Eitan then came to the United States to continue his studies at the University of California in Davis. Once at UC Davis he realized that what he really wanted to do with his life was to train horses and he began working toward that goal. While he was making inroads into the American horse industry, he became a successful sculptor, exploring the artistic balance between form and function – a balance this philosophical horseman still finds relevant to bringing out the best in a horse. His Western horses are easily recognizable by their self-carriage and elegant style, which he attributes to the use of dressage in his training program. He is still an artist at heart and certainly one in the saddle, creating harmony, beauty and balance in his horses.
Eitan has won many World and National titles in the show horse industry. He and his Morgan stallion, Holiday Compadre, have been the World Champion Western Pleasure Horse in 1993 and 1996. In 2002, 2003 and 2005 Eitan and Santa Fe Renegade were named World Champion Western Pleasure Horse of the Year. In addition to his own wins he has trained and instructed many amateurs, junior exhibitors and numerous clients’ horses to many additional World and National titles.
Eitan and Holiday Compadre are particularly famous for their awe-inspiring performances choreographed to music displaying their original style of horsemanship they have branded “Cowboy Dressage” in which Eitan applies his years of classical dressage training to Western horsemanship. The results have brought down the house time and again in performances across the nation. In July of 2002 Holiday Compadre was officially retired. In January of 2003 Eitan was awarded the Barbara Worth Oakford Memorial Trophy by the USEF for outstanding Western Horseman of 2002.
In September of 2006 Eitan and Santa Fe Renegade had the great honor of being asked to represent the US in the closing ceremonies of the World Equestrian Games in Aachen, Germany. In 2010 Eitan and Santa Fe Renegade were honored yet again when invited to represent the US at the spectacular opening ceremonies World Equestrian Games in Lexington, KY, the only American rider to be invited to perform in the World Equestrian Games ceremonies twice. Eitan was also to have entertained the WEG crowds by giving Cowboy Dressage demonstration clinics over the 16 days of the Games, until a near fatal cardiac emergency precluded his further participation. Eitan’s remarkable recovery has astonished even the doctors, and Eitan was back in the saddle a mere 7 weeks later. Less astonished, perhaps, are those who know Eitan!
Adding to this distinguished list of honors, championships and awards, at the end of February, 2011, Eitan will be inducted into the American Morgan Horse Association Hall of Fame!
Feature articles on Eitan and training articles by Eitan have been published in American Cowboy, Horse and Rider, Western Times, Equus, Ride, Equestrian Connection, Hastfynd, The Morgan Horse, The Morgan Connection, The Pacific Saddlebred, Saddlebred Journal, Trail Rider, The Waddie, USA Equestrian, Cowboys and Indians Magazine, and Western Horseman. Eitan was also prominently featured in Dr. Robert Miller’s recent book, Natural Horsemanship Explained, From Heart to Hands.
Eitan has 3 DVDs on the market: Cowboy Dressage, Building the Foundation, Cowboy Dressage, Dances With Cows and Cowboy Dressage, Poetry in Motion. His videos have been featured on HorseTV and RFD-TV.
The ground-breaking event, Light Hands Horsemanship in Santa Ynez, CA each May has featured Eitan as one of the select clinicians every year from 2007 through 2010, and they have invited Eitan back yet again for 2011. Further information can be found at: www.lighthandshorsemanship.com
Eitan and his lovely wife Debbie own and operate Wolf Creek Ranch in the beautiful Sierra Foothills in Grass Valley, CA. USA. Here they also produce horsemanship videos that can be purchased through their website, www.cowboydressage.com or at our clinic. Now retired from public training, they continue to do clinics and performances on a limited basis. Eitan is best known for his humor and sincere love of what he does. He is a wealth of information and knowledge and is notorious for “telling it like it is.” He is a “horseman’s, horseman…a man who is living his dream. We are thrilled and honored to have Eitan and Debbie at Kokonini Farm for their first-ever New Hampshire appearance.
