The Mouse Hole Farm Production Team:

Mouse Hole Farm       Educational Equine DVDs

Mouse Hole Farm in Durham, Connecticut, is the home of Willis and Andrea Steele and home base for Mouse Hole Farm Equine DVD Productions. Our mission is to produce artful and in-depth learning experiences for horse owners, equestians, and professionals in the horse industry worldwide.

Our first release, Riding with Chi: Your Pathway to Energy Mastery launched to excellent reviews from an international audience in August 2009.

Our new DVD called Advanced Equine Studies is scheduled to begin release in 2012. The first program in this series is a documentary on the horses respiratory system. Over time Advanced Equine Studies will document all of the horses "systems" to develop a comprehensive library as a trusted source of artful and in-depth information not only for equestrians and horse caregivers, but programming that will entertain the whole family as well.  

Andrea Steele

A life-long amateur rider and dedicated horse owner, Andrea coauthored the critically acclaimed book, Lessons in Lightness: The Art of Educating the Horse (The Lyons Press, 2004) with Tennessee-based trainer Mark Russell. She belief in the philosopgy of “riding in lightness” and in the benefits of tai chi and qi gong exercise for the equestrian inspired the production of Mouse Hole Farm's first DVD, Riding with Chi: Your Pathway to Energy Mastery. Andrea's artistic talent helped her become a skilled video editor. The success of Riding with Chi led the company to initate a new product line, the Advanced Equine Studies series. Andrea's business career in accounting and finance is a great asset in marketing Mouse Hole Farm as an innovator in equine and equestrian DVD programming.

Gillian Belnap

Gillian Belnap is an art historian, dressage rider, and professional editor who serves as a consultant to Mouse Hole Farm Equine DVD Productions. She uses her expertise in publishing and her academic background to organize and craft the loogical flow of content in our programming. As a rider, she has worked with Mark Russell for several years; and in 2004, ans an editor for The Lyons Press, she edited and supervised the production of Lessons in Lightness. Through Andrea she learned about and began to practice tai chi, which led to her involvement with Riding with Chi as well as the conception of the Advanced Euqine Studies series.

For assistance with writing projects or print materials, contact Gillian at: gbelnap@mouseholefarm.com.

Carlos Gonzalez

Musician Carlos Gonzalez writes and performs the scores for Mouse Hole Farm's programming. His music exquisitely expresses the relaxed yet powerful connection between horse and rider and provides an inspiring soundtrack for the learning process. In addition to composing the music, Carlos operates his own sound studio and is a skilled videographer and narrator for our programming. He is also a firefighter in Connecticut.

Carlos may be contacted at: carlos4@cox.net.

 Riding with Chi featured personalities:

Patricia Norcia

Dressage trainer and instructor, Patricia Norcia, owns and operates Idlenot Farm in Connecticut. Trained in Spain and the United States, Patricia is certified by the British Horse Society and the American Riding Instructors’ Association. She trains and instructs in the French classical style; and, while she works with horses of any breed, her passion is for the Iberian horse, the Andalusian and the Lusitano.

Patricia is also an accomplished actress and stage director. An acting graduate of the Yale School of Drama, she was introduced to tai chi as part of the required curriculum. She has performed on and off Broadway, in television, and in films. She has also taught breathing and spinal alignment classes at Yale, Columbia, and Rutgers Universities.

Originally from Rome, Italy, Patricia’s love for the horse, dance, and theater has created a diverse career that has allowed her to travel extensively. Closer to her Connecticut home, Patricia has performed with the company Dancing with Horses, an exhibition group that combines modern dancers on the ground with horses, either ridden or at liberty. She also recently created and choreographed her own Idlenot Quadrille that has performed at various events throughout New England.

You can contact Patricia by email at: pnorcia@mac.com

Mark Russell

Author, trainer, and clinician, Mark Russell, owns and operates Willow Spring Ranch in Tennessee. His book, Lessons in Lightness: The Art of Educating the Horse, received critical acclaim when published in 2004.

Mark was inspired by the teachings of the late Portuguese riding master Nuno Oliveira, and in the 1980s he traveled to Portugal for lessons in classical dressage. Since that time, Mark has developed his own training program based on the concepts of riding in lightness and the French classical style combined with Natural Horsemanship. Mark believes that when it comes to good horsemanship, there is very little difference in the learning process; his clinics attract riders from western, hunt seat, dressage, and gaited disciplines.

Mark talks to riders from the horse’s point of view. And teaching both horse and rider to relax and develop the suppleness and strength necessary for better energy flow and balance is what led Mark to tai chi twenty years ago. Mark believes that the practice of even elementary tai chi and qi gong exercises gives the rider insight into a process whose goal is to achieve optimal unity between horse and rider.

For more information about Mark you can visit his website: www.naturaldressage.com.

David Ritchie

David Ritchie has practiced martial arts since 1969 and tai chi since 1973. He trained in the United States and also at the well-known Huangs School of Tai Chi in Sabah, East Malaysia. David has operated his own school, Central Connecticut Tai Chi Ch’uan, since 1989. In addition to tai chi, he teaches pushing hands and a variety of sword routines. Over the years David has taught many athletes, both professional and amateur, the benefits of learning tai chi to advance their individual performance. Tai chi produces results along two distinct paths, one physical and the other emotional. Being able to perform physically is enhanced by an ability to maintain a mind-body connection. To master any sport you must obtain both.

In 2007 David began working with several equestrians and discovered that tai chi not only improved each rider’s position in the saddle and his/her ability to focus, but it also enhanced the rider’s communication with their horse.

The ability of tai chi to benefit both horse and rider inspired David to explore the connection further with Patricia and Mark. The fact that only a basic understanding of tai chi and its exercises is necessary to dramatically change the horse and rider relationship led to the production of Riding with Chi.

For more information about David you can visit his website at: www.centralconnecticuttaichi.com.