Ed Dabney
Horse Expert Witness
Equine Expert
Horse Training Expert
Ed Dabney has over 30 years of professional experience with horses and can provide you with expert assistance.
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Ed Dabney presents horsemanship and riding clinics in many areas of the US, Canada and Europe. Ed’s blending of natural horsemanship and classical equitation has made an indelible mark with students on two continents, drawing the attention of serious riders searching for the lightest touch and the deepest connection with their horses irrespective of breed or discipline.
Ed has worked with horses all his life, being involved in diverse fields including the ranching, motion picture and horse training industries. Ed Dabney, a fifth-generation horseman, gained rich insight and understanding into the horse’s instinct and culture through his experiences in the wilds of Wyoming, where Ed conducted a horseback outfitting and hunting guide business near Yellowstone, worked with Mustangs and trained horses for several large ranches.
Ed has applied his diverse skills in the training of horses for the motion picture industry and was cast in mounted action roles in major motion pictures including The Patriot, Geronimo, Gettysburg and The Postman along with numerous other films. Ed trained horses for and supervised all horseback riding scenes for nine motion pictures, three music videos, two commercials and seven television series including the PBS docu-drama entitled “We Shall Remain” and four seasons of Fox TV’s Sleepy Hollow series. Ed was featured training a Mustang in the Emmy award-winning PBS documentary “Untamed Legacy”.
Ed Dabney learned from and has enjoyed a warm friendship with Classical Master Rider Karl Mikolka, of the Spanish Riding School of Vienna, Monsieur Philippe Karl of the Cadre’ Noir, French Riding School and the late Baron Albert Moyersoen, a legendary horseman of Italy.
Equestrian Services Expert
Ed Dabney has over 30 years of professional experience with horses and can provide expert assistance and services such as:
- Expert Testimony
- Insurance Claims
- Litigation Support
- Case Analysis
Just to let you know a little of my personal background, I grew up on my Dad’s horse farm where we raised and trained our own horses, taught riding lessons and boarded horses for other owners. My Dad always had a gentle, natural way around horses and treated them well. He taught me, at an early age, how to ride with lightness and how to have the proper relationship of respect, trust and leadership with my horse.
As a teenager my brother and I spent countless hours on our horses exploring the countryside looking for challenging terrain for our horses. In high school and college I began traveling the rodeo circuit competing in bull riding until I got enough sense knocked into me to quit that crazy sport!
Throughout my adult life I’ve been blessed to have had a variety of experiences with riding and training horses. While living in Wyoming I had numerous opportunities to observe wild horses on the open plains. This gave me a much deeper understanding of their well-developed social structure, instincts and communication.
I trained horses for several large ranches in Wyoming. On these ranches I had occasion to work with range raised colts, wild horses and problem horses. I did quite a bit of imprint training on new-born foals and weanling training. All my training was done with gentle communication and respect for the horse. My training techniques were somewhat unorthodox in the land of the “rough and tumble, old cowboy ways”. Over time the results of my training techniques were evident in more dependable, calmer, smarter and braver horses.
As a cowboy, hunting guide and licensed outfitter in Wyoming, I have lived deep in the Rocky Mountain wilderness for weeks at a time. Some of the rugged conditions and extreme situations I have endured with my horses have given me a deeper understanding of the horse as a partner along with a true appreciation for the horse’s strength, courage and tenacity in the face of hardship. My Dad always encouraged me to write a book about my adventures as a wilderness horseman. I would like to do that someday to recount to others some of the amazing experiences I have had such as being on horseback and falling through the ice of a frozen lake above timber line at 11,000 foot elevation, close encounters with Grizzly Bears and Mountain Lions, being attacked on the open plains by a wild Mustang stallion, being trapped with my horse inside a raging prairie fire which burned over 800 acres, roping and rescuing a horse stuck in quicksand and being caught in a white-out snow blizzard and having to trust my horse’s sense of direction to make it back to camp, These experiences and many others taught me to trust God, myself and my horse because in the wilderness there is no 911 to call for help.
In 1979 I made a decision to trust in Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior. Since then I have committed my life, my family and my business to His glory. God’s word has given me hope, guidance, and peace in my life.
-Ed Dabney
Biographical Feature Article
