Yorkshire-based horse trainer Ben Atkinson comes from a long line of horsemen. Riding stunt work by age nine, the now-28-year-old runs the live displays and specialist training side of the family business, Atkinson Action Horses, which has been providing horses for film, TV, photoshoots and live events for over 25 years.

“I first sat on a horse when I was months, not years, old,” says Ben Atkinson. “In all honestly, I cannot remember learning to ride at all – for me, it would be akin to asking someone what it was like to learn to walk as a child. It’s just something I have always done.”

Ben comes from a long line of horseman, beginning with his grandfather who left school at 14 to work with heavy horses on the land during the Second World War. “Because of the circumstances, horses were in short supply and this led to my grandfather accumulating a variety of methods to train and educate horses,” explains Ben.

Ben’s father, Mark, was originally a dairy farmer but had ridden all his life and eventually diversified into the equestrian world, opening a livery yard and riding school a few years after Ben was born in the mid-90s. “My father was a show jumper, show horse producer, and ran a liberty yard and riding school. One day we were asked if our riding school horses could be hired to take part in an English Civil War battle re-enactment. Having been prepared with our family’s somewhat unorthodox methods, they excelled and were immediately booked to take part in a film doing similar work. Things snowballed, and the rest is history,” says Ben of how his parents, Mark and Jill, first began Atkinson Action Horses.

Ben says he had his first taste of stunt riding at the age of nine: “After watching a performer stand on a team of white horses, I was inspired. Having two white jumping ponies at the time, my childhood enthusiasm and logic knew it would be possible! I did my first show standing on their backs that year.” Ben went on to build his own show team of riders and horses when he was 16, and by 18 was performing at some of the biggest shows in the UK, including the Horse of the Year Show. Today, his repertoire covers liberty work, classical dressage – including airs above the ground – and Cossack trick riding.

HIT MOVIES & TV SHOWS

Atkinson Action Horses is based at Asselby Grange, the family farm of three generations in East Yorkshire. “Knowing we have all lived and worked horses on the same land gives a sense of pride and security so strong, it’s hard to put into words,” says Ben, whose sister Lucy also rides. To date, Atkinson Action Horses has an impressive list of film and TV credits, ranging from hit Netflix shows such as Peaky Blinders and The Witcher, to films including Wuthering Heights and The King’s Speech, and even Bollywood productions, documentaries and an Arctic Monkeys music video. Ben’s enthralling live show has gone from strength to strength, with his team performing up to six times a month so far this year, and always drawing a big audience.

Much of the horses’ training takes place at Asselby Grange, with basic farm machinery proving a useful tool to help desensitise the horse to loud noises and movement. “It doesn’t matter if people laugh at you; what you’re doing should make sense to horses, not people is a quote from my grandfather much repeated when we are implanting our methods, to make sure horses are bold and confident in new situations or with challenging objects,” explains Ben. “When training horses, you don’t need to replicate something exactly, all you need to do is present the elements the horse is naturally programmed to be apprehensive about and make it a positive experience.

“We use a variety of weird and wonderful things to make ‘films sets’ or ‘showgrounds’ in our backyard. Did you know a strimmer [whipper-snipper] makes the same high-pitched sound as a large camera-carrying drone? A raised forklift bucket with LED lights is clearly a crane and lighting rig to horse, while the smoke from the bonfire at the bottom of the garden is just as good as any thousand pound atoms machine. We have used anything and everything you can think of to give our horses the confidence they need to go out into the world.”

Ben has worked with many different horses over the years, and he says that trying to pinpoint a breed or type of horse that is best for the family’s line of work is almost impossible. “Firstly, we have to be able to provide for every genre, from modern day racehorses to Victorian-era pit ponies and medieval war horses. The thing we look for when adding to our team is an inquisitive mind; horses who want to be into every half-open box or through every door. The ones who break out of fields or pull rugs off the walls into their stables. A horse who wants to interact with their surroundings is often a wonderful, enthusiastic student.”

LITTLE BROTHER & BEST FRIEND

While Ben isn’t about to pick favourite breeds, he does have a favourite horse: “Malik, my dapple grey, is my favourite if I am forced to pick. He has been mine from two weeks old, and has travelled with me around the country and the world. Having him by my side is like having my little brother and my best friend on every job.”

In recent years, Ben has really made a name for himself and has accumulated a large social media following of 178,000 on Facebook and 194,000 on Instagram, with both accounts showcasing everything from snippets of his amazing live performances to behind-the-scenes training shots.

“I could never have dreamed that I would have the support from people all around the world I have now. It’s mind-boggling and often overwhelming. I started my social media accounts as a way to store photos and videos, as my phone at the time had terrible memory! However, now and especially through and after the pandemic, it’s been eye opening to witness the joy sharing my life with my horses can bring to so many people. It’s very humbling.”

Ben’s fiancé, Georgie, appears in a lot of his social media content and, as Ben explains, she’s an important part of the equation. “Georgie is a dressage rider and farrier, but more than that she is my rock. More than anything, I put my spike in success over the last two years down to her impeccable patience with and support for me. You could say we have given up on finding a work/life balance, as we are constantly on the move. However, we both couldn’t imagine a perfect day that didn’t have horses in it, so as cliché as it sounds, we are living the dream!”

Late last year, Ben and Georgie announced their engagement with a wedding pencilled in for 2023. “At this moment we don’t have plans to have horses at the wedding, which is a huge shock to everyone I know,” laughs Ben. “One major problem is that nearly every person we trust with our horses will be attending and we want to enjoy the day with them – not have them washing horses and loading carriages on to flatbeds. However, it’s early days and I suspect the horses will make an appearance in some way!” EQ

You can find out more about Atkinson Action Horses via their website, and be sure to follow Ben via Facebook and Instagram. A special thanks to the Equine Collective for supplying this interview.

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