Robert grew up in Bellevue. He began riding at Swiftsure when he was in preschool, as a student in the program and later became a member of the Special Olympics Equestrian Team. In 2007, he started working at Swiftsure part-time, assisting the instructors with lessons and horse maintenance. He currently works three days a week at Swiftsure, assisting with all parts of the daily lesson schedule.