HALL of FAME

Richard Shrake is not only a great man, he has also been an icon as a professional in the horse industry for over 40 years. He lives his life with simple and timeless principles, believing in hard work and family values. His dream was to create a balanced, common sense program based on knowledge and wisdom, that would help riders and their horses everywhere realize their potential. Through his uncomplicated formula for success, the Resistance Free® Riding and Training Methods, Richard has achieved this goal. He inspires… He motivates… He cares. His gift of teaching and training has touched and enriched the lives of riders and their horses…. from beginners, to intermediates to professionals.
His reputation as a teacher has always been proven by a barn full of winning students. His capacity for patience and his skill as a communicator made him a hit with youth students from the beginning. As a showman, Richard has shown all over the United States, and as a clinician has taken his experiences and his teaching methods all over the United States and beyond.

Richard Shrake’s training method, known as Resistance Free®, has made him one of the best all-around clinicians out there. His base, in Sunriver, Oregon, allows Richard the time needed to write his Bridle Wise column, which appears in major equine magazines throughout the country. With a rigorous training regiment, he has trained World Champion horses and riders, judged all major breed World Championship shows and has put his lifetime of wisdom into well-written columns, an extensive video series and well-constructed clinics.

In recent years, he has been called the “ultimate coach” by his students. Richard’s primary purpose in creating the Resistance Free® methods has been to develop a cooperation between horse and rider, which results in a way of training and riding that is humane and always has respect for the partnership between the horse and rider.

One of the most popular of his programs, called the Graduate Course, is a breakthrough in personalized riding and instruction. It benefits trainers and riders alike, whether for show or pleasure. Richard Shrake has the talent to lead students through step by step instruction to work with all disciplines and levels of ability. His clinics always stress that the first step towards success comes after an evaluation of the potential of the horse. Without that, there can be no success.