WELCOME TO
TEAM  YRIARTE HORSEMANSHIP

ABOUT US

Dan and Kathy are a passionate Christian husband and wife team based near Reno, Nevada pursuing their dream helping people achieve a true partnership with their horse.

As life-long horse lovers, both Dan and Kathy enjoyed riding as kids. Dan had horses as a child growing up on a ranch in northern California before being moved to the central coast. He still found a way to have horses there, including working as a trail guide on the beautiful coast of Montana de Oro. For Dan, life took him away from horses while he finished college and found his way to Reno, Nevada and eventually met Kathy in 2012.

Kathy has owned horses since she was 16 and coincidentally, also worked as a trail guide at a ranch in Verdi, Nevada for a summer. She had become an avid Parelli student in 2004, however, after several years, she realized that the Parelli program was no longer fitting with the direction she wanted to go. She began to explore other methods and schools of thought, from Tom Dorrance and Buck Brannaman to Xenophon, while enjoying trail riding and the occasional local schooling show with her horses.

Dan and Kathy met in 2012 and shared their love of horsemanship along with a budding romance. Always wanting to learn more and improve, they participated in several clinics with talented horsemen and women including Trevor and Tara Carter, Katrina Sanders, and Buck Brannaman. Dan convinced Kathy that they were ready to compete in the Extreme Mustang Makeover being held at the Reno Rodeo. For those unfamiliar with this event, trainers pick up an untouched BLM mustang they are randomly assigned and have 100 days to gentle and train to compete under saddle. The competition includes handling and conditioning, trail, and maneuvers components and culminates with the top ten performing a freestyle ride to music. The horses are then auctioned off to the public at the end. They sent in their applications and both Dan and Kathy were selected to compete. Dan's horse proved to be very challenging and in the end, they elected not to take him because he was not going to be safe for the average adopter. Kathy and her gelding, Legato, competed, however she was injured during the training period and unable to ride, affecting their scores significantly.

Dan was hooked! Kathy... not so much. While she loved the training process, she did not like the constraint of such a short timeline. Dan decided he would enter again in 2016.

They established Team Yriarte Horsemanship in 2016 after Dan's second Extreme Mustang Makeover where he impressed with his horse Doc Holliday, not only in his performance but in the relationship they have.

They have had the pleasure of working with a multitude of horses since then, primarily mustangs, on everything from ground work to trail riding to refinement and collection. They have helped clients with picking wild horses out of the holding pens, helped numerous horses have a positive experience with first rides, gentling, hoof handling and first trims, addressing dangerous behaviors, and things as simple (but just as important) as tune ups on well trained horses that just need more miles and better communication with their owner. Their foundation is built on the horsemanship style of Bryan Neubert, Ray Hunt, Tom Dorrance and others who truly believe in putting the horse first.

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We believe in partnership before showmanship. This means we will not sacrifice the relationship with the horse to achieve a short term goal, whether it be a show ribbon, a specific maneuver, or a timeline the human has set. We firmly believe the horse must be allowed the dignity of participating in the process of developing communication and trust. By allowing the horse to express themselves, the willingness comes naturally and horse and human become a team, working in unison toward a mutual goal. Communication and confidence are the priority in our program. In order for this relationship to develop, we include lessons for our full-care training free of charge so the owner can participate in the horse's education. We will tailor the program to suit both the goals and abilities of horse and human to ensure long term success.

We believe horsemanship is a journey and that there is always room for improvement. We strive to learn more and learn from the best in the business. Below are clinicians and trainers we have learned from and ridden with. We absolutely recommend that you ride with them or audit a clinic if you get the chance!

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Katrina Sanders - www.ksclassicaleq.com
Patrick King - www.pkhorsemanship.com
Bryan Neubert -www.bryanneubert.com
Vaughn Knudsen - www.compasshorsetraining.com
Trevor Carter - www.carterranchhorse.com
Buck Brannaman -www.brannaman.com