ruined by people that claim to be trainers or very good- Mm
29:06
um, and, and, and is, a- and I feel that you just have to really
29:12
spend the, the time in a way where, In the future it pays off.
29:18
And once you connect with horses that people thought that were not goodâ¦
29:23
I have, I have had the opportunity to get horses, I w- I'm kind of
29:28
like his last option before they go to the kill pen, and- Yeah
29:31
turn them around, and turn these horses into beautiful creatures.
29:35
But unfortunately, these horses are not just for anybody.
29:40
You have to have the right person to work with these horses in a way that youâ¦
29:44
I always tell people when they bring horses to me the culture in Mexico was you
29:49
bring the horse and train him, you know?
29:51
They also say, "We can be finished the horse in a year,
29:54
and then you can take him."
29:55
Well, the horse is not the only one who has to learn and go to school.
29:59
That's why I always continue to promote education, not just for
30:04
the horse, but the riders as well.
30:06
Mm.
30:06
Whoever's gonna be working with the horse in the future is
30:09
the one that has to be there.
30:11
And I think the beauty, if like I told you with my brother, he make
30:14
me clean stalls, like, for so many years and, and brush horses and
30:19
shampoo horses and braid horses.
30:21
When you feel like you're already a trainer, a trainer that, you know, I don't
30:25
have to do that, that's, that's my time.
30:27
No, you know what, I, I still do it.
30:29
I still do things that people thinks, like, "Whoa, aren't you the head trainer?"
30:34
Yeah, that's fine, but that doesn't take anything from you.
30:37
I think one of the things that- No,
30:38
Rupert Isaacson: absolutely.
30:39
Mario Contreras: Yeah.
30:39
Rupert Isaacson: And I think, I think there's a great, there's a great
30:41
value when you are- Correct â¦ in the leadership role- Correct â¦ of
30:45
showing that you do not mind doing the basic tasks and that-
30:49
Mario Contreras: Correct.
30:50
Getting your hands dirty.
30:51
Yep.
30:51
Rupert Isaacson: Indeed.
30:51
And, and also showing that this is how you learn horsemanship- Correct â¦ because
30:55
this is, of course, where you build your relationship with your horse-
30:58
Correct â¦ is when you're standing next to them, washing them, brushing
31:01
them, getting to know them- Correct â¦ understanding their moods and their needs.
31:06
Which leads me to another question.
31:07
So, you and I both, I think, share a similar philosophy when it comes to horse
31:11
training, which is that I train everything from the ground before I put a rider on.
31:18
Correct.
31:18
And it's what we call the in-hand work, i- including- Correct â¦ you know, all the
31:22
work in the canter, and even the change, applying changes and all that stuff.
31:26
I'll do it walking next to the horse, and I did a deep dive, a d- a deep sort
31:30
of apprenticeship and education to learn how to do this, because I just observed
31:34
that the people that did this always seemed to have horses that were not
31:39
just reliable, but really happy, that- Yeah â¦ were clear in their minds.
31:43
I know that you are a master trainer of the in-hand work and the, and
31:47
the and not just a, a, a rider.
31:48
You are a master, Mario.
31:50
Mario Contreras: Well, thank you.
31:50
Thank you for saying that.
31:51
Rupert Isaacson: But I- I have, I have seen you and- Yeah.
31:54
So talk to us now about the value of the ground training and the in-hand training.
32:00
Most people think of it, all, all horse training as just
32:03
something you do from the saddle.
32:05
Or at least the complex stuff you would do from the saddle.
32:08
Talk to us about the, the, the, the in-hand work, the, the,
32:12
the long reining, all of this.
32:14
How do you do it?
32:15
Why is it important?
32:16
What does it give you?
32:18
Mario Contreras: Well, I think the most important thing of
32:20
this is building the horse's confidence, and to build this trust.
32:25
Once you build that, you can do anything.
32:27
But more than anything, when you do everything in-hand, I think that's the
32:31
perfect way to teach the brain of the horse to understand you, because at
32:37
the end of the day, you are kindaâ¦
32:39
you gotta talk his language for him to understand what you want.
32:42
You know, a lot of people, for example, if you're gonna teach a piaffe or a
32:45
Spanish one, let's say piaffe, you know everybody loves piaffe, right?
32:48
So how do you teach it?
32:50
Most people, you know, a lot of people teaches it from the f- just by, you
32:53
know, going from a, a working trot to a collected trot, into half-steps,
32:59
into piaffe on place, right?
33:01
That's fine.
33:01
To me, I find it, I can do it, but to me it's a lot harder, not just for me, but
33:06
I find it harder for the horse to get it when you have somebody on top of you.
33:10
I
33:10
Rupert Isaacson: agree,
33:11
' Mario Contreras: cause they have- When you do it- â¦ to figure out weight.
33:12
Yeah.
33:13
Yeah, yeah.
33:13
Correct.
33:14
But when you do it from the ground, the horse has this freedom to not to get the
33:19
wrong cues from the rider when, when we are bad riders and we still don't haveâ¦
33:24
I think to become a great rider, you have to be extremely quiet and, and
33:28
steady and relaxed on top of the horse.
33:30
Now, if you do it from the ground with nothing on, just a little halter and a
33:34
lead rope, you just touch the hind leg.
33:36
Let's say that you are on the left side of the horse and you just tap the left hind.
33:40
You just teach something very simple, just like putting a fly on a, on the horse,
33:44
and when he feels that touch, that's like a fly landing on the horse, and the
33:48
horse, all of a sudden he picks it up.
33:51
And then you praise him by, you either give himâ¦
33:54
I use a lot of petting.
33:56
I, once in a while I do use sugar cubes.
34:00
I use pieces of apples, pieces of carrot, something to motivate the
34:05
brain to say, "Why did I get that?"
34:08
So train the brain to respond to something that I ask.
34:12
At the end of the day, what you're really doing is asking a question and,
34:16
of course, you want the correct answer.
34:18
But sometimes you touch the horse, and the horse in the beginning,
34:21
especially when they're extremely sensitive, what do they do?
34:24
They jump, they kick, they rear, they move side to side.
34:27
They go backwards, they go sideways, they go forward.
34:30
They do everything, but at the end of the day you want something so simple that
34:34
is just pick up your li- your hind left.
34:36
Just pick it up.
34:37
I don't want anything, just pick it up.
34:39
Eventually, when you start teaching that program of training- Every single little
34:44
cue means something, and most people, I don't know if you, it, it happens to you
34:48
when you start teaching, people loves to talk, people loves to move around.
34:52
So all that movement creates a cue because they don't understand that
34:57
being quiet with their body, that's their h- that's their language.
35:00
And so if you start quiet and, and project being assertive nothing is
35:05
wrong, I think you know that by nature when you as- when you move around
35:10
so fast, you trigger their behavior.
35:12
Like, "Oh, what's going on?
35:13
Somebody's gonna eat me, so, let's, let's run away."
35:16
But you have to build that trust and make sure the horses are
35:20
extremely connected with you, so eventually they start understanding.
35:24
After a while, you tap not just the hind left, now the hind right, and
35:28
now the, tap the front left, now the front right, then being quiet.
35:31
Eventually you put that together.
35:33
And of course, like you said, at the castle when, or anywhere, when
35:37
we go and just do, regardless if it's a competition or exhibition,
35:42
I think good riding is good riding.
35:44
Having a good understanding of the horse, depending on the levels that
35:48
you are with the horse or the time that you've been working with the horse.
35:51
But it's important to teach that from the ground, so eventually you transfer,
35:55
transfer it to your riding aids.
36:00
Rupert Isaacson: When one sees the horses in Medieval Times,
36:02
it's qu- it's quite interesting.
36:03
And I, I see a lot of equestrian shows.
36:06
A lot of friends of mine, you know, work in or are trainers in or have,
36:11
are even producers of equestrian shows.
36:14
I've â¦ Sometimes you look at them and the horses are not so happy.
36:21
Sometimes you look at them and the horses are really happy.
36:24
One of the things I've noticed with the Medieval Times horses is they're happy.
36:28
Yeah.
36:28
As a horseman, I can see, oh, these are happy horses.
36:31
They're clear in their job, they're happy in their job, they're enjoying the show.
36:39
When people are trying to get together with horses to put on shows, whether
36:48
it's in competition or whether it's just for fun or for their art-
36:52
Mario Contreras: Exhibition.
36:53
Mm-hmm
36:53
â¦ Rupert Isaacson: exhibit.
36:54
Yeah.
36:54
What for you is the real key to making it really enjoyable for a horse so it's
37:01
not stressful, so the horse doesn't feel under pressure to perform, that the horse
37:05
comes with his heart and actually wants to perform as much as the human does?
37:10
How, how do we achieve this?
37:11
Mario Contreras: That's a very good question.
37:13
For example you know, I have on my training facility with MC Horse Training
37:18
The Gate of 45 and of course Medieval Times, I think building a program is
37:24
important putting the program together.
37:26
For example, at Medieval Times, I have 25 horses right now.
37:29
It's a full house.
37:30
So how many horses do I use for the show?
37:33
Usually 12 or 13.
37:35
That all the same horses do the same show every day?
37:38
Well, it's like you eating tacos all the time or eating hamburgers all the time.
37:44
Can you do it?
37:44
Yes, you can, but it gets boring.
37:46
It gets likeâ¦
37:47
Right?
37:47
So that's why it's important to put the program together.
37:50
I mix the horses all the time.
37:54
I cross-train them all the time, so they are not used to the same thing.
37:58
All horses dependent of course on their ability, but you gotta make sure that
38:02
you give them a day off or two days off.
38:04
All horses have to go out every single day.
38:08
That's part of the ritual of training.
38:10
Turnouts are super important.
38:13
Making sure that, That they get their turnout.
38:15
For example, we start our day with, of course, we do our f- give our
38:20
first meal at 7:00 in the morning.
38:22
After they get their meal, all horses get out, and they are
38:25
pretty much outside all day.
38:27
Rupert Isaacson: When it's da- Where, where do they go out when they're inâ¦
38:28
'Cause a lot of, like Medieval Times Chicago, it's down, it's
38:31
in, it's in a very built-up area.
38:33
Where do you have to turn them out?
38:35
Mario Contreras: Well, when you come to Chicago, Chicago, we're very privileged
38:38
in our castle because we actually have the paddocks in the back of the castle.
38:41
Okay.
38:42
Outside So you've got
38:42
Rupert Isaacson: fields out back,
38:43
Mario Contreras: right?
38:43
Yeah.
38:43
There is a couple Medieval Times that they do not have paddocks on the outside,
38:48
but they, those Medieval Times, they have a huge, beautiful barn not too
38:52
far from the castle where horses go, and they get their, let's say their
38:56
little two or three days out of the week to go, and then we, Oh, they'll go,
39:00
Rupert Isaacson: they'll be rotated out to the country
39:02
Mario Contreras: we rotate them all the time so they can go their time out.
39:05
Got it.
39:05
So, you know, but that's important, and that's part of every
39:08
single Medieval Times program.
39:11
So here at, in Chicago, we're very lucky that we don't have to, you know,
39:15
put the horse in the trailer every day, which I wouldn't mind if I had to do it.
39:18
I will do it all the time.
39:20
But what I'm saying is that when everything is right there, like in this
39:23
castle in Chicago, we have our paddocks right next to the castle, and you,
39:28
if you ever show up in the morning, that's, you're gonna see that that's
39:30
part of the program to turn horses out.
39:33
Even when the days are super beautiful, of course, during the
39:36
winter we don't work outside because it's so cold or there is snow.
39:41
But s- we're so privileged also that we work indoors, and we have
39:44
two arenas in the, inside the castle, which inside the castle we
39:48
have air conditioning and heating.
39:50
So- Mm â¦ it doesn't matter if it's 20 below outside, horses are, We,
39:55
we're able to work like if we would be in a 68-degree environment, you know,
40:01
perfect for riding indoors all the time.
40:04
And our stables are state-of-the-art stables where horses are being taken care
40:08
of from 7:00 in the morning to 10:00 PM.
40:11
Even when we leave the castle, security goes every single hour
40:16
and check the horses to make sure that they are doing fine.
40:19
So, and that's that program.
40:21
With training, let's say a regular day right now we are in busy season, which we
40:26
have our first show for the kids, and it's a smaller version of the big show in the
40:31
evening, which we have, the morning show, it's an educational matinee show at 11:00.
40:37
You know, and right nowadays in this summertime, we have usually
40:41
Thursday and Friday, which is our small show in the mornings.
40:44
And then in the evening we have a regular show especially in this castle,
40:48
around 6:45 that we have a regular show, wh- which is a two-hour show.
40:52
And that's â¦ Right before that, let's say with the
40:55
we start our day when we arrive around 3:00 with all the guys,
40:59
the new knights or the, the guys.
41:01
We practice some of the routines that we need, or we start schooling the new
41:04
horses for the show, where we put lights, sound, music, or very simple, continue
41:10
with the education that they started at the barn, at the ranch, with just lunging
41:16
teaching them how to walk, trot, canter.
41:18
But we start introducing lights, sound music you know, the the guys practicing
41:25
on the side with the swords and the sound of the shields hitting the sword, and
41:28
all those little things that if you see some of these horses, you know, in the
41:32
beginning, it's, it's very scary for them.
41:35
But I think it's where, to me and to us at Medieval Times, it doesn't matter
41:39
if it takes us, I don't know, some horses are so good that in three mon-
41:43
in three months they are doing little pieces in the show, and then there's
41:47
some horses that will take up to a year to do little parts in the show.
41:50
And it doesn't really matter.
41:52
As long as the horse - Mm-hmm â¦ is comfortable, you know, when you come next
41:55
month and see our show, you're gonna see that, you see the finished product, with
41:59
the riders and the horses where they already are extremely comfortable to go
42:04
into in front of 1,500 kids screaming from the top of their lungs, and horses
42:11
will be just listening to the rider, even just to do simple medieval games.
42:16
Simple, you know, our little carousel, which is, I find that it's really, it's,
42:21
it's really good for the horses to be introduced to the show, where they go with
42:24
other horses and they feel comfortable as a herd to go with the others, with the
42:29
flags, you know, your helmet, your armor with it, your cape, which is really long.
42:34
And, you know, and horses get to enjoy.
42:37
But it's important for me to see when horses are stressed out or when horses
42:42
are not really ready for the show yet.
42:44
So- Mm â¦ and just like I said, I think time and the right program for each horse,
42:49
it's important to, to get things going.
42:53
Rupert Isaacson: You talked about cross-training.
42:55
T- what's cross-training in your context with horses?
42:57
Mario Contreras: Well, you know, most trainers are really, you know,
43:02
they just, Let's say that in my case, I'm just a high school trainer.
43:06
I'm just a Alta Escuela trainer, right?
43:08
Well, I f- I i- i- in order for me to put, like for example, our
43:13
show at Medieval Times, we have to mix all these disciplines
43:17
together to put it together- Mm
43:18
which is, of course, the main one, which is dressage, and then
43:22
of course Alta Escuela, which we add the airs above the ground.
43:26
We also add the the stunts to do all the jumping off the horse, falling off the
43:31
horse, doing the, the, the roll-outs, the fly-outs, the, you know, when you get hit
43:37
on the joust and you have to throw the shield, throw the lance, and, you know,
43:41
push yourself off the saddle correctly.
43:44
Everything starts standing.
43:46
Everything starts, you know, from scratch.
43:49
Until, like I said, these guys that never even touch a horse in their
43:53
life, eventually they become pros.
43:56
When you come and see our show, you're gonna see whoever becomes the champion
43:59
that day on that show, it's gonna take at least three years of, you
44:03
know, training to achieve that spot.
44:06
Rupert Isaacson: Mm.
44:07
Mario Contreras: And if you see these guys, they make it look easy, but it's,
44:10
there's a lot of training behind that.
44:12
And not just, I always feel that it's important, in order for you to
44:16
become a great rider which we all are riders, eventually you depe- develop
44:21
yourself into a coach or a trainer.
44:23
But in order for you to become a great rider, you must learn to ride different
44:29
horses different mindsets, different brillos, you know, where horses sometimes
44:35
you're like, "Oh, this one is a, a pistol.
44:37
This one is super sensitive.
44:39
You know what?
44:39
This one I put my leg on and it seems like nothing bothers him."
44:43
So learning how to ride different different horses I think is crucial
44:48
for you to become a great rider.
44:50
You know, Eventually through time when you put these horses together
44:53
and these riders together, you're gonna see that in the beginning, just
44:57
like horses, just like riders, we are intimidated, like, "Oh, you know what?
45:01
I'm gonna ride a new horse," and you don't know.
45:03
But if I think if you have the right program and the right
45:05
coach to take you in, inâ¦
45:08
A- and I'm gonna tell you, I'm gonna- I'm a very pushy coach.
45:11
I want results.
45:12
I don't wantâ¦
45:13
I'm not the kinda coach that is gonna have you on the launch
45:16
line for, for three years.
45:19
I'm not a gonna- I'm not the kinda coach that would like that is gonna
45:22
spend the time just for you to be a training-level rider for five years.
45:27
I want results.
45:28
I want, I want you to move forward.
45:30
I want horses to becomeâ¦
45:32
Of course, always the goal is gonna be to, to become a Grand Prix
45:36
rider to have a Grand Prix horse.
45:38
And, you know, I think it's very important to do it in a way where physically and
45:43
mentally you have to be prepared for that.
45:46
Putting too much pressure, you know, I'm a very pushy coach, but I know
45:50
when to back off as well, not just with the horses, but riders, you know?
45:54
I think the new g- new generation of riders lately,
45:57
they are a little sensitive.
45:58
You can't push them because we cry.
46:00
We "Oh, he doesn't like me."
46:02
But I, I think that's important why it's important to have briefings,
46:06
meetings, little mini clinics at your own place with yourself, with your
46:11
people so they understand how you think, what you really want from them,
46:16
and how far you gotta, they gotta go between six months, a year, two years.
46:20
I think dressage to me has been very helpful to educate our new generation
46:27
because going from a, let's say, green as grass, just, you know, groom
46:33
the horse, clean the clean the stall brush him, and eventually putting the
46:37
saddle on, and eventually, you know, start doing little lunging lessons,
46:41
just you and the horse, and the rider.
46:44
And always having these people right next to you so it sometimes they will
46:48
catch things that you don't even explain.
46:50
You know, just very simple, holding the reins, or holding the launch
46:53
line, or holding the whip, or how to use the whip in a way that
46:56
you're not just scaring the horse.
46:58
I usually call tapping- Or touching the horse, when you touch him or you tap him.
47:03
Touching or, you know, petting the horse with a whip, I always y- think
47:08
that it's important to use the whip and the, â¦ E- every, every single tool that
47:13
you use to familiarize the horse with it so they start trusting you big time.
47:17
So when you get on the horse, I have worked with horses throughout my career
47:22
where people tells me that the horse is ready to learn piaffe, and these horses
47:26
are already 12 years old, 13 years old.
47:29
And then you approach him with the whip just to touch him, and
47:32
they want nothing to do with it.
47:35
Me you'll see me working with horses that are three, four years old
47:39
already, you know, getting, getting familiar with the tools or the
47:44
equipment that I'll be working with them for the rest of their lives.
47:47
Mm.
47:47
They must trust you when you approach them, and you must teach the people
47:51
how to approach them properly.
47:53
So, you know, horses are beautiful, but they can be also dangerous if
47:57
you don't read them properly or if you don't approach them properly or
48:00
if you don't use the tools properly.
48:03
Yeah.
48:03
Your spurs, your, your, your little whip to give him little commands
48:06
or to create a little more energy, to create a little more impulsion.
48:10
You know, all those things that you have to always keep in mind.
48:14
The more you learn, the more stuff you have in your head.
48:17
I have people that sometimes they re- read two or three books at once,
48:21
and then when come to you, they're so confused, they never know where to start.
48:25
Same thing happens to the horses when they are going, jumping from trainer
48:29
to trainer to trainer to trainer, and then when come to you, they are
48:34
already so Out of it that they want nothing to do with humans, and sometimes
48:41
I have to start just from scratch.
48:43
Mm.
48:43
Just put them in the round pen and just sit there with them for a little
48:47
bit until they come down and they, they start building that trust.
48:50
Rupert Isaacson: Absolutely.
48:51
No, I, I agree.
48:52
Any horse that comes to me, I always effectively start them
48:55
from scratch, even if I know they have a high level of education.
48:58
Honestly, if I need to get to know them, because if I f- I feel that if I
49:02
just get on and start demanding things-
49:04
Mario Contreras: Correct
49:05
Rupert Isaacson: As you know, if you followed any of my work, I'm
49:07
an autism dad and we have a whole career before this podcast in helping
49:14
people with neurodivergence, either who are professionals in the field.
49:19
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49:20
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49:22
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49:24
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49:27
When my son, Rowan, was diagnosed with autism in 2004,
49:32
I really didn't know what to do.
49:34
So I reached out for mentorship, and I found it through an amazing adult
49:39
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49:42
Temple Grandin.
49:43
And she told me what to do.
49:45
And it's been working so amazingly for the last 20 years.
49:49
That not only is my son basically independent, but we've helped
49:54
countless, countless thousands of others reach the same goal.
49:58
Working in schools, working at home, working in therapy settings.
50:03
If you would like to learn this cutting edge, neuroscience backed
50:08
approach, it's called Movement Method.
50:11
You can learn it online, you can learn it very, very simply.
50:14
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50:17
The important thing is to begin.
50:21
Let yourself be mentored as I was by Dr.
50:24
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50:28
Go to this website, newtrailslearning.
50:33
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Take the online movement method course.
50:40
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50:42
Let us know how it goes for you.
50:44
We really want to know.
50:45
We really want to help people like me, people like you, out there
50:50
live their best life, to live free, ride free, see what happens.
50:54
I don't really have that right.
50:55
I don't we don't know each other yet, so why don't we
50:57
just start from the very basic.
51:00
It'll just be an accelerated process, but why don't we do that?
51:04
Because I would do that with a human.
51:06
Why wouldn't I do that w- with, with a horse?
51:08
It's, it's interesting though in the old masters books, you know, when one reads
51:19
from the 18th century, even, even some of the later ones, they all tell us this.
51:24
They say, "Take your beginner rider," and this sounds like what you're doing, and
51:28
it's certainly what we do a- at my place.
51:30
Take your beginner rider, and on the first day, put them on one of your best
51:36
horses in the piaffe, either at the shoulder, you're at the shoulder, or
51:42
in the long reins or in the pillars, if you know how to do the pillars,
51:46
and let them feel how it should feel.
51:49
Correct.
51:49
And then little by little, bring them up to the level of that horse.
51:53
Of course, the only way I would think that you can create the riders who
51:58
are coming in off the street to be so good in that three-year timeframe
52:03
is, of course, you are, you are matching them with these extremely
52:07
good horses that will also show them.
52:10
Mario Contreras: I think, I think you have say something very important.
52:13
In order for me to achieve what you just said, that's what exactly
52:17
what I do at MediBall Times.
52:18
Rupert Isaacson: Mm.
52:19
Mario Contreras: I train all these guys in our school masters.
52:22
Mm.
52:22
And through time, believe it or not, these guys become an exceptional riders.
52:28
Mm-hmm.
52:28
Absolutely.
52:28
And these riders, in, in the future, those are the guys nowadays, you will
52:33
meet a few of them, that those are the ones who help me to train the young
52:38
horses, the horses that has no training.
52:40
But, you know, I think that's, what you just said, it's extremely
52:45
important to build their confidence.
52:47
I think, I think you have seen or has heard that, you know, a lot of
52:51
people when they have horse stories, they're like, "No, I don't like horses.
52:54
I got thrown off by one when I was little."
52:56
Well, because he was not- introduced to the horses the right way.
53:01
Indeed.
53:01
So now they hate him for no reason.
53:03
So, but when you say, "Well, you were on the wrong horse," or
53:06
whoever teach you was not thinking and, and didn't do it properly.
53:10
But eventually, I think same way, I have turned a lot of people around, having
53:15
that bad experience with horses back in the day, and I have the I'm so proud
53:20
that I actually have one guy that is one of the top trainers at the Meetable
53:23
Times that used to be that way, you know?
53:26
And now he's doing well, and he's been very successful because I changed
53:31
his mind how to see horses nowadays.
53:34
Rupert Isaacson: Right, and of course, you produced horses
53:35
that helped to change his mind.
53:37
That is correct.
53:38
You talk about c- creating feel and timing.
53:40
Of course, who's really going to show us this?
53:42
The horse.
53:43
Mario Contreras: Well, it's not, it's notâ¦
53:44
You know, sometimes- Yeah â¦ we always try to take the credit.
53:46
"Oh, I'm the trainer.
53:47
I'm the teacher.
53:48
I'm the coach," and no, I think the best, right, the best teachers
53:51
and coaches are the horses.
53:53
I think it's important for us- Absolutely â¦ to learn to listen to them and see them.
53:57
Yeah.
53:57
But the real trainers and coaches are the horses, believe it or not.
54:01
Rupert Isaacson: So, so tell me this.
54:02
So I, I was once giving a well, no, I actually asked
54:05
a top German guy to come in.
54:08
He was actually a representative of the FN, which is, you know, the,
54:12
it's like the USDF in, in, in America or so, in Germany- Yeah â¦ to come
54:16
to Texas and, and give us a clinic.
54:18
Mm-hmm.
54:18
And he gave us the sort of standard German clinic, you know, push, make
54:22
the horse go f- forward a lot, and- he then saw me giving a lesson, 'cause
54:28
I had some clients, I had to give a couple of lessons, and I was giving
54:31
a lesson to a beginner, and I put this beginner on a horse in piaffe,
54:35
and I'm saying, "Okay, now feel this.
54:36
Just sit still.
54:37
Feel it.
54:38
This isâ¦"
54:39
You know.
54:39
And he said, "Where did you learn that?"
54:41
And I said, "Well, in Portugal.
54:43
You know, I, I went and did a, an apprenticeship there."
54:46
And he said, "Well, no one teaches that way anymore."
54:49
I said- Yeah â¦ "That's true.
54:50
They don't.
54:51
Tell me, you are in the FN, why don't they do that?"
54:58
And he said, "Well, you just can't find the schoolmaster horses."
55:00
I said, "But, but you guys are in the FN.
55:02
You can create schoolmaster horses.
55:03
You know how- Yeah â¦ to create schoolmaster horses."
55:06
And he didn't really have an answer for me.
55:07
And I'm a, I, I sort of feel that w- in, since competition became so big, one
55:12
of the difficulties about competition, as opposed to, say, exhibition, is
55:16
that in a, in competition you have to have winners and losers, and you have,
55:20
always have to have more losers than winners, or there is no competition.
55:24
So it's almost as if the whole way of training and the whole way of
55:28
coaching of people too has almost gone to setting people up for failure.
55:34
Because when I go to the average clinic, when I see the average dressage trainer
55:38
training people, they absolutely do not put people on schoolmaster horses.
55:43
They absolutely let people break their hearts for, you know, five
55:47
years feeling stuck, without ever giving them a window on what it should
55:53
even feel like in the first place.
55:54
Why do you think this is, Mario?
55:56
Because you, you came from a really good, solid, old-school Mexican horse
56:01
family, where I'm sure you as kids were always put on really good, solid
56:07
horses that the older generation had prepared and, you know, that's
56:11
sort of how to do it with monies.
56:12
Why, why is this gone?
56:13
Why don't we see this?
56:16
Why?
56:16
Mario Contreras: I think, I, I think it's the culture.
56:18
Mm.
56:18
I think the culture is that's how it is.
56:20
Me, if you ever come to our place in in Maple Park, you know, the Gate@45 right
56:25
now I think I- that's what I promote.
56:30
I try to build riders, create riders.
56:33
Just like I said before, mentioned before about in order for you to
56:37
create great riders, you have to put them in these horses that are
56:40
it's a match for these people.
56:42
People that, you know, in the beginning of course, we make sure to,
56:45
they, we do exactly what the Spanish riding school of the Real Escuela
56:49
Andaluza del Arte Ecuestre, teaching people just to find their balance
56:53
first on the lunge line, right?
56:55
Mm.
56:55
And eventually you start putting these people, once they fi-
56:58
teach them in a schoolmaster.
57:00
Mm.
57:00
And then, you know, in no time you're gonna have great riders.
57:04
That's exactly what I do at Medieval Times, you know, with these
57:07
people that- Have no knowledge, but I think it's the culture.
57:11
Here- But so what do you mean by the culture?
57:13
W- w- what- Well, it's very hard, it's very hard for you
57:15
to go to a regular barn orâ¦
57:18
And, and somebody will let you use their horse for a lesson because they
57:24
have not just invest a lot of money.
57:26
Mm-hmm.
57:26
But when you put someone with no education and a horse, what's gonna happen?
57:31
The common thing, the horse is gonna go downhill on the training.
57:34
So-
57:35
Rupert Isaacson: No doubt â¦ but I, but I- But you don't haveâ¦
57:36
If you're a good trainer, you don't let that happen.
57:38
You basically just work your horse in-hand with a passive person sitting on top.
57:42
Mario Contreras: Not everybody's- Letting
57:43
Rupert Isaacson: them feel, right?
57:43
I mean- â¦ gonna
57:43
Mario Contreras: have that mindset.
57:44
Rupert Isaacson: Yeah.
57:45
Mario Contreras: Yeah.
57:46
Not everybody's gonna have that mindset to, to do that.
57:49
I have the opportunity when I went to Spain for the, It was a reconnection
57:54
for Mexico, for Don Antonio Ariza, as a matter of fact, and in 2008.
57:59
Rupert Isaacson: Mm.
57:59
Mario Contreras: And going with my cousin Roberto, you know, he's really
58:03
good friends with Claudio Castilla Ruiz.
58:05
He was a member at that time of the t- dressage team for the, for the
58:09
Spanish team, and we went to his barn and, you know, immediately, you know,
58:19
We're talking about a horse that is about to go into the Olympics, Jade,
58:24
that he was he was produced by Don Manuel Vidrie Lusitano, beautiful horse.
58:30
You know, I was, I was a tourist guy at that day.
58:33
I was w- you know, wearing my, my tennis shoes, jeans, and, you know, in my mind,
58:40
I was just going there to look horses.
58:42
Never even thought that I was gonna be able to get on a horse and ride, right?
58:47
So Claudio, without even thinking or hesitating, he's like,
58:50
"Oh, yeah, get on the horse."
58:53
I really thought they were gonna bring another, I don't know,
58:55
another horse or something.
58:57
And he let me ride his Grand Prix Olympic horse.
59:02
Cade.
59:04
And there is actually a little video there in YouTube that I
59:07
continue to brag about because that's an opportunity of a lifetime.
59:11
Mm.
59:11
I didn't have any shoes or anything to ride a horse, and one of his
59:13
students was passing by, and he's like, "What size are you?"
59:17
And he happened to be the same size as me.
59:19
So he make him take his boots off, and I put them on.
59:22
I get on the horse, and gi- he give me a lesson.
59:25
That's the best feeling in the world- Mm â¦ to have somebody with that confidence.
59:29
He didn't know me.
59:30
He didn't know if I could ride at all.
59:32
And, you know, 15 minutes later I was doing everything that
59:36
that horse knew with no effort.
59:39
That's one of the, one of theâ¦
59:41
That's one of the most beautiful experiences that I have in my
59:43
life, riding Olympic Lusitano horse with, Mm â¦ Claudio Castilla.
59:48
And and that tells you how confident as a trainer, as a rider, as knowing his
59:54
horse that it doesn't matter what I was gonna do, he can bring the horse back
59:58
to whatever he needed for the Olympics.
1:00:01
Rupert Isaacson: Absolutely.
1:00:02
Mario Contreras: I actually got to see him at the World Equestrian Games
1:00:05
over here in in Kentucky in 2010.
1:00:07
I was lucky enough to do the opening with one of our horses
1:00:12
in, in in the grand opening.
1:00:13
So it was, it was a great experience, and I got to see Claudio and Cade again.
1:00:17
It was am- it was amazing.
1:00:19
And that tells you- So- â¦ the, the,
1:00:21
Rupert Isaacson: Right.
1:00:22
So t- you and I are both on the same page with this, that, you know, to, to,
1:00:25
to bring people where they want to go.
1:00:27
And also I think to make horses happy so that they don't have
1:00:30
to have- heavy, bad riding.
1:00:35
If we bring people up on the schoolmaster horses, it, it goes better.
1:00:39
How do we change this culture that you've talked about to bring it back
1:00:46
a little bit more to this older way of doing it, which I think is easier
1:00:50
on people and easier on horses?
1:00:52
I- yeah, do- you- you're, you're a professional in
1:00:55
the horse world in the USA.
1:00:56
Mario Contreras: I think continue to promote education.
1:00:59
Mm.
1:00:59
I think here in the US, it's very common to go to clinics, which I love,
1:01:03
you know, always promoting education.
1:01:05
I think Germans French right now, if you go to Mexico, if you go to Spain, I think
1:01:12
Spain has improved big time to- Mm â¦ and I think the government has to do a lot
1:01:18
with it, where they promote education.
1:01:20
Mm.
1:01:20
So everybody wants to learn.
1:01:22
And if you want to learn, that's actually the most important thing.
1:01:25
I think we all fall behind when you think that you know everything and
1:01:29
you don't want to learn from anybody.
1:01:30
Yeah, sure.
1:01:31
I think promoting education, I still encourage my students, I still go
1:01:35
and spend my money to go, if I have to travel to a different state or
1:01:40
different country to go and, and learn, that's what I will do because I think
1:01:45
that's what keeps you motivated in a way that learning is a good thing.
1:01:50
And then- Absolutely â¦ once you learn pass it to the next generation
1:01:54
or pass it to whoever wants to learn.
1:01:56
Mm.
1:01:57
Me, I'm gonna be very honest with you, I like to teach to
1:02:00
people that wants to learn.
1:02:01
Teach people who really cares about their horses, teach
1:02:04
people that really wants toâ¦
1:02:06
It's not just toâ¦
1:02:08
I feel that being a horse person is not just to have a horse.
1:02:11
You have to know about horses.
1:02:13
In order for you to know about horses, you have to invest in your education.
1:02:17
Rupert Isaacson: Mm.
1:02:18
How do you find the time y- you know, Medieval Times is a big show, and
1:02:23
you're not allowed to suck, right?
1:02:24
You can't have, having a bad day at Medieval Times
1:02:27
is, is, is not a good thing.
1:02:30
And I was actually gonna ask you a little bit about that in another questions.
1:02:32
I want to come back to this.
1:02:34
But you yourself personally, how do you have the time to then also train
1:02:37
other people at your farm and such?
1:02:39
Because, you know, Medieval Times is so demanding.
1:02:42
Yeah, how, how do you manage this?
1:02:44
Mario Contreras: Well, I have the I have the opportunity to find-
1:02:49
good people that love what I love.
1:02:53
And when you do what you love and it's your passion and you
1:02:55
get- people get I think it's contagious, and you build a team.
1:03:01
Mm-hmm.
1:03:01
When you have you know, people can say whatever they want, but I feel like
1:03:05
Medieval Times Chicago has the best team.
1:03:08
I have the best team.
1:03:09
I continue to encourage my people.
1:03:11
I continue to, you know, you just said it, sometimes we have good days and
1:03:15
sometimes we have bad days, but those bad days have to go to the past and we
1:03:21
need to move on and work even harder the next day to try to achieve what we really
1:03:26
want to achieve in life with the show, with the horses, with our competition.
1:03:31
I think, and I build the same thing in in my training facility at MC Horse Training.
1:03:36
I, I think it's important to build and to find the people
1:03:39
that has the same passion as you.
1:03:41
Building a team, you can go and do anything in life.
1:03:45
Mm.
1:03:45
Kind of like your family.
1:03:46
With your family, you feel complete, right?
1:03:49
Mm-hmm.
1:03:49
Mm.
1:03:50
And you know, my parents were one of the big pillars in my life to keep me going
1:03:55
and always to be, to live something for.
1:03:59
Even though they have passed away, my mom 13 years ago and my dad a
1:04:02
couple years ago, he was 66 I- I'm sorry, 96 years old, and even until
1:04:09
the end, he was so happy when I did a little demo, when I won something.
1:04:14
And, you know, and one of my rituals, it was to bring my little trophy
1:04:19
to him, my little ribbon to him or my mom and, you know, one of
1:04:22
those things to keep them happy.
1:04:25
At the end of the day, I always feel like it's important to keep,
1:04:27
just like horses, keep riders happy, keep riders with a little you plant
1:04:33
that little seed, but you know, this thing doesn't take a couple days.
1:04:37
Mm.
1:04:37
The horsey thing doesn't take a couple months.
1:04:39
And if you win it, if you really want it last, you know, this is
1:04:42
my 35 year with Medieval Times.
1:04:45
Rupert Isaacson: Yeah.
1:04:45
Mario Contreras: I started when I was five yearsâ¦
1:04:47
No, just kidding.
1:04:49
This is my 35th year with the company.
1:04:51
I've been here in the US for 35 years.
1:04:54
I've been here longer than I have been in my country.
1:04:57
But you know, I love US.
1:05:00
You know, US has give me and make me to who I am, and I'm super grateful for that.
1:05:07
Rupert Isaacson: Medieval Times, as you say, has been around a long
1:05:09
time, and the standard is very high.
1:05:11
There's a couple of things which I find intriguing about that.
1:05:14
There've been a lot of really, really good equestrian spectaculars.
1:05:18
The one that obviously comes to mind is Cavalia.
1:05:21
Mario Contreras: Mm-hmm.
1:05:21
Rupert Isaacson: And I know very well the people who produce some of
1:05:25
the classical horses for Cavalluna in the, in U- Europe, which used to
1:05:30
be a passionata and so on and so on.
1:05:33
What's the secret to longevity, and particularly for Medieval Times?
1:05:37
Because, In Appassionata has a sort of dedicated equestrian audience.
1:05:44
But honestly, in Medieval Times, if you put on a show that just had a lot of
1:05:49
fighting and a lot of action, the question is would the public, which is not horsey,
1:05:58
not, not an informed equestrian audience, would the public see the difference?
1:06:05
And it's interesting to me that in an economically hard-nosed climate like
1:06:13
the USA and like Chicago, which is a very, you know, practical, bottom
1:06:18
line kind of a economic culture, to produce a show like Medieval Times
1:06:24
with that level of horsemanship is so expensive and time-consuming
1:06:32
for an audience that may or may not even know what they're seeing
1:06:39
And to maintain that standard over 35 years.
1:06:42
Talk to us a little bit about that, or do you feel that it's actually
1:06:46
the standard of the horsemanship that creates the longevity?
1:06:50
Because even if the people don't know what they're seeing, they respond
1:06:53
to the aesthetic, to the beauty.
1:06:55
Like, why do you think it's hit this economic sweet spot?
1:07:02
Mario Contreras: You just mentioned something really important.
1:07:03
I know that all these shows that you just mentioned, you know, that also
1:07:07
do horsemanship and do produce these beautiful shows, but Medieval Times,
1:07:13
I think we're leading on that because we've been here for so many years.
1:07:16
And that, I really think that it has to do with the mindset that
1:07:22
the owners of the company has.
1:07:24
Taking care of our people, taking care of our horses, and always, even
1:07:29
nowadays, we continue to improve every single part of our company to, to
1:07:35
continue to keep people, horses happy.
1:07:39
And it's a very, very complete show.
1:07:42
I think most people when they hear Medieval Times,
1:07:45
sometimes they think thatâ¦
1:07:47
And I hear it all the time because at the end of the show, we always go and
1:07:51
mingle with people for meet and greet.
1:07:53
And, and people, you know, they are amazed how complete our show is
1:07:58
in a way that some people has that thinking that it's just for kids.
1:08:03
No, it's for the whole family.
1:08:05
I think horses create the huge magic in the horse.
1:08:09
Yes, fighting is really good.
1:08:11
Every, and p- part of the entertainment of the show is really good, but
1:08:15
horses create this beautiful atmosphere that, that makes us unique.
1:08:21
If you see the dynamic of the show from the very beginning all the
1:08:26
way to the end, in what show you can eat and drink and party like a
1:08:32
real medieval celebration nowadays?
1:08:36
I know that there is quite a few shows there, but Medieval Times is unique,
1:08:40
and that's why I love it because theyâ¦
1:08:43
It's my life.
1:08:44
It's I've been there for so many years.
1:08:46
I know that it's not mine.
1:08:47
I don't own it, but I treat the horses and our people and our
1:08:51
stables like they were mine.
1:08:53
I alwaysâ¦
1:08:54
You know, when I walk into the stables, I'm, like, always
1:08:58
scanning what's out of place.
1:08:59
What horse didn't go out yet?
1:09:01
Always, you know, I want a full report of what's going on.
1:09:04
And, you know, building the team like a family, it's important,
1:09:08
but it's important to have that discipline every day, you know?
1:09:12
And, you know, with Medieval Times, one of the beauties that we have is
1:09:16
that Medieval Times doesn't haveâ¦
1:09:19
If a horse is, I don't know, sick or he's got an injury, you know,
1:09:23
we don't have a limit to bring the horse back to being 100% in the show.
1:09:30
We take him out of the show if necessary for a day or two or a week or a year.
1:09:34
Doesn't matter.
1:09:35
And if we need to bring him to the hospital, we need to do all
1:09:38
these things, everything is there.
1:09:40
You know, the, the, the budget is, there is no, you can't spend more than this.
1:09:44
No, it's, it's it- and that's the beauty when
1:09:47
I think when all these people sees how Medieval Times cares about their people
1:09:51
and cares, cares about their horses, that's what makes this company a beauty.
1:09:56
You know?
1:09:57
Even with my little riding school, I don't have that kind of a budget, but some of
1:10:02
these people are, you know, very wealthy.
1:10:05
Some people, I give the opportunity to some of the students that they don't
1:10:10
ha- they don't ha- they don't even have the money to pay for one of my lessons.
1:10:15
But that's why, you know, these opportunities come to become a working
1:10:19
student where, okay, you help me to shampoo horses, I'll give you a lesson.
1:10:24
You help me to go to a show and I'll, you know, you know, little things like
1:10:28
that that will give you the opportunity.
1:10:30
I never had the opportunity.
1:10:31
I didn't grow up with money.
1:10:33
Everything- Hmm â¦ you know, I remember my first show for the International
1:10:37
Andalusian Horse Association for the Andalusian and Lusitano, my first show,
1:10:42
I only brought my little custom and then one shirt, and I used to, you know,
1:10:46
wash it in the hotel every, every day because I didn't know I was gonna do.
1:10:50
I, I wasn't expecting that.
1:10:52
Nowadays, you know, I have â¦ I'm very lucky.
1:10:55
I save my money to buy, you know, whatever I need for the show, and it's very
1:11:00
rewarding to have that opportunity and for me to teach someone that has the passion.
1:11:06
Maybe they don't have the money, but they have the passion, and
1:11:08
that's what I see in the cultures.
1:11:10
Like in Mexico- Hmm â¦ I see a lotta, a lots of great trainers, great people,
1:11:15
but sometimes I â¦ That's, that's why I always said to continue to foment
1:11:20
education and, and continue with that.
1:11:23
With Medieval Times, like I said, it's important to continue to, to â¦ I
1:11:29
continue to work there because I love it.
1:11:31
I'm happy.
1:11:32
I I feel like, you know, getting there every day and seeing our horses,
1:11:36
that I get to spend years with them.
1:11:38
In the outside world, you know, every horse have their
1:11:41
own owner, and guess what?
1:11:43
Hmm.
1:11:44
Sometimes they run out of money, sometimes they, they don't like what they see,
1:11:49
sometimes they don't they don't wanna continue with the horse education.
1:11:52
They think what they have learned, that's enough.
1:11:56
And at the end of the day, you have to learn and respect- the
1:12:01
owner's decisions on what they want to do in the outside world.
1:12:04
With Medieval Times, we get these horses at three, four, five years old
1:12:07
when they are considered mature, and same thing with the riders, and we work
1:12:11
with these people for many years, so we get to know each other very well.
1:12:15
And just like you said, it's important to keep riders and, and
1:12:19
horses happy so they can form, they can f- they can perform each day
1:12:24
necessary to continue with the show.
1:12:26
Here at Medieval Times in in Chicago, you know, in the slow season, it's
1:12:30
actually really nice because we work with with the show only on the
1:12:33
weekends, only Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, which is really nice.
1:12:36
You know, we get the whole week.
1:12:38
We get usually g- get a couple days off, Monday and Tuesday,
1:12:41
which is our, our weekends for us.
1:12:44
And then after that, we continue with Wednesday, Thursday, and
1:12:46
Friday to work in some of the scenes that need some work or some of the
1:12:50
horses that need to be introduced to the show, as well as the riders
1:12:56
Rupert Isaacson: I guess one of the things that come, I'm getting from
1:12:57
what you're talking about is you have the luxury to some degree in this
1:13:00
show of having an integrated herd.
1:13:03
That horses come in and they're gonna be in there with you and with their
1:13:07
herd buddies for many, many years, and this creates a kind of a stability.
1:13:12
Which as you say, when you're running a sort of a training barn,
1:13:16
there often isn't that luxury.
1:13:17
Horses come, horses go.
1:13:19
Mario Contreras: Correct.
1:13:20
Rupert Isaacson: People come, people go.
1:13:21
You know, we're very lucky with that at home with us.
1:13:24
You know, I've had my herd for a long, long time, and if a new horse comes
1:13:28
in, that herd will come around them and make them feel good and i- integrated.
1:13:36
Obviously not everybody has that luxury.
1:13:38
When you retire your horses, you said that you retire them sometimes
1:13:42
around 18 to 20 from the show, but that's still a young horse.
1:13:46
I mean, in, in, in my book- Correct â¦ an 18-year-old horse is just- Correct
1:13:49
â¦ really coming into his wisdom.
1:13:51
And, and, and as we know, the Iberian horses, they go on working until they're,
1:13:55
they're usually close to 30 because they, they have that morphology, they
1:13:59
have that body that allows for this.
1:14:02
They, they don't break down- Yeah
1:14:03
like some of the big horses.
1:14:03
Mario Contreras: Yeah.
1:14:04
Well, no, we don't retire them because they are, they're
1:14:06
broken or they are too old.
1:14:08
Yeah.
1:14:08
We retire them because we want, we want them to enjoy the rest of
1:14:11
their life in a, a lot easier paced.
1:14:15
So- So what do
1:14:15
Rupert Isaacson: they do in their retirement?
1:14:17
That's kind of an interesting
1:14:18
Mario Contreras: horse nuance.
1:14:18
Well, we have two, we have two options.
1:14:20
The first option, they just go back to the ranch in Texas, in Chapel Kirk Ranch.
1:14:24
They retire and they just go to the pasture, and if they have potential
1:14:28
to become breeding stallions, that's what they're going to do.
1:14:32
Rupert Isaacson: Okay.
1:14:32
Mario Contreras: If they don't, the second option, we can actually
1:14:34
find people around the area.
1:14:36
Mm-hmm.
1:14:36
People who has the place, the money, the knowledge toâ¦
1:14:41
You know, they can ride them, but we don't want them to go back- Give
1:14:43
Rupert Isaacson: them
1:14:43
Mario Contreras: a second career.
1:14:44
That is right.
1:14:44
People who will take care of them.
1:14:46
One of the things that you just mentioned that to me is super important for these
1:14:49
horses is that we have the beauty of kind of like the Spanish riding school, and
1:14:55
of course, the Real Escuela Andaluza, and of course Portugal and, and and
1:15:00
France, that we get our stallions.
1:15:02
You know, a lot of people, they're afraid of stallions.
1:15:04
I think people are afraid because they don't understand them.
1:15:07
Rupert Isaacson: Mm.
1:15:07
Mario Contreras: I, I think it's important for you, most people who bring me a
1:15:11
horse, like, "Oh, be careful because this, he's so aggressive or he's aâ¦"
1:15:14
It's because most people isolate these horses.
1:15:17
Rupert Isaacson: Mm.
1:15:18
Mario Contreras: Me, you can put all the stallions together and
1:15:21
you represent that main stallion.
1:15:23
You represent the alpha.
1:15:25
You represent who they're supposed to be listening to.
1:15:28
They have to, you teach them to behave that way.
1:15:30
But they must mingle with each other.
1:15:32
Otherwise, you know, of course, they, they can develop these aggressive or,
1:15:37
you know, always fighting or trying to establish dominance because of the mares.
1:15:41
I think it's important for you to to mix them together, not close together
1:15:46
or put them in the pasture together and they'll beat theirselves up.
1:15:50
We don't do that.
1:15:50
Through work and, you know, having a good understanding, draining that energy
1:15:54
in a positive way where horses learn to mingle with each other without becoming
1:15:59
aggressive or hitting each other because they don't, they don't know each other
1:16:05
Rupert Isaacson: As you may know, if you've been following my work,
1:16:07
we are also horsey folk here.
1:16:10
And we have been training horses for many, many years in the manner of
1:16:14
the old classical dressage masters.
1:16:18
This is something which is often very confusing for people.
1:16:21
We shine a light on that murky, difficult stuff and make it crystal clear.
1:16:26
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1:16:31
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1:17:00
Give us some tips.
1:17:01
There's a lot of people I think will be intrigued by that.
1:17:03
I remember when I first started owning stallions, I'd never had stallions before.
1:17:06
Mm-hmm.
1:17:07
So I went on a kind of stallion 101 education, you know- Yeah â¦ with
1:17:11
people that kept a lot of them, and I went to different people, Portugal,
1:17:15
France, other parts of the world, and saw how they were all doing it, and- Yeah
1:17:20
got coaching before Iâ¦
1:17:22
And then eventually I had a, a small group of stallions.
1:17:25
Tell us from your point of view when people are gonna have stallions,
1:17:29
what's the best way to get them integrated with each other?
1:17:32
What are someâ¦
1:17:34
What's, like, the 101 that people should know?
1:17:38
Mario Contreras: Well, when you have, when you have your own breeding facility
1:17:41
and you have the babies since were, they were born, of course, the program that
1:17:46
we have, when they are six months old, we separate them, and they all go with
1:17:50
the s- six months old, and then after that, with the yearlings, and then after
1:17:54
that, with the two-year-olds, and then after that, with the three-year-olds.
1:17:57
That's when we start actually is- not isolating, but separating, that
1:18:01
they have their own individual stall.
1:18:03
But even like that, after that, especially right now in my training facility
1:18:08
where we train horses, and these horses become already like tigers because they
1:18:11
were not used to being with others.
1:18:15
Slowly you start introducing these horses with the, with the rest of the horses.
1:18:20
It doesn't matter if it's mares or geldings, you start
1:18:23
introducing and start working in the same arena as everybody else.
1:18:26
Mm-hmm.
1:18:26
But guess what?
1:18:27
Sometimes they are not that friendly.
1:18:29
They start rearing, they start calling, they start intimidating people or horses.
1:18:33
Well, if you know how to handle them properly, you can start in the round
1:18:38
pen, in the round pen with others around in the outside, so they start getting
1:18:42
used to other horses being around.
1:18:44
My advice is always to hire someone that can handle energy, you know- Mm-hmm
1:18:50
â¦ because that's where you're gonnaâ¦
1:18:52
You need to learn how to redirect the energy in a positive way.
1:18:57
You know, when you start getting aggressive with these horses, and I've
1:19:01
seen it before, when these horses come to me already extremely aggressive,
1:19:06
where already they ha- they see you as an enemy, where they already see
1:19:10
you as, "Okay, who's gonna be tougher?
1:19:13
Who's gonnaâ¦"
1:19:14
And when a horse already start becoming, you know, more like a, a, a predator it's,
1:19:20
it's really hard, and it's very sad to see that, because it's very, I don't know.
1:19:26
People thinks that they can handle, people thinks that by isolating these
1:19:30
horses is the best thing to them.
1:19:32
I think they are doing actually the opposite.
1:19:34
They are actually taking the horse to a position where when people can't
1:19:38
handle anymore or they hurt somebody, these horses will go to the kill pen
1:19:44
because they were- Misunderstood.
1:19:48
Mm.
1:19:48
So having a professional do the right thing is important, and if you
1:19:53
gonna have, you might as well gelding these horses if you are not gonna
1:19:57
become a a breeder or someone that can handle s- these horses properly.
1:20:02
I always feel that it's important to have a training program or an exercise
1:20:07
program with these horses that are gonna become breeding stallions.
1:20:11
More than anything, I, as you know, is it's sometimes just the status.
1:20:16
They are not a breeding facility.
1:20:18
These horses have never bred before, and but if you take them
1:20:21
the right way with exercise, these horses can be gentle giants.
1:20:25
They can be as as sweet as a gelding, as as sweet as a beautiful mare, but you have
1:20:31
to, you have to, you have to create that.
1:20:34
You have to create that environment.
1:20:36
Rupert Isaacson: Well, you talked about redirecting energy.
1:20:39
Give us an example.
1:20:40
A horse is coming to you.
1:20:41
He's doing some aggressive behaviors for whatever reason.
1:20:45
You now need to redirect this e- energy.
1:20:48
Give us some strategies that you use.
1:20:50
Mario Contreras: Exercise is always important.
1:20:52
If the horse, like right now let's say that I get a young horse that is
1:20:56
extremely energetic, I think it's energy.
1:20:59
So you're gonna drain the energy.
1:21:01
Most of the time we want to control the horse to walk, we want to control
1:21:05
the horse to trot, we want to control the horse to canter, and we, we
1:21:09
want to control not just that, but we also want to control the tempo.
1:21:13
No, no, no, no, no.
1:21:14
Just let them be horses in the beginning.
1:21:16
Yes.
1:21:17
Yes.
1:21:17
Regardless if it's gonna take you a week, a, a month, a whatever, but you're
1:21:22
gonna see the results if you're patient.
1:21:26
Patience comes with the training.
1:21:28
And always knowing what to look for.
1:21:31
And sometimes, you know, most of the time, myself as a trainer, I use common sense.
1:21:37
I don't have to go to a book and read it or can read it again.
1:21:41
Common sense.
1:21:42
Just use common sense and redirect the energy.
1:21:44
Let the energy drain in a positive way.
1:21:47
If the horse wants to jump and kick and fart and, and, and , and run
1:21:53
around for five minutes, let him do it.
1:21:56
Yeah.
1:21:56
It's okay.
1:21:57
Rupert Isaacson: Yeah.
1:21:57
Mario Contreras: Yeah.
1:21:57
And then you're gonna see, if you're patient enough, you're gonna see, if
1:22:00
you start talking to the horse just verbally or use your body language to put
1:22:04
pressure, to take the pressure off with your body or using your voice command a
1:22:09
little bit louder, a little bit softer, if you are sensitive enough to- Mm
1:22:14
capture those things, you're gonna be able to see that the horse is
1:22:18
starting to, to try to see that you are trying to communicate with him.
1:22:22
Mm.
1:22:22
And once you do, believe me, the sky is the limit.
1:22:26
Rupert Isaacson: I so agree.
1:22:27
We have a, w- we, when we were in Texas, we had a, a sort of ideal
1:22:32
situation because we had our own ranch, we were in control of the
1:22:34
environment, you know, we could do it.
1:22:36
But we moved to Germany, and when we moved to Germany- Mm-hmm â¦ we weren't
1:22:40
gonna just buy a farm in Germany.
1:22:43
A, we couldn't have afforded it, and B, we had young children at the time,
1:22:46
so it wouldn't have been possible.
1:22:48
So we took six horses, and we from Texas, and we set up in a boarding
1:22:55
stable in Germany, so a public stable with lots of other people.
1:22:59
First time in my life I'd ever kept horses that way.
1:23:02
Mario Contreras: Yeah.
1:23:02
Rupert Isaacson: And suddenly we ran into all the rules- â¦ of the stable,
1:23:04
where you can't do this, and you can't do this, and you can't do this.
1:23:07
And oh.
1:23:07
Oh, okay.
1:23:08
And then we were in this really strange position where we knew more
1:23:12
about horses than the person running the stable, but they were the boss.
1:23:16
It was their place.
1:23:16
Mario Contreras: Correct.
1:23:17
Rupert Isaacson: And of course we had three stallions, which we, so we gelded
1:23:19
the stallions because we just, there was just no way that, they would not have
1:23:23
let us come to a place with stallions.
1:23:25
They were afraid.
1:23:25
Correct.
1:23:26
And so we collected the semen.
1:23:27
Said, "Okay, fine.
1:23:28
They can be geldings."
1:23:29
But- W- it made us creative.
1:23:33
So in, for example the winter, the horses were barely getting out, and
1:23:37
our horses have a lot of energy.
1:23:40
Lusitano horses, lots of energy.
1:23:43
Yeah.
1:23:43
And so we came up with the concept of crazy time.
1:23:46
As you say, if they've got the energy, use it, don't try to control it.
1:23:51
So we would build courses.
1:23:53
Our horses like to jump, so I would do jumps.
1:23:56
But if it wasn't jumps, it could be stuff on the ground,
1:23:59
but little problems for them.
1:24:00
But then let them go, and let them go really nuts- â¦ in a group of
1:24:05
three or four, because they know each other, and express that energy.
1:24:09
But then every two minutes I would change it, and they'd go- Yeah
1:24:13
"Ooh."
1:24:14
And you'd see them kind of go, "Oh, that's interesting."
1:24:16
And they'd go nuts over that one, and then they'd turn and say,
1:24:19
"Okay, what do you got next?"
1:24:20
And like, "Well, I'll change it like this."
1:24:23
And then I realized you could teach so much horsemanship this way.
1:24:26
Mario Contreras: Yeah.
1:24:26
Rupert Isaacson: And then I realized- Mm-hmm â¦ you could teach
1:24:28
special needs children this way.
1:24:30
So- Yeah â¦ I would have special needs kids come in with
1:24:32
me and help to move the horses.
1:24:35
We would do team building, 'cause we'd build the course.
1:24:38
We would measure, you know, how high is it, how is the distances.
1:24:43
Then we could s- we could measure with our feet how long is that
1:24:47
long side of the arena, and howâ¦
1:24:51
what's the time that it takes each horse to go down there, or what's the time
1:24:54
it takes you, Mario, to go down there.
1:24:56
What's the time it takes me?
1:24:57
I'll be kind of slow going down.
1:24:59
Yeah.
1:24:59
And the dog, we said.
1:25:00
And then we do a little calculation, distance over time, we get speed.
1:25:04
And so suddenly I'm teaching math, and suddenly I'm teaching s- physics.
1:25:07
And I realize, oh, my gosh this thing where I thought I was so constrained
1:25:11
has now suddenly opened the door to a whole program that benefits my horses.
1:25:18
They can work with no weight on their back.
1:25:19
They can work with no constraint.
1:25:21
This can always be the first part of their day, particularly in the winter
1:25:26
where they're standing in a lot.
1:25:27
And then we can go to the working day.
1:25:30
Yeah.
1:25:30
And the horse has endorphins in his body, and he's like, "Okay, I'm kind
1:25:33
of ready to receive something mentally.
1:25:36
I'm, I'm ready to receive something intellectually now."
1:25:39
And of course we also did a lot of trail riding.
1:25:41
We always have done a lot of trail riding for the same reason.
1:25:44
When people are facing these types of dilemmas with their horses, and
1:25:49
as you just said, they'll often try to slow things and create tempo and
1:25:54
all of that kind of thing before the horse is ready to accept it.
1:25:58
What are some of yourâ¦
1:26:00
You know, I talked about our crazy time thing.
1:26:01
What are, what are some of your, like, one, two, three strategies that you would
1:26:05
tell somebody to do if they find they're going a little bit against their horse?
1:26:10
Mario Contreras: Yeah.
1:26:11
We were talking about earlier about you know, the disciplines that we use at
1:26:15
Medieval Times to put the show together.
1:26:16
Rupert Isaacson: Mm.
1:26:17
Mario Contreras: One of the things that I do, especially with the
1:26:19
stallions or redirect energy, is teaching horses liberty.
1:26:24
You know- Uh-huh â¦ teaching horses how to communicate with just your body.
1:26:28
Just like, like I say earlier, try not to control every single moment.
1:26:32
Let them run.
1:26:33
Mm.
1:26:33
Let them do whatever they want.
1:26:35
And then once the horses go, for example, the energy is in 100, right?
1:26:38
Like, they are full of energy, and it's wintertime.
1:26:41
Well, you know what?
1:26:42
Let's bring that energy down to 50 when you can actually start
1:26:46
working with what you really wanna work with the horse to learn.
1:26:49
And so if the horses start getting like, you know, maybe already tired or, or
1:26:55
maybe you have to bring them from 25 to 50 because they are in the laid back, right?
1:27:00
It's important to create that energy.
1:27:03
With liberty, you can reconnect or connect with the horse in a way
1:27:08
that you don't have to be holding anything to control the horse.
1:27:13
But using your body and using your voice commands, I think,
1:27:17
is crucial, and that'sâ¦
1:27:18
Like right now, when I teach people h- how to do that, it's, I think we're
1:27:22
losing, we're losing the aspect of communication, you know, with humans
1:27:29
because we're not like back in the day if we were in the caves or whatever, you
1:27:34
know, have that sense of, "Oh, shoot, we're gonna get killed," or, "We need to
1:27:38
go and go get something to eat," right?
1:27:41
I think humans, we're losing that, and that's what horses keep alive to
1:27:46
continue to use that body language.
1:27:48
Some people are really good reading people, and I think that's what horses
1:27:53
teach us if you learn to listen to them.
1:27:56
Mm.
1:27:56
Redirecting the energy by just a simple movements or redirecting the energy
1:28:02
just to try to click with their brain so we can establish communication.
1:28:07
What, what we want them to do, just a simple transition from canter to trot or
1:28:13
trot to walk, or bring him in when you ask him to, and stay calm at the same time.
1:28:18
So it's it's a, it's a big thing.
1:28:20
But I think the most important thing is to continue to practice it so it doesn't die.
1:28:25
Most people, they want to learn to to, to, to mingle with a horse or ride a horse.
1:28:31
They don't really teach body language.
1:28:32
They don't really teach liberty.
1:28:34
They don't teachâ¦
1:28:35
They're just teaching to put a saddle, put a bridle, get on and try to find your
1:28:39
balance, which is fine, but it's more modern, more, you know, learning toâ¦
1:28:45
You know, back in the day, I remember with my dad, we used to go get the horses in
1:28:50
the pasture, and it was just like a And horses used to come up to you without
1:28:56
you have to go get some grain and bring.
1:28:59
They knew exactly.
1:29:00
But, you know, it's that bond that you have to create with your horses with time.
1:29:05
Another thing that I use a lot for draining the energy, just like you
1:29:11
said, finding ways to do it, to me working equitation, even though-
1:29:15
Mm â¦ we didn't do work in equitation back in the day, but we kind of did
1:29:19
without being work in equitation.
1:29:21
Nowadays, that is becoming very popular and competitive-
1:29:24
Yeah â¦ all over the world.
1:29:25
At the castle, we do these mini ball games, all this stuff
1:29:28
to desensitize the horses.
1:29:30
Even though we don't do work in equitation with any of the horses in a
1:29:33
competitive way, we actually use work in equitation in a way to build better
1:29:39
bonds, to make the horse versatile, to
1:29:42
I think when I work with horses that just do dressage, dressage, dressage, dressage,
1:29:48
I usually- Mm â¦ put into my program a little bit of everything so they don't
1:29:51
get bored, so they are not- Absolutely â¦ sour of, "All right, here we go.
1:29:55
He's needs to learn how to do changes, and heâ¦"
1:29:58
I think sometimes just by playing around they will give you the changes, or
1:30:02
they're playing around, they give you a little step, so piaffe and you're like
1:30:04
Or they are so gifted that you c- over collect them and they
1:30:08
give it to you just by accident.
1:30:11
What you said earlier, when you turn horses out, that's
1:30:14
why, that's how I do it.
1:30:15
I turn horses- Mm â¦ out, not together when there are stallions, you know, in
1:30:19
their separate paddocks, but they're all together in the same pa- not in
1:30:22
the same paddock, but in the same spot, where you turn them out and
1:30:27
the first thing that they do, they jump around and throw a cabriole.
1:30:32
Yeah.
1:30:32
They jump around, they stand on their hind legs for a couple seconds.
1:30:34
You're like, "Wow, this horse is extremely strong."
1:30:38
Or they go to a little puddle of water and they start striking with that energy
1:30:43
for the Spanish walk, and you're like-
1:30:45
Rupert Isaacson: Yeah
1:30:45
â¦ Mario Contreras: I know what you're, I know what you're gonna
1:30:47
be doing in the future, you know?
1:30:49
Rupert Isaacson: Yeah, absolutely.
1:30:50
Mario Contreras: Yeah.
1:30:51
Rupert Isaacson: You sort of put it in your pocket for later.
1:30:52
You're like, "Thank you for
1:30:53
Mario Contreras: showing me."
1:30:54
That's right.
1:30:54
That's right.
1:30:55
A lot of people, you know, when they see you, especially in the show they
1:30:59
say, "Oh, my horse can do that."
1:31:00
And I go, "Okay, can he do it on cue?
1:31:03
Can he do it when youâ¦"
1:31:04
Well, no, when he's being naughty or when he's jumping around the pasture.
1:31:08
I think the beauty through time, when you spend all this time with the horses,
1:31:12
it's it's beautiful to see it when they listen to you being super quiet, and you
1:31:18
just give them the cue, and they perform every day, each day, with the best of
1:31:22
their ability to perform these exercises.
1:31:26
Rupert Isaacson: Mm-hmm.
1:31:27
Mm.
1:31:27
One of the things which I think you, you pointed out there with when you turn them
1:31:30
out and they do all the high school Alta Escuela and a lot of the dressage just
1:31:36
free, because of course horses do this when they play, horses do this when they
1:31:41
mate, horses do this when they fight.
1:31:44
Just like people do.
1:31:45
Correct â¦ so it's in them.
1:31:47
And I think that one of the things that's often missed is,
1:31:51
you know, the training scale.
1:31:52
There's the often pretty, shown as a pyramid.
1:31:56
Yeah, the pyramid of training.
1:31:57
Mm-hmm.
1:31:57
They put rhythm, relaxation- Yeah â¦ was it contact impulsion,
1:32:01
straightness, and collection.
1:32:03
Mario Contreras: Collection at the
1:32:03
Rupert Isaacson: end.
1:32:04
Mm-hmm.
1:32:04
Right, right.
1:32:04
That's usually how it's presented.
1:32:05
There's a big word I always feel is missing there, and that's joy.
1:32:11
Mario Contreras: Mm-hmm.
1:32:11
Rupert Isaacson: Like, where's the joy?
1:32:12
Mario Contreras: Yeah.
1:32:14
Rupert Isaacson: Because these are movements that horses
1:32:16
do when they feel passion.
1:32:17
Mario Contreras: Yeah.
1:32:18
Rupert Isaacson: When you are training, and, you know, a, a lot of horse-
1:32:23
and people behavioral problems I feel actually come from chronic boredom.
1:32:28
Boredom is, is, it, it, it's, it's, it's a real torture I
1:32:31
think for the mind and the body.
1:32:34
So when you, you have this very program, as you say, there's a
1:32:37
lot of cross-training, they're doing all kinds of things.
1:32:40
They're doing working protection, they're doing games, they're doing
1:32:42
the dressage, they're doing the Alta Escuela, they're doing liberty.
1:32:46
When you go out in front of those 1,500 people who do not know much
1:32:51
about horses- The only way it's going to carry any kind ofâ¦
1:32:58
Ma- make people feel that they spent their money well, that they got value for
1:33:02
money, is if they feel a certain emotion.
1:33:06
And the only way they're gonna feel a certain emotion is if the horse
1:33:10
projects that emotion, and that emotion must be joy and passion.
1:33:16
What's your advice to people who've got horses and they want to do the dressage,
1:33:23
they want to do that stuff, but they've been kind of hammered, hammered, hammered?
1:33:27
And yes, we need discipline but too much discipline is its own curse.
1:33:33
You
1:33:33
Mario Contreras: get burned out.
1:33:33
Rupert Isaacson: Yeah.
1:33:35
What are your secrets, Mario, for making sure that that, that passion,
1:33:41
it's th- it's there, and it's evident?
1:33:44
I've seen you ride.
1:33:45
I've seen you present horses.
1:33:46
There's always that.
1:33:47
You alwaysâ¦
1:33:49
Okay, you're selecting charismatic stallions to do this.
1:33:52
I'm, "Okay, okay."
1:33:53
But even those horses, it could, you know how it c- it can look r- it, with, with a
1:33:58
different attitude, it can look robotic.
1:34:01
How do you make sure, Mario, that that passion is there when
1:34:06
you ask for it from the horse?
1:34:10
Mario Contreras: I think we have been talking about it,
1:34:12
and that's cross-training.
1:34:14
Okay.
1:34:14
You gotta keep it alive.
1:34:16
Rupert Isaacson: Okay.
1:34:17
Mario Contreras: Most horses that I've, and most horses, and not just
1:34:20
horses, riders as well, that get burnt out is because they do the same thing.
1:34:27
They d- you have to have some kind of a mindset or brain to really
1:34:33
continue to do that without getting stressed out, burned out, or whatever.
1:34:37
But I think cross-training, that's why to me, doing a little bit of both
1:34:43
has keep me alive for many years in the business of training horses and
1:34:50
doing this because I, I, when I do competition, it's a little more stressful.
1:34:55
I'm I'm actually more nervous and stressed out being in front of one or three or
1:35:00
four judges than being in- For sure
1:35:02
front of thousands of people.
1:35:04
Yeah.
1:35:04
We just finished, we just finished the Midwest Horse Fair here in
1:35:07
Madison, Wisconsin, and, and it was it was super fun because we always
1:35:13
look forward to go to it, and we have 10,000 people in each performance.
1:35:17
They give me a half an hour, 30 minutes before the rodeo,
1:35:20
and do a little presentation.
1:35:22
We did something that it was called the Greatest Horse Show you know, kind of like
1:35:26
the, the theme of the movie, The Greatest The Greatest- Showman â¦ Showman.
1:35:29
Uh-huh.
1:35:30
And it was so much fun, and everybody was looking for it.
1:35:32
We build a little customs, and it was, it was so much fun to put it together.
1:35:37
But at the s- at the end of the day, it is fun, but guess what?
1:35:40
I really have to perform.
1:35:42
So I don't want us to see pe- I don't want people to see us as a joke.
1:35:45
I don't want people to see us as a clown.
1:35:48
I want us to see the horsemanship that it requires to do all
1:35:51
these maneuvers, you know?
1:35:52
Yeah.
1:35:53
And I respect rodeo like you have no idea, you know?
1:35:56
To get on a bull- You don't just have to be extremely brave, you
1:35:59
have to be extremely skillful-
1:36:01
Rupert Isaacson: Yes,
1:36:01
Mario Contreras: okay â¦ to, to, to do the roping, to, and and it'sâ¦
1:36:04
Like I said, I respect every discipline, but I think it's important once in a
1:36:08
while, you know, we like to dress up and do l- do like a Western day, you know?
1:36:12
Yeah.
1:36:12
Like a cowboy day.
1:36:13
We like to do, we love working equitation.
1:36:17
I have this lady that used to be a judge back in the day, and now
1:36:20
she just retired, and she loves.
1:36:22
Yesterday I had her doing, do, do the garrocha with her Friesian, and
1:36:26
she was so happy and, and, you know, she missed a couple times that,
1:36:30
that, that gar- that little ring, you know, that is on top of the bull.
1:36:33
Yeah.
1:36:33
And she's like, "Oh, no.
1:36:34
This is not gonna happen."
1:36:35
I go, I said, "Just do it again.
1:36:36
It's okay."
1:36:38
And she was doing it at the walk, nothing fancy, and she had it.
1:36:41
She got it.
1:36:42
You should have seen how happy everybody was, how happy she was.
1:36:45
And I think it's just, just like you said, to bring that joy.
1:36:48
If y'all were to have her just to do dressage, dressage and perfect
1:36:51
that transition from trot to walk and canter and, yeah, it's fun,
1:36:56
and it's, it's a lot of work.
1:36:58
But it's not as fun as to just go in the do a trail ride and
1:37:03
see the birds and see the geese.
1:37:04
And we do a little bit of everything, and that's the secret, to try to
1:37:09
keep everything alive and do what horses can do, and that's everything.
1:37:13
That they are super versatile.
1:37:15
Yeah.
1:37:15
They are- Yeah.
1:37:16
But you gotta, you gotta be an open-minded.
1:37:18
When you are close-minded, when the dressage hates the jumpers
1:37:23
and the working equitation hates other peop- No, no, that's not it.
1:37:27
I think we are here.
1:37:29
There is a, there is a, there is a huge reason why I'm talking to you.
1:37:33
We have something in common, and that's the love of horses.
1:37:36
Regardless if you just like to do liberty or high school or dressage or
1:37:42
working equitation or jumping or you like races, you know, there is, there
1:37:47
is so many things that you can do.
1:37:48
But at the end of the day, like I said, it's it's important for you to stay,
1:37:52
to have that mind, and I agree with you 100%, to find the joy being around horses.
1:38:00
Rupert Isaacson: Let's look to the future now.
1:38:02
What do, where do you wanna go with with this?
1:38:05
Where's Medieval Times going?
1:38:06
It's, it's kind of a-
1:38:10
an institution now.
1:38:12
And do you, do, do, do you go back to Mexico much?
1:38:16
Do you have a plan- Yes â¦ for how you're gonna give back with all this knowledge?
1:38:21
Have you got a bit of a vision for where you'd like to go?
1:38:25
Is there a service aspect to this?
1:38:27
Is there an unfulfilled dream?
1:38:30
Talk to us about these things.
1:38:32
Mario Contreras: You know what I think the time is now.
1:38:35
I'm tryingâ¦
1:38:35
I don't know if tomorrow is gonna be there for me.
1:38:38
Rupert Isaacson: Mm.
1:38:38
Mario Contreras: The past is the past, and I have done what I have done.
1:38:41
But I, I think it's important toâ¦
1:38:43
I, of course, I do have a, I do still have a lot of dreams, a lot of things
1:38:46
that I would like to accomplish.
1:38:48
But at the end of the day, I think it's important to continue to maintain the
1:38:51
legacy of my family horse training, and educating people as much as I
1:38:56
can nowadays, and now is the time.
1:38:59
In the future I don't know if I'm gonna live 96 years old like my dad.
1:39:05
I don't know if I'm gonnaâ¦
1:39:06
I, I have no idea, but, you know, my goal is always to enjoy life and try to
1:39:11
take every opportunity that life throws me, and do the best with what I have
1:39:16
and with the knowledge that I have.
1:39:18
And if I can help somebody to f- fulfill their dreams or to plant
1:39:23
the seed on somebody that has that- That little I don't know how to say
1:39:28
inquietud in English, but you know, that you really want to, but that
1:39:31
you, you don't have the opportunity.
1:39:34
I do give the opportunity to a lot of people, and I have
1:39:36
teach- taught a lot of people.
1:39:38
But at the end of the day, it's up to them to continue to make the best out of it.
1:39:43
Rupert Isaacson: Mm.
1:39:43
Mario Contreras: You know, maybe one day I'll just retire, and I always â¦ My
1:39:47
joke is that I'm gonna retire in a little by the beach in Mexico, and maybe buy
1:39:53
10 burros and rent them to the tourist-
1:39:56
and do nothing, and drink coconut water all day.
1:40:00
That's, that, that's actually what I do when I go to Mexico.
1:40:04
You know, I go two or three times a year to still visit my,
1:40:09
my, my brothers, my cousins.
1:40:11
We have our own breeding farm of Andalusians in TeocuitatlÃ¡n
1:40:15
de Corona, Jalisco, and like 40 minutes from Guadalajara, Mexico.
1:40:20
You are more than welcome to, to come and see our place.
1:40:24
We would love to come.
1:40:24
And, and, you know, it's a little town where it's, everything
1:40:27
is, like, very beautiful.
1:40:28
You see the mountains.
1:40:30
Our barn is built at the edge of the of the un cerrito, a little mountain.
1:40:35
It's beautiful.
1:40:36
You get to see from up there.
1:40:37
You get to see the whole town and everything.
1:40:40
And we still produce Andalusians and sell them to all over Mexico,
1:40:45
California, South America here in the US.
1:40:48
But, you know, I think there is gonna be a time where when I go to
1:40:52
Mexico, believe it or not, but I want to know nothing about horses.
1:40:55
I want to just relax for a week or two- But I end up going to the
1:41:00
barn, I end up going to- Of course
1:41:01
and my friends and my family, and we end up riding or we're end up doingâ¦
1:41:06
It has to be, the only way for me to really get away is going to the
1:41:10
beach, and sometimes we just end up renting horses and ri- riding
1:41:14
at the beach with the horses, which is, you know, it's part of it.
1:41:17
But once in a while, you have to kinda just take a little break and, and, and,
1:41:22
and disconnect from the world where you have to be always on the phone or always
1:41:27
worrying about, you know, making sure that that client is happy, making sure that
1:41:32
the show is complete and all the spots are there, all the riders, all the horses you
1:41:37
know, just like at the castle, or I have to have three or four horses that can do
1:41:41
the same movement or the same maneuver.
1:41:44
There is no such a thing as, "Oh today we're not gonna have a horse show
1:41:47
because the horses are in vacation," or one of the horses that, the one
1:41:52
that used to do it, you know, he's a little tender on the front right.
1:41:55
You know, those little things that we always have to be always aware
1:42:00
to keep every- everything on place.
1:42:03
Absolutely â¦ you know, when you work in the same place for a long
1:42:04
time, you learn to find that rhythm and that energy to put everything in
1:42:10
place where you don't get burned out.
1:42:13
There is, you know, right now there is busy season at the castle, and
1:42:16
we have shows every single day.
1:42:18
We usually take Mondays and Tuesdays off, but after that, we have
1:42:20
shows daily, morning and evening.
1:42:22
And then right now in my training facility, it's show season, so we're,
1:42:27
you know, we got the whole winter to prepare for these competitions.
1:42:31
And within a month we'll be showing, you know, there is some horses that
1:42:34
will be doing just basic training level, first level, second level stuff.
1:42:38
We have a couple horses that will be doing Princeton-George level
1:42:41
stuff, and there is a couple horses that will be doing intermediate
1:42:44
one and two, and, and Grand Prix.
1:42:47
So, and same thing, we need to stay super focused in some of that stuff.
1:42:51
But it's important, me, you know, I like to take a break when I'm really tired.
1:42:57
I like to go to sleep when I'm really tired.
1:42:59
I like to- Mm â¦ eat when I'm hungry.
1:43:02
I don't just- Mm.
1:43:02
You know, but it's important to have a good team that takes care of you,
1:43:08
takes care of you and your horses.
1:43:10
I, I, like I said, I don't think without the team and without the
1:43:13
support of my family will be where I'm at and continue to do what I do.
1:43:18
Rupert Isaacson: Mm-hmm.
1:43:18
Mario Contreras: Mm-hmm.
1:43:18
It's, And it
1:43:19
Rupert Isaacson: sounds like, it sounds like you run Medieval
1:43:21
Times a bit like a family.
1:43:22
When- It has to be â¦ as we sort of approach the, the, the two-hour mark
1:43:27
here what's your advice to people?
1:43:29
This is something I'm often dealing with when I go out and give clinics and
1:43:32
training, and one of the things I'll, I'll tell people straight up is, "Listen,
1:43:37
if you want to get where you want to get to with horses, you need a tribe."
1:43:42
I always call it tribe because this is how horse training evolved.
1:43:46
It evolved out in the steppes, grasslands, deserts, you know, people in tribes
1:43:52
living in tents, groups of families together, all doing it together.
1:43:57
When you go to the top schools, you talk about the one in Jerez in
1:44:02
Andalusia or- Mm-hmm â¦ Portugal or wherever, what do you see?
1:44:05
You see groups of people training the horses together.
1:44:08
You usually see normally minimum two, sometimes three people
1:44:13
collaborating to create a horse.
1:44:16
It's a team effort, and there has to be really good
1:44:19
communication between these people.
1:44:20
There has to be a kind of love between these people.
1:44:23
Mario Contreras: Correct.
1:44:23
Rupert Isaacson: Just like there would be in an extended family, in a clan.
1:44:28
A lot of people, as you know, are keeping their horses in isolation, you know?
1:44:32
They've always had a dream for a horse.
1:44:34
Maybe they couldn't have a horse when they were younger, then they
1:44:35
get a job, they make a little money.
1:44:37
Now they have a horse.
1:44:39
Right.
1:44:40
And it's them and their horse, and- What I always say is f-
1:44:45
you need to manifest your tribe.
1:44:47
You need a tribe of people around you and that horse to, to get where you wanna go.
1:44:53
And I have some little things I tell people to do spiritually, actually, to
1:44:58
put it out to the universe to bring that tribe, because it actually always happens.
1:45:02
But the first thing is they have to want it.
1:45:05
And as you know, a lot of people want to be very protectionistic with their horses.
1:45:09
Yeah.
1:45:09
It's understandable, but it won't get you there.
1:45:12
How do you help people?
1:45:14
You do a lot of training.
1:45:15
How do you help people find that Contreras family vibe, that medieval
1:45:20
times team in their own backyard?
1:45:25
Mario Contreras: We spend a lot of time together.
1:45:27
For example, my day usually starts at 6, 6:00 AM.
1:45:31
We usually meet at the barn 7:45, let's say the morning.
1:45:34
I usually do the mornings in my training facility, and then I
1:45:37
do the evenings at the castle.
1:45:39
So I think the most important thing is to gather.
1:45:44
To gather and, when I have, for example, a, a normal, typical
1:45:50
morning, I'm gonna have between 5 to 10 riders in the arena at once.
1:45:56
So, and of course, and one of those is the go- is i- one of those is gonna be
1:46:01
the one that is gonna be having a lesson.
1:46:04
Most of the riders that I have right now, they're actually really good
1:46:07
riders, where I just kinda give them the program of what I want of the morning.
1:46:11
We have, we usually have small briefings.
1:46:13
But I think it's important to, to do one on one, one with the horse, one with the
1:46:18
rider, where we start really understanding and getting to know each other.
1:46:24
Just like any family.
1:46:25
Mm.
1:46:25
You know?
1:46:26
I know that you can say, "Well, that's my, that's my son," or,
1:46:29
well, it is your son, but you don't know him that much like I do.
1:46:33
Rupert Isaacson: Mm.
1:46:33
Mario Contreras: You know?
1:46:33
Sometimes building this relationship in a way that most of the time
1:46:38
when you meet somebody, you meet, successful person, the happy person,
1:46:42
but you don't know the other faces.
1:46:44
You don't know- Mm â¦ the other faces when they are sick, when they're
1:46:47
mad, when they are uncomfortable with different situations.
1:46:50
When they're sad, scared, absolutely.
1:46:51
That's right.
1:46:52
That's right.
1:46:52
Mm.
1:46:52
So learning how to- That's why when I have my, my little briefings, I think
1:46:57
I usually do it a least once a week to put everybody in the same, in the
1:47:02
same spot and to, to everybody have the same kn- knowledge, to everybody
1:47:06
have the same goals that we all want.
1:47:09
One of the things that I see a lot, big time, in this horse world,
1:47:13
there is a lotta gossiping, a lotta talking bad about others.
1:47:17
Mm.
1:47:17
I try to, you know, let people know that that's not allowed in my team.
1:47:22
That's not â¦ I- if we- if something goes wrong, we all come in and help out.
1:47:27
Mm.
1:47:28
If the show doesn't go as good as, as we didn't practice at the
1:47:31
house and things didn't go well, that's not the end of the world.
1:47:35
You know, we can continue and practice and it- it's a- it's always a learning
1:47:40
opportunity when things don't go.
1:47:42
Who doesn't want the little blue ribbon?
1:47:45
Who doesn't wanna, you know, take the first place?
1:47:48
Who does at the castle?
1:47:49
Who doesn't wanna be champion on the on the tournament?
1:47:53
Well, that's the goal, but it's important for you as a coach to maintain that
1:47:56
alive every single day when things are extremely difficult, when the horse is
1:48:01
not listening , when your balance is not great, when, you know, when things don't
1:48:07
go the way you want to in a competition.
1:48:10
You know, sometimes we work the whole year to go to nationals,
1:48:13
and when you go to nationals, you only have one shot to perform.
1:48:16
And then the horse, all of a sudden, because he's a stallion, and there is
1:48:19
a mare on the other side, you know, in heat, and the, the stallion picks up
1:48:24
the scent, things start going backwards.
1:48:28
Well, you have to have in that mind that, you know what?
1:48:32
You want a stallion, that's what happens.
1:48:35
Yeah.
1:48:35
It's okay.
1:48:35
But you have to have that open mind.
1:48:37
Mm.
1:48:37
And if you really think about it, you're like, "I worked a whole year
1:48:40
and I spent all this much money and things â¦" Well, you know what?
1:48:43
There's always next year.
1:48:44
As long as you are alive, anything can happen, you know?
1:48:49
Mm.
1:48:49
And as always, it's a learning experience to, to continue to live life with the
1:48:54
best of what you got when you have it.
1:48:57
There is gonna be days, like, like I said earlier, my future, you know, anybody's
1:49:02
future, you know, you have all these dreams and one of my dreams always when
1:49:06
I was younger is, was to, to be, to, to have a, to build a school in Mexico that
1:49:13
will be at the same level as the school of Jerez, a school that will be at the
1:49:18
same level of the Spanish riding school.
1:49:21
But, you know, for that you need- the government to be involved.
1:49:26
You need you know, people who really will do it pretty much
1:49:30
for free with a lot of talent.
1:49:33
I hear so many stories of different people.
1:49:36
I had the opportunity to take the clinic with with one of the masters
1:49:40
in the school of Jerez, Rafael Soto.
1:49:43
Mm.
1:49:43
He came here to to Chicago and to do a clinic, and you hear these stories.
1:49:48
They've been working for, for the Spa- for the Real Escuela for so many years,
1:49:53
and now he's doing his own thing.
1:49:55
And, you know, sometimes, you know, you want to look for new
1:50:00
frontiers where, okay, you know, sometimes maybe, I don't know.
1:50:05
I, I didn't, I didn't talk to him about that, but, you know, a, a person that
1:50:10
continues when he should be maybe retiring or having just fun or fun with his
1:50:15
horses, you know, he continues to teach.
1:50:18
He continues- Mm â¦ to have, to, to, to give in a way what he has learned
1:50:24
his whole life in a three-day clinic.
1:50:28
I think you and I both know that that's impossible.
1:50:31
Mm.
1:50:31
But that gives you this motivation to continue to, to keep going and
1:50:36
to be better every single day.
1:50:39
Rupert Isaacson: Do you think you will achieve that dream in in, in Mexico?
1:50:43
Are you talking with people about that now?
1:50:44
Are you strategizing?
1:50:46
Mario Contreras: I have.
1:50:47
I have, but just like I said, it's it- that would be a, a huge dream.
1:50:50
There is a school in Mexico, Escuela de Jinetes Domeq, but
1:50:54
it's owned by a particular person.
1:50:55
So, you know, when the place is owned by aâ¦
1:50:58
It's just like any other school.
1:51:00
I want something that will belong to the country.
1:51:03
Mm.
1:51:03
Something that the country will be proud of, something that the
1:51:06
government will do it just like they do in other countries that we- Mm
1:51:10
admire, you know?
1:51:12
And but, you know, I think as riders or people who has, who has the passion
1:51:18
for horses, I think we have that.
1:51:21
But I think it's maybe, you know, I don't have that high of a
1:51:26
hierarchy in a way that I canâ¦
1:51:29
and I, I haven't even tried either, but to talk to someone who has that power
1:51:34
to build something like that in Mexico.
1:51:38
But I think that would be-
1:51:39
Rupert Isaacson: I would add, I would say yet to that
1:51:41
â¦ Mario Contreras: cor- correct.
1:51:42
You're right.
1:51:42
It's it's something that, that always has been in the back of my mind.
1:51:47
And I have talked to a lot of people, you know, andâ¦
1:51:51
But it hasn't been, like, a project to me.
1:51:54
Mm.
1:51:54
Maybe, you know, in the future that would be something that I would
1:51:57
be interested on to, to do that.
1:52:00
In the meantime, you know, I continue to do what I do right now, you
1:52:04
know, trying to do, and try to have probably the best cast of the whole
1:52:08
company, to try to have the best show for multiple times in Chicago.
1:52:12
I continue to have my little riding school over here in Maple Park, Illinois,
1:52:18
you know, with MC Horse Training.
1:52:20
And try to do and try to continue to enjoy life as much as you
1:52:25
can with the opportunity.
1:52:26
I think as long as you are healthy and as long as you have the privilege to be
1:52:30
in this world, you know, to continue to to promote education and try to see if
1:52:36
I can help just a little bit to, for me to help you to have a better bond with
1:52:41
your horse, that would make my day.
1:52:44
Rupert Isaacson: Well, let's find out how people can do that.
1:52:46
So, first question, how do people contact you, Mario?
1:52:50
Mario Contreras: Well, right now through social media.
1:52:52
You know, Facebook has been a big platform for me to, to show who I am.
1:52:57
You know, Mario A.
1:52:58
Contreras on Facebook.
1:53:00
With I- Instagram, same thing Mario A.
1:53:03
Contreras.
1:53:03
And lately I've been trying to do TikTok, which is kinda, Believe it
1:53:07
or not, but I was so shy when I was a little kid, and I remember when I used
1:53:13
to go to pretty much anything even to go and buy a pair of shoes orâ¦
1:53:19
I was so, I was afraid to ask how much they were or I was so shy to ask.
1:53:24
And you know, throughout the time, it's it's getting better.
1:53:27
So now me talking to you and being in front of the, the camera and just talking
1:53:32
about what I love the most, which is horses and enjoying life, I think, I don't
1:53:37
know if you know this, but back in the day I, I got kicked out of the country
1:53:41
when I didn't have the opportunity to have to fix my paperwork here in the US,
1:53:47
and I end up in Guadalajara four years later after I didn't have I didn't have,
1:53:52
contact with my family or my friends, and you, when you go back four years
1:53:56
later, a lot of things have changed.
1:53:59
Mm.
1:53:59
So a week later after I was in Mexico after not being there for
1:54:03
four years Medieval Times contact me and say, "Hey, what are you doing?"
1:54:08
"Well, nothing yet, but I'll probably find something to do."
1:54:11
"Well, we want you to come back to the US, but we're gonna help you
1:54:14
to fix your paper- papers, your paperwork to come back to Me- to
1:54:19
Medieval Times here in the US legally.
1:54:21
So in the meantime, we are gonna open a new business in in Cancun."
1:54:26
So I end up going to Cancun.
1:54:29
They are like, "You wanna go?
1:54:31
We're gonna bring some pirate ships from Cuba, and and would you like
1:54:34
to help us to, to open it up?"
1:54:36
And I was like, "Cancun, are you kidding me?
1:54:39
That's, like, the best place to go and, you know, and have
1:54:42
fun and, and all that stuff."
1:54:43
Well, I end up, I was gonna be there only for six months.
1:54:47
I end up staying there for three years working for Medieval Times,
1:54:50
but this company, it was, it's called The Galleon of Captain Hook.
1:54:54
So I end up being a pirate.
1:54:57
We did a something super similar to Medieval Times.
1:55:00
We started with horses, with pirates taking over a piece of island
1:55:04
producing a a pirate show with swords, very similar to the one that was in
1:55:09
in Vegas with explosions, pirates jumping off the ship, a horse doing a
1:55:15
little horse show, blah, blah, blah.
1:55:17
Believe it or not, but that show continues very strong in Cancun,
1:55:21
The Galleon of Captain Hook.
1:55:23
Okay.
1:55:23
El Galleon del Capitan Garfio in Cancun, and I was just recently there in December
1:55:29
and I was so proud to see it, and it's something that I created and continue
1:55:34
to, to enjoy being creative in a way.
1:55:39
When people tells me something to do little shows here and there,
1:55:43
and I have to dress up andâ¦
1:55:45
But I always try to do it in the most professional way as I can.
1:55:49
I watch movies.
1:55:51
I take lessons.
1:55:52
I, I continue to educate myself in a way.
1:55:55
And of course, I always like to have all my team involved into
1:56:00
what I do, and that's why I think keeps it a lot of, it keeps it fun.
1:56:05
It keeps it it keeps me going in a way.
1:56:07
Maybe one day when I can't ride anymore, maybe I continue to coach
1:56:11
people or to teach people, or maybe I'll just do what I said.
1:56:14
I buy myself a little house in, by the beach in some- not seclu- you know,
1:56:20
something very, you know, I love little towns, you know, something that is
1:56:24
nice and quiet, so something close to the beach, and maybe I'll buy myself a
1:56:28
little burro and, you know, ride around.
1:56:33
Rupert Isaacson: You'll be on the piaffing burro in, That's
1:56:35
Mario Contreras: right.
1:56:35
That's right
1:56:36
â¦ Rupert Isaacson: yeah,
1:56:36
Mario Contreras: yeah, yeah.
1:56:37
Rupert Isaacson: So listen, okay, so people can find you Mario A.
1:56:40
Contreras on Facebook and Instagram.
1:56:42
Do you have a, a website for your horse training that people can also go to?
1:56:46
Mario Contreras: You know what I'm rebuilding it right now.
1:56:48
It was mchorsetraining dot com.
1:56:50
Mm-hmm.
1:56:50
But www- but I took it down.
1:56:53
I felt like it wasn't really bringing the attention that I wanted.
1:56:57
Mm-hmm.
1:56:57
So I took it down, and right now I have this lady that is working on it and
1:57:01
put it back together with everything new, with all my concepts, all my new
1:57:06
material that I have, all the stuff that I've been doing in the last few years.
1:57:10
But it's in construction right now, my new one.
1:57:12
I took the old one down probably, like, maybe three, four months ago.
1:57:16
Okay.
1:57:16
And I just felt that it wasn't really doing what I wanted promoting.
1:57:21
I feel more using Instagram Facebook TikTok.
1:57:26
All these things are doing exactly what I want when I want.
1:57:30
And, So if
1:57:30
Rupert Isaacson: people want to make contact with you, they, they
1:57:32
can contact you through Facebook.
1:57:34
They can do it through Facebook â¦ and if, if they want to- Mm-hmm â¦ come
1:57:36
and learn with you on the School Master horses and learn the feel and learn
1:57:40
the old master's way of doing it, they can contact you and come and do this?
1:57:44
Mario Contreras: That is correct, mm-hmm.
1:57:46
And if you see on, on my Facebook page right now, you know, right
1:57:50
now I don't just check my phone, I have to check Messenger, emails.
1:57:54
Email is really good, too.
1:57:56
But you know, usually Messenger, a lot of people for some reason, you know,
1:58:00
on my website most people, Of course, I have my, my phone number there as
1:58:06
well my email and people, I mean, there is so many things to check on every
1:58:11
day when you wake up and try to see.
1:58:13
But, you know, going through my, texting me is also probably the
1:58:18
best, fastest way to contact me.
1:58:21
Okay.
1:58:21
If you don't mind, I can give my number so people- Please do â¦ can reach out to me.
1:58:24
It's 630-415-9788, and I'm located-
1:58:31
Rupert Isaacson: Say it again slowly.
1:58:31
Mario Contreras: Mm-hmm.
1:58:32
630- 415-9788
1:58:38
Rupert Isaacson: Okay
1:58:39
Mario Contreras: And I'm located here in Chicago, Illinois.
1:58:41
Rupert Isaacson: Super.
1:58:42
I have some students in the Midwest area.
1:58:45
I think I might bring them to your place and- All right â¦ let you loose on them.
1:58:48
That would be great.
1:58:49
Mario Contreras: All right.
1:58:49
No, that would be perfect.
1:58:51
Rupert Isaacson: I- Thank you so much â¦ I can't wait.
1:58:52
Well, it's- Mm-hmm â¦ absolutely my pleasure.
1:58:53
Thank you so much for coming on the show, Mario.
1:58:56
Mario Contreras: No, thank you.
1:58:56
It was myâ¦
1:58:57
It was an honor to be on your show, so thank you so
1:58:59
Rupert Isaacson: much.
1:58:59
Ah.
1:58:59
Well, likewise.
1:59:00
I look forward to seeing you in Chicago soon.
1:59:03
All
1:59:03
Mario Contreras: right
1:59:03
â¦ Rupert Isaacson: and yeah, we will, we will continue.
1:59:06
Thank you for
1:59:07
Mario Contreras: sharing.
1:59:07
Okay.
1:59:07
I'm gonna, I'm gonna start practicing as much as you can with the whole team, so
1:59:11
when you arrive, everybody should be 100%.
1:59:14
Rupert Isaacson: I wouldn't even know.
1:59:15
Or I- It's a Contreras show.
1:59:17
It's going to be fantastic.
1:59:18
They always are.
1:59:19
I've seen-
1:59:20
Mario Contreras: Thank you.
1:59:20
Yeah.
1:59:20
Thank you.
1:59:21
Thank you so much.
1:59:21
Standard is- It was a pleasure talking to you, and good luck to you, and-
1:59:25
Rupert Isaacson: Thank you
1:59:25
â¦ Mario Contreras: have a great day.
1:59:26
Rupert Isaacson: You too.
1:59:26
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