Founder
Dan James
Dan James of Double Dan Horsemanship has spent his entire career wowing audiences, pushing the bounds of equine entertainment, competing on an international stage, and educating horsemen and women around the world. Dan first learned about liberty training from world renowned movie horse trainer, Heath Harris. From there Dan went on to train liberty horses for television, movies, photoshoots, and entertainment including starting liberty horses for the hit show Heartland, doing stunts for The Walking Dead, and training horses for Cavalia.
Dan’s expertise at liberty training has been recognized and celebrated by industry professionals and fellow trainers alike. Dan’s own liberty team has been featured in country music videos, a Versace ad campaign, a Vogue cover photoshoot with Jennifer Lawrence and high fashion photoshoot for Elle magazine with Alicia Vikander. Dan and his training methods have been featured on Australia’s Got Talent along side partner Dan Steers and in National Geographic’s Mustang Millionaire.
Dan has always strived to push the bounds of Liberty training by incorporating it into other established competitions. In 2014, Dan was the first Mustang Million trainer to work a horse completely at Liberty in the Freestyle competition where he trained it to circle, lay down, run down and stop, roll up on its back, and more.
Dan was also the first trainer to incorporate Liberty training into Freestyle Reining Competitions and has won multiple Freestyle Reining Championships on three different horses all featuring different elements of Liberty. Specifically, Dan won the 2014 Kentucky Freestyle Reining Cup with Smart Little Elan riding half of the performance bareback, bridleless, and backwards. That same year Dan also won the QH Congress Freestyle aboard Smart Little Elan where he performed the first ever Liberty spin and exhibited the first ever Liberty sliding stop with IRA Top Gunner in the same performance. In 2016 Dan incorporated additional Liberty horses to his routine to win multiple Freestyle Reining Championships with Don Magnum including the Ram Invitational Freestyle Reining. Dan again featured his Liberty training with in 2018 when he won the QH Congress Freestyle.
In 2009, Dan Steers and Dan James of Double Dan Horsemanship began sharing their love of Liberty and their specific Liberty training program with anyone interested at clinics in the US, Europe, Canada, and Australia. This was one of the first times the general public could learn the art of liberty training. Since that time, many who have learned from Dan and Dan and other liberty trainers have started offering liberty clinics as well.
Dan has spent his career studying, practicing, perfecting, exhibiting, and sharing Liberty training with others and looks forward to promoting and growing the Liberty discipline through the ILHA.
In addition to teaching, Dr. James has trained her own horses and competed for the first time in the RRP Thoroughbred Makeover in 2018 finishing in the Top 5 out of 73 in the Freestyle Division with a routine that incorporated Liberty on the ground, Liberty off of a ridden horse, Liberty obstacles, and bareback and bridleless ridden work.
Dr. James has spent her entire career helping others achieve their professional goals and is excited now to dedicate her time to helping grow and promote a discipline loved by so many around the world.
