It’s called James Cagney Way because, for more than 30 years, this 17-mile stretch of New York State Route 86 included a horse farm purchased in 1956 by Hollywood motion picture legend James Francis Cagney, Jr. The route also leads to an Airbnb unlike any other, situated less than two hours north of New York City. Welcome to Windrock Farm, home to Hollywood movie stars like the Andalusian stallion, Listo (Colin Farrell’s ‘Horse’ in Winter’s Tale), and RJ Masterbug (a chestnut overo used in the making of Hidalgo). It’s also home to a nonprofit haven, Red Horse Rescue, where owner, proprietor, and professional horse trainer for film and TV, Cari Swanson, keeps her promise to the one horse she couldn’t save to assure others get their “second prance.”
Welcome to your home away from home to relax, enjoy a trail ride or lesson, and soak up life on a one-of-a-kind farm. It doesn’t hurt that it’s lavishly and whimsically designed with equestrians in mind.
Photo by L.A. Berry
Your Host, Cari Swanson
The wind beneath the wings at Windrock Farm is Cari Swanson.
A U.S. Dressage Federation silver medalist and graduate of its “L” education program, Swanson applies her experience as an international-level dressage and national-level eventing competitor, trainer, and instructor to the entertainment industry. She’s put good seats and hands on inexperienced actors like Farrell, Beyoncé, Russell Brand, Russell Crowe, Hillary Duff, Jonathan Groff, Ethan Hawke, Salma Hayek, and Tim McGraw, all while training horses to perform complicated stunts and action scenes. Hollywood horses must hit their mark with the acuity of a Spencer Tracy.
Cari Swanson on the horse that inspired a mission: Red, the namesake of Red Horse Rescue. Photo by Swanson Productions
“Cari gets the shot every time,” said Academy Award-winning director Ang Lee about working with her on Taking Woodstock. “Her horses hit their mark for each take, even when the human actors do not.”
“Cari trained me for The Magnificent Seven,” said actor Haley Bennett. “I started out fearing [horses], and learned not just how to ride, but ride with gracefulness and integrity. She treated horses as equals. I found that a rare and dignified trait.”
Swanson-trained horses have contributed to the production of films Arthur (2011), H. (2014), and Echo Valley (2024); the video game Red Dead Redemption II (2018); miniseries Orange is the New Black, The Knick, The Plot Against America, and White House Plumbers; and commercials for E*Trade, the New York Knicks, New York Lotto, and Ralph Lauren.
“The horse’s wellbeing and joyful attitude are the most important criteria for training,” says Swanson, whose own story of finding Listo, owned by Ashley Waller, reads like a script. She had flown across the country to see an Andalusian for sale, only for his owner to warn her that the stallion was “too dangerous” to purchase.
“I’ll take him,” she said.
Fast-forward to the fall 2016 Unbridled Spirit campaign, projected from the windows of Ralph Lauren’s flagship store on Madison Avenue in New York City, where the “dangerous” Listo is seen at liberty in a slow-motion video sequence across eight windows, connected by an invisible thread to Swanson’s every ask.
“I was proud of that one,” she says. “The stage was maybe three strides. It was super hard because he had to run, rear, and jump a 1-foot pole, but we had to make it look like 5 feet!”
Windrock Farm
You don’t enter just a house at Windrock; you enter another world. It’s one of trompe-l’oeil countryside and celestial landscapes; of chandeliers, oriental rugs, and visits from four-legged friends.
Two beds and a balcony view can’t be beat as you overlook the horse pastures. Photo by L.A. Berry
“Can you trust your horse to come in the house and behave?” asks Swanson, who trains horses to go through doorways and into rooms to build confidence. “It’s vital to working with a horse on set, where there are distractions and strange footing.”
As you follow the incense through the foyer toward the staircase to your room, don’t forget to look up to appreciate an artful cosmos—and winged white stallion, an homage to Listo—painted overhead.
Each room offers a pastoral view (nothing like going to sleep to the northern lights or waking up to a horse grazing below), private bath, and ample closet space, including an extra riding helmet and boots in case you forget yours.
Windrock Farm’s carousel horse promises a magical ride at this Amenia, N.Y., Airbnb. Photo by L.A. Berry
Red Horse Rescue & Movie Nights
Ever wonder what it’s like to train horses for the movies or teach actors to ride? To benefit Red Horse Rescue and horses finding haven there, Windrock Farm regularly hosts cozy screenings for up to two dozen guests of Winter’s Tale. These include a visit from Listo before the curtain goes up, après film stories about the production, and a lively dinner by firelight.
You don’t just enter a house at Windrock: You enter another world. Photo by L.A. Berry
“The rescue has placed dozens of horses and continues to follow their careers, with a clause written in that a horse can be returned at any time,” says Swanson. “There can be six to 10 rescues at the farm [at any given time] being retrained so they can find a special human to love them in a new career.”
To help them—like you—feel at home.
To book or learn more about Windrock Farm and services offered by Swanson, visit cariswanson.com or Instagram @cariswanson17. Help horses get a second prance at redhorserescue.org.
This article about Windrock Farm appeared in the March/April 2025 issue of Horse Illustrated magazine. Click here to subscribe!
