Physical Address
357 Agency Rd,
Lapwai, ID 83540
This clinic provides youth, ages 6+, a hands-on learning experience of how to become a horseback rider.
The instructors, Taya Yearout, Davi Jo Whitman, and Faith Sobotta, strive to teach basic skills through repetition and mastery. Therefore, every session begins with the kids helping the instructors catch, tie up, groom, and tack1 up the horses.
Not only are the kids learning through repetition, but the horses are as well. Working with children has desensitized them to all kinds of play and activity. The funny thing between horses and children is that they both can be unpredictable. You never know when, where, or who might crash out. To avoid injury, riders are required to wear helmets and warned to stay near safe zones.2
The first few sessions were centered around building confidence, trust, and relationships with the horses. Right from the start, all the riders rode bareback to experience the sensation of balance. A fun exercise the kids enjoy is to have their instructors lead them, while they close their eyes, lift their arms, and feel the horse’s steps and movements. This exercise can take a lot of courage and trust, but over time, they gain more confidence and comfort.
Then, once they’ve mastered how to balance, they move on to riding with a saddle and bridle. By direct rein3, their little bodies are capable of making a thousand-pound horse walk, stop, turn in a circle, back up, etc. Now, the intermediate riders are building up the courage to trot4, gallop, and go on trail rides.
As for the instructors, teaching these kids how to ride has become a full-circle moment. Years ago, they were in the same small cowboy boots and saddles, falling in love with the idea of becoming horseback riders. Their Papa Jon took them on many adventures throughout the Nez Perce homelands. Many rides were amazing, galloping miles through the forest with the view of mountains, trees, creeks, and the presence of one another. Other rides were rough, cold, long, and sometimes dangerous. Yet, no amount of falls, scrapes, bruises, and tears could keep them off their horses’ backs. Now, they’re using their equestrian knowledge, passed down from Jon Yearout, to teach the kids how to ride like they were taught.
The relationship between the Nez Perce and their horses is a historical one. Jon and Rosa Yearout’s Appaloosa horses descend from Chief álok’at’s herd. To honor their ancestors and their horses’ lineage, the NPApHC rides in ceremonies, on trail rides, and in parades. With the ongoing cycle of training fresh riders and green horses5, the NPAHC is protecting the vitality of Nimiipuu horse culture.
The images below feature NPApHC activities, including years prior.
- To equip a horse with riding gear, ↩︎
- The unsensitive parts of a horse’s body, such as the shoulders, withers, and neck. ↩︎
- Fundamental way to steer/control a horse. ↩︎
- A pace faster than walking. ↩︎
- Young or inexperienced horses in the process of training. ↩︎
