About Rick

I was raised in California's famed San Joaquin Valley—the home of legendary Hackamore and the Bridle Horses. Under the expert tutelage of my father, Keith Haag, I started riding almost as soon as he could walk. I have had the honor of working with famous California horsemen Bob Barrett, and Tom Dorrance, and many others. A fifth-generation horseman, my father herded livestock in the Uintah and Wasatch mountains of northern Utah. He gathered wild horses on Utah's west desert into Nevada. The ranchers there would turn Mustang/ Thoroughbred studs on the desert, and gather three year old colts every spring. He refined his horsemanship, training these tough rock-footed, wild horses. He passed this love of horses and the land down to me. I am the only person in my family born outside Utah since the Utah pioneers entered the Great Salt Lake area in 1848. 

My entire life was working on various ranches and training horses. I rode hundreds of different horses before I was a teen. 

I was a professional rodeo athlete, riding bareback horses and bulls, I also team roped and calf roped. I growing up in California, I was in the team roping capital of the world. Growing up roping against the likes of the famous Camarillo brothers and many others, roping was a way of life.  My father had an arena that held weekly ropings. I could go to a different roping 6 days a week in the summer and never have to drive more than 20 miles.  I won the CCPRA rookie of the year in 1986. I rodeod for a living for several years, often traveling to nearly 100 rodeos in a year. After a career-ending injury, I hit the ranch trail.

I worked on vast ranches in Nevada, California, and Arizona. Ranches like The Finney, Cane Springs, The Flying M, the Circle Bar, and more helped me to continue to refine my horsemanship skills.

I have  trained many horses that went on to have successful careers in jumping and eventing. Several years were spent training Thoroughbred racehorses and two of my colts sold  at the prestigious Barrett's Sale, the second largest Thoroughbred sale in the country. I have been able to put the foundation on horses from nearly every breed. 

I attended two years of horseshoeing school in Merced, California in 1985.

My foundational education is based on the ultra-responsive Hackamore/Bridle horses of the California and Nevada ranges. I found those foundations are applicable to all breeds and disciplines seeking a willing, reliable equine partner.

I have put on many clinics helping hundreds of horses and people. I help people with their horse problems, and horses with their people problems. 

My family and I moved to southern Utah in the Great Basin in 2005, in the shadows of Utah's majestic peaks. My son Seth works fulltime with me training and shoeing horses from all over the west. He is carrying on a 150 year family legacy with the horse.