About Brandin Schrader

Brandin is an Iowa country boy, raised on a horse doing a lot of trail riding. When he was about nine, he learned how to team rope at a local arena and then started participating in youth rodeos. By age 15, he was a member of the Iowa High School Rodeo association and qualified for the National High School Finals Rodeo in team roping his senior year.

In the middle of high school, he purchased a video tape on calf roping he promptly proceeded to teach himself how to calf rope. After high school, Brandin attended college where he continued to participate in rodeos and where he added saddle bronc riding to his events.

While shoeing horses one morning, Brandin got seriously hurt. During his doctor ordered "down time" he watched videos of Buck Brannaman, Ray Hunt and Tom Dorrance. Through the years he had also attended clinics by Buck, Ray and Jeff Griffith.

The spark was ignited and he would watch the video tapes, then running out to the barn to try something and then run back in to replay or continue. He spent hours and hours pouring over technique and body language of the rider and horse.

Then one evening he called and wanted me to come to the barn to watch. He was riding and operating a young gelding in circles, making stops, backing circles, speeding up and slowing down --- all with his body because his hands were folded and placed on top of the saddle horn.

Brandin knows the frustration and challenges of changing yourself first. He also knows the exhileration of how that change affects your horse.