Kristin Yde • Barrel Racer

Directions Website Contact the business

Kristin Yde • Barrel Racer Call or E-mail for prices

4X American Semi-Finals Qualifier • 2016 & 2017 SRA Champ • 4X IFR Qualifier • 2016 SEBRA Champ • 2025 BBR 1D Finalist • 2025 PWR Pro Finalist • 2022 NBHA Open World 2D Champ • WPRA/IPRA/SRA/BFA/BBR

A full entry calendar isn’t automatically a plan.There’s always another race to enter. Another place your friends are go...
10/23/2026

A full entry calendar isn’t automatically a plan.

There’s always another race to enter. Another place your friends are going. Another weekend that makes you feel like you’re missing out if you stay home.

But what is that trip doing for you and your horse?

Maybe you’re getting a young one experience, working toward qualifying, or entering somewhere that suits your horse and gives you a good shot at a check. Those are reasons to load up.

“I feel like everybody else is going” can get expensive in a hurry.

And the cost goes beyond entry fees and diesel. A horse only has so many runs in them. We don’t get to know that number ahead of time, so we need to put some thought into how we use them.

That doesn’t mean every run needs to win money. Experience matters. Building a partnership matters. But entering out of habit, chasing a mistake with another entry, or hauling because you can’t stand to miss something deserves an honest look.

Sometimes the most productive weekend is at home. Give your horse a break from hauling. Address something you haven’t had time to work through because you’ve been entering every weekend.

And sometimes you’re prepared, your horse feels great, and it’s time to load up and go compete.

Enter with a purpose. Give the work between races as much attention as the races themselves. Those runs are an opportunity, and we owe it to our horses to use them thoughtfully.



Subscribe to get exclusive benefits:
https://www.facebook.com/KYbarrelracer/subscribenow

You don’t have to like someone to appreciate them helping your horse.Imagine being proud of refusing to thank somebody w...
10/22/2026

You don’t have to like someone to appreciate them helping your horse.

Imagine being proud of refusing to thank somebody who stepped in when your horse needed help, simply because you don’t like them. That’s not a flex. That’s letting a personal grudge matter more than what someone did for an animal you’re supposed to care about.

Nobody needs a thank-you badly enough to leave a horse in trouble. Most horse people will step in regardless of who owns it, because the horse has nothing to do with whatever history exists between the humans.

But there’s a lot to be said about how you act when someone you dislike does right by you. Basic gratitude doesn’t mean you’re suddenly friends. It means you can give credit where it’s due.

The horse community is small. Word travels, and how you treat people gives it somewhere to go. I think people forget that the way they talk about treating someone can say more about them than the person they dislike. What feels like a victory when you’re telling your friends may leave everyone else questioning your character.

If you’re going to give people something to talk about, let it be your horsemanship and your work ethic. Being proud of treating someone poorly is a strange reputation to work for.

If you want me in your corner as a trainer or coach, you have to be willing to hear when your effort isn’t matching your...
10/21/2026

If you want me in your corner as a trainer or coach, you have to be willing to hear when your effort isn’t matching your goals.

I’m going to support you. I’m going to celebrate your progress, help you through the frustrating days, and put thought into what you and your horse need. But I’m also going to tell you when you’re making excuses, skipping the homework, or repeating something we’ve already discussed without making an effort to change it.

That’s part of the job you’re paying me to do.

You don’t have to ride perfectly. You can be nervous, frustrated, inexperienced, or having a rough week. We can work through all of that. What I need is a willingness to listen, take responsibility, and apply what we’re working on.

If you tell me you have big goals, I’m going to coach you with those goals in mind. That means being honest about the preparation, consistency, and habits it takes to get there. A lesson once a week cannot do the work of the other six days.

Being coachable doesn’t mean agreeing with every word or never asking why. It means being willing to consider the feedback, give an adjustment a fair try, and look honestly at your own part in the outcome. That willingness gives us something to build on.

For me, the best lessons are the ones where a student starts recognizing things for themselves. They can feel what happened, understand why, and make a thoughtful adjustment. That takes participation from both of us.

I enjoy seeing a student win, but I also enjoy watching them become someone who can put the work together on their own. That’s what I want them taking home from a lesson.

Have you ever accomplished something you wanted badly, been genuinely happy about it, and still thought, “I figured this...
10/20/2026

Have you ever accomplished something you wanted badly, been genuinely happy about it, and still thought, “I figured this would feel different”?

We can spend months or years working toward a win or a qualification. It gives us something to plan around, something to work on, something to look forward to. Then we finally do it, and there’s almost a little “well… now what?”

That doesn’t mean we’re ungrateful or that it didn’t matter. But maybe we expected that accomplishment to settle more than it could. Winning doesn’t suddenly make us feel like we’ve figured the whole sport out. We still have bills, horses to ride, and things we want to improve.

It makes me think about how much of our happiness we put on hold until we reach the next goal. If we’re always waiting on one result to make all of this feel worth it, that’s a lot to ask of one run.

Learn to love the process and the life you’re building along the way—the horses you get to ride, the people you meet, and the progress you get to be part of. We spend far more days working toward those moments than we ever spend standing in them. When you can enjoy those days too, the end result becomes icing on the cake.

We can talk ourselves into a big goal pretty easily. It’s the daily agreement with ourselves that gets harder to keep.We...
10/19/2026

We can talk ourselves into a big goal pretty easily. It’s the daily agreement with ourselves that gets harder to keep.

We plan to ride with purpose, work on our fitness, get organized, and address the things holding us back. Then the day gets busy, we’re tired, and suddenly we’ve got a convincing argument for why it can wait.

Sometimes plans need to change. Horses need time off. Bodies need rest. Life happens. But we also know when we’re making a sensible adjustment and when we’re looking for an excuse.

If every commitment becomes optional the moment it gets inconvenient, we’re going to spend a lot of time wanting results we haven’t consistently worked toward.

This week, pick something you keep telling yourself you’re going to do and follow through. Make it reasonable enough to accomplish and important enough to prioritize.

There’s confidence to be gained from knowing you can count on yourself to do what you said you would.

10/17/2026

If you’re headed to a barrel race today, you’ve got enough to focus on without carrying everybody else’s opinions along. Trust your work, believe in your horse, and go ride toward the goals you set for yourself. Enjoy getting to do what you love 👏🏼

🎥 Carlea Fitzgerald Photography

10/16/2026

It’s Friday. Get up and get after it 👏🏼 There’s still work to do before we call it a week, and those goals aren’t going to chase themselves 💪🏼 I’ll be chugging Liquid Death & working horses before the rodeo tonight 🔥

We can spend a whole day doing something we love and come home talking mostly about what annoyed us.The show ran behind....
10/15/2026

We can spend a whole day doing something we love and come home talking mostly about what annoyed us.

The show ran behind. Somebody made a comment. The parking was a mess. We had a good run, but there was that one spot we should’ve ridden better.

All of those things may be true. But did they deserve to become the whole story?

There’s nothing wrong with seeing room to improve, and we don’t have to pretend every frustrating part of the day was wonderful. But when we’re always looking for something to be unhappy about, we’ll usually find it. The same goes for looking for something good.

Our horse worked well. We got to catch up with friends. Something we’ve been working on finally came together. We made a competitive run and had fun doing it.

Those things deserve some conversation too.

I think focusing on the positive puts us in a much better mindset to keep improving. It’s easier to go home motivated when we recognize what’s working and have something specific to build on, instead of deciding the whole day was a waste because a few things didn’t go our way.

We can want to ride better next time and still be happy with how we rode today. Enjoying a good day doesn’t mean we’ve lowered our standards or gotten comfortable. We’re allowed to appreciate the progress we’re working so hard to make.

There’s enough we can’t control at a show. What we choose to dwell on is something we can. I’d rather leave happy with the good parts and ready to work on the rest.

We ask a lot of our horses, and I’m thankful to have a vet who takes their care as seriously as we take our goals.I want...
10/14/2026

We ask a lot of our horses, and I’m thankful to have a vet who takes their care as seriously as we take our goals.

I want to understand what’s going on with one, why we’re taking a certain approach, and what I can do to help. I appreciate being able to have that conversation with someone who listens to what I’m feeling as a rider and takes the time to explain what he’s finding.

That’s especially valuable when the kids are there. He includes them, explains what he’s doing, and gives them opportunities to be hands on. Those visits help them understand their horses beyond riding them, and I love seeing them ask questions and learn.

I also appreciate his willingness to think outside the box. Horses don’t always give us straightforward answers, and having someone willing to look further and consider different approaches means a lot—especially when the horse stays the priority throughout it all.

Thank you to Dr. Fernando Cardenas, owner of 3H Equine Hospital and Mobile Veterinary Services for always doing your best by our horses and taking the time to teach us along the way. We’re thankful to have you in their corner.

There’s enough pressure in competition without feeling like we also have to prove ourselves online.Social media can make...
10/12/2026

There’s enough pressure in competition without feeling like we also have to prove ourselves online.

Social media can make it feel like everybody is winning, every horse is progressing, and every weekend needs to come with something worth posting. It’s easy to start measuring our progress by how it stacks up against what we’re scrolling through.

But being noticed and being prepared are two different things. We can spend a lot of energy trying to make sure people know we’re working hard, or we can put that energy into the things our goals actually require.

Working on the part of our riding we’d rather avoid. Getting our horses conditioned. Making time to be physically prepared ourselves. Having a purpose for each ride instead of just getting rides in and hoping it comes together when we enter.

Some of that work makes pretty boring content. It still matters.

Share the wins, be proud of the progress, and enjoy having people follow along. Just don’t let the pressure to have something impressive to post start making decisions for you or your horse.

We can prepare well and still get beat. We can make real progress without bringing home a check. Neither needs to be explained to everyone online.

The goal is to walk into the alley ready to ride the horse underneath us. Keep putting your effort into what helps you do that, whether anybody sees it or not.

Address

1362 Chic Ennis Road
Benson, NC
27504

Opening Hours

Monday 9am - 5pm
Tuesday 9am - 5pm
Wednesday 9am - 5pm
Thursday 9am - 5pm

Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Kristin Yde • Barrel Racer posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The Business

Send a message to Kristin Yde • Barrel Racer:

Shortcuts

Share