Carson James did NOT grow up owning his own horse.  He wanted to learn more about horsemanship and got on-the-job training on ranches from Oregon to Montana to Arizona.  It was there he got the knowledge of some of the least known, but most experienced horse trainers there are by working on those cattle ranches.  He also learned a lot from a book by Ray Hunt his parents gave him.  He read and re-read, Think Harmony with Horses over and over until he knew the main principles inside and out. In addition, Carson James spent many years working as a horse trainer in Florida in the winter focusing on performance horses.  Then, in the summertime, he worked on the big cattle outfits out west.  This gave him a unique opportunity to blend what he learned from the ranches with what he learned from the performance horse trainers.  Each group has a little different style and goal to training and, by alternating between the two, Carson James had a well-rounded education in horsemanship.