✨ "The best teachers and coaches are the horses. It's important for us to learn to listen to them and see them." – Mario Contreras✨ "There is a big word I always feel is missing from the training scale — and that's joy. Where's the joy? These are movements that horses do when they feel passion." – Rupert IsaacsonMario Contreras is the head trainer at Medieval Times Chicago, the man responsible for the standard of horsemanship that stops knowledgeable riders cold in the middle of a crowd of beer-drin...
✨ "The best teachers and coaches are the horses. It's important for us to learn to listen to them and see them." – Mario Contreras
✨ "There is a big word I always feel is missing from the training scale — and that's joy. Where's the joy? These are movements that horses do when they feel passion." – Rupert Isaacson
Mario Contreras is the head trainer at Medieval Times Chicago, the man responsible for the standard of horsemanship that stops knowledgeable riders cold in the middle of a crowd of beer-drinking tourists who have no idea what they're witnessing. Third-generation horse trainer, born in Texcoco and raised in a family rooted in the Alta Escuela and charrería traditions of Jalisco, Mexico, Mario came to the US in 1990 with no English and a lifetime of classical riding in his bones — and built a 35-year career inside one of the most demanding equestrian entertainment operations in North America.
In this wide-ranging conversation, Rupert and Mario cover the deep roots of Mexican horse culture that most American dressage riders have never heard of, how Mario trains complete beginners to become knights performing before 1,500 people in under three years, and why cross-training, liberty work, and genuine joy are the true secrets to keeping horses and riders performing at their best. They also dig into the lost art of schoolmaster training, the in-hand and ground work that underpins everything Mario does, and the vision — still unfinished — of building Mexico a national horsemanship school at the level of Jerez or the Spanish Riding School.
A rich, warm conversation between two horsemen who share a deep reverence for the old masters and a conviction that horses teach us more than we teach them.
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What You'll Learn in This Episode
- • How the Contreras family built a three-generation tradition of Alta Escuela and charrería in Mexico, and how it led Mario to Medieval Times [00:02:35]
- What charrería is, why it matters, and how Mario's father blended it with classical Alta Escuela to create something unique [00:08:46]
- The role of Andalusian horses in promoting Mexican culture — and how the Aztec horse breed came to be [00:03:19]
- Why Medieval Times hires actors and athletes with no riding background — and how Mario turns them into skilled knights in three years [00:20:37]
- How Mario's brother Marcial pushed him harder as family than he would have pushed anyone else, and what that taught him about leadership [00:27:46]
- The value of getting your hands dirty: why Mario still cleans stalls and brushes horses, and why that's inseparable from great horsemanship [00:30:11]
- The case for in-hand and ground training before ever mounting a horse — and how Mario uses it to teach piaffe, passage, and the Spanish walk [00:32:18]
- Why schoolmaster horses are the missing ingredient in modern dressage training, and how the old masters always put beginners on the best horses first [00:51:24]
- Cross-training as the antidote to burnout: how mixing dressage, Alta Escuela, liberty, working equitation, and games keeps horses genuinely joyful [01:34:10]
- Mario's approach to stallion management, redirecting energy, and why isolation is the worst thing you can do for a difficult horse [01:15:07]
Memorable Moments from the Episode
- Rupert describes watching a rider perform three caprioles in a row at Medieval Times while the crowd sips beer — and no one in the room understands what they're seeing [00:01:32]
- Mario recounts the moment he first rode for Medieval Times in California and was so hooked he never looked back [00:26:56]
- Mario describes being deported from the US, spending four years in Mexico without his family or friends, and then getting a call from Medieval Times offering to bring him back legally — via a detour to Cancun as a pirate [01:53:59]
- Mario was invited to ride Claudio Castilla Ruiz's Olympic Grand Prix horse Jade — in jeans and tennis shoes — during a visit to Spain in 2008 [00:58:19]
- Rupert and Mario agree that joy is the word missing from the classical training pyramid — and that a horse in the arena performing with passion is the only thing that makes the audience feel they spent their money well [01:32:11]
Guest Contact & Links
Mario A. Contreras — Facebook and Instagram: Mario A. Contreras MC Horse Training (Chicago area / Maple Park, IL): mchorsetraining.com (currently being rebuilt)
Phone: 630-415-9788
About Mario Contreras
Mario Contreras is a third-generation horse trainer from a family rooted in the Alta Escuela and charrería traditions of Jalisco, Mexico. His father, Jose Trinidad Contreras, was co-founder of the Escuela de Jinetes Domeq and helped introduce Andalusian horses throughout Mexico. Mario joined Medieval Times in 1990 and has spent 35 years building and running the equestrian program at their flagship Chicago castle — the largest in the company, seating 1,500 people per show. Outside Medieval Times, he teaches at his own facility, MC Horse Training, in Maple Park, Illinois, specializing in Alta Escuela, classical dressage, and in-hand training on schoolmaster horses.
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