It would usually take a few lifetimes to join the circus, become a royal cavalry trainer, a horse behavioural expert, trick rider and show revolutionary, but Guido Louis Leidelmeyer mastered it all and shares his skills from his Low Fulney ranch.
Guido has lived all over the world but has found his base in South Holland, where he operates his equine behavioural training school.
He describes his work as troubleshooting problems with both horses and their owners. But it was a long, globetrotting journey that got him to this mastery of equine minds.
Guido was born in Holland to a Dutch mother and Indonesian father.
He said he was always a romantic, a trait nurtured by his mother. When he saw Cossack riders he felt an affinity with their style, grace and power. “I knew they were not just fighters, but dancers,” he said.
This admiration combined with an innate drive and he joined the circus, aged 15.
“In my first year I met a group of Cossacks and I asked them if they needed a rider,” Guido said.
“The guy I asked turned out to be my future teacher and boss. He took out his Filofax and put my name under ‘R’ for rider.”
Soon the teenager was contacted and became a Cossack rider. “I picked up all my possessions, a guitar and underwear, and took the train to Germany.”
The gruelling winter training had one rule – if it dropped below minus ten degrees centigrade, they’d stop.
Guido spent many days training n the cusp of -10°C.
“It’s funny how a dream can quickly become a nightmare,” Guido joked.
Six months later, however, he was part of the show.
He stayed with the group for three years, before a circus owner in Sweden spotted Guido’s extravagant style that made him stand out from the pack.
“He asked to book just me for the team,” Guido said.
“I went to my boss and told him about this opportunity. He said to me, ‘if you think that’s your future, go for it.’”
Guido, 21-years-old, took his saddle and worked as a freelance rider across the world for the next 18 years, stopping in 1998.
The next stage of Guido’s career then began. He learned to add a more theatrical flair to his work at the likes of Disneyland Paris, American Adventure and Europa Park in Germany.
These theme parks are where Guido combined his natural flair with stunt work and characters.
He formed his own stunt team Rockin’ Horse and turned the art of trick riding on its head – quite literally with some of his stunts.
“I was introduced to working on bigger areas,” he said of the difference between circus work and field work.
“How can you turn a 10-minute circus act into a 30-minute spectacular?
“I added a story and a narrator. My first production was called The Show and was all about trick riding and used rock music. Nobody did that at the time, there was only jousting or western shows at the time,” Guido said.
The Show kicked off in spectacular fashion, with Guido and his team riding through a “massive wall of fire” at the start.
Guido said he was also “the only person for a decade” to ride under the belly of a horse.
“Only my student does it now, which makes me happy,” Guido says of his trick riding legacy.
Shaking up an industry is going to get you noticed, so another opportunity knocked – this time in the Middle East.
Guido was living in South Wales when he got a 6am call from a colonel in the Oman Cavalry asking to meet him in London.
After some negotiation, Guido agreed to train the Royal Cavalry of the Sultanate of Oman.
One of Guido’s demands was that he could take his own horses. Guido said this unfortunately meant missing out on business class and travelling freight with his animals, but a fateful flight demonstrated a valuable lesson that he’s carried through to his job as a trainer.
“In freight, you can get through to the cockpit,” said Guido. He was sitting with the pilots flying over London in a storm and a bolt of lightning appeared.
“The pilots whipped around and protected their heads. They freaked out and it freaked me out. It made me realise how much we are in need of leaders, and if our leaders are out of control we will run amok.”
To Guido, this translated directly to his work with horses. He said: “If you are not in control or clear, your horse will not accept you as a leader.”
After years in Oman, Guido brought with him his knowledge and experience and settled into training in England.
Guido now teachers behavioural “troubleshooting” and trick riding from his Low Fulney ranch.
There are a few common traits Guido recognises in behavioural training.
“The English are typically soft with their horses, with is nice but not always needed,” he said.
“As a trainer it’s about making sure our roles are correct.
“Horses respond to signals I give them. When riding, all the signals are in place. On the floor people forget to do that, so the signals are unclear,” he said.
This discipline to see the whole job through is apparent throughout Guido’s drive to succeed and his work.
“Discipline is a great word, hard-headed is another,” Guido said.
“I’m very lucky to have a character that is quite persevering. If you are born with a character like that, things become a bit easier.”
From a young age, Guido’s stepfather taught him the importance of working hard to succeed. “I worked damn long hours, I grafted but I enjoyed it. Academic studying is not my thing, but nobody goes through life without learning.”
It was the drive he learned that made him strive to realise his dreams.
“People weren’t waiting for me to come around, you have to prove it yourself,” he said.
“My success is down to many things – God, the people around me, friends, partners and teachers.”
All of these people must both wince and watch in awe when they see Guido trick riding. Whether he’s standing on a horse at pace or scrambling under its belly, his skills are inspirational but teachable at his ranch.
His trick-riding lessons are three-hours long. The first hour is fitness and strength training, the second is barrel work and the third takes place on a horse.
Rather than learning how to fall, Guido said the most important thing is preventing falling in the first place, as well as learning not just the trick but how to get in and out of it.
“You run out of breath real quick on a moving horse,” he said. “There comes a moment when you just have to commit to what you’re doing. I try to minimise risk as much as I can.”
Guido now has the best of both worlds – he continues his work with horses and people but enjoys his home life.
His wife Amira works at the training school with him and his two children Antony (14) and Wesamme (4) are following in his footsteps.
“Antony is a natural around horses but is more into acrobatics,” he said. “Wesamme wants to ride all day long.”
Guido is running an open day with dinner and demonstrations on Saturday, June 16. Tickets cost £45, call Amira on 07446 794136.
