Contact info
(775) 427-5570
e-mail modernvaquero@yahoo.com
5555 Candee Ln Fallon, NV 89406


Jeff Sanders

Jeff had the good fortune of growing up horseback in the center of original Vaquero country. His parents were two of the nation’s top trainers both in open competition and in the American Paint Horse Association. Having spent his youth gathering and branding cattle on some of the old California Spanish land grant ranches gave Jeff a deep appreciation for Vaquero tradition and the Vaquero way of life.

While most kids spend their time after school playing ball, Jeff spent his time horseback. Jeff’s mother made her living training and giving lessons so when Jeff came home from school he went straight to the arena.

Jeff competed in his first reining class at only 6 years old. The show was at the historic Santa Barbara Fiesta Rodeo and Horse show and Jeff ended up reserve champion.

At the ripe old age of 12 Jeff began getting paid to ride and show client horses. Jeff competed in openshows and on the APHA circuit showing in both youth and open divisions regularly showing against professional trainers. He won championship titles in disciplines as diverse as reining, working cow horse, team roping, calf roping, steer stopping, western pleasure, hunters, jumpers, hunter under saddle, and hunter hack.

When Jeff got to high school he continued showing horses but also began to high school rodeo. He competed in team roping, calf roping, steer wrestling, and cutting. Jeff qualified for the Junior Grand Nationals in steer wrestling and California State Finals in calf roping and steer wrestling. He finished his senior year with a top 10 finish in the calf roping.

After college, Jeff returned to the roping arena and began roping in the United States Team Roping Championships (USTRC). Jeff and his dad ended up Western Regional champions in 1996 and earned themselves a spot at the Team Roping National Finals. Jeff qualified for the USTRC National Finals twice along with winning saddles, buckles and a horse trailer.

Jeff also began judging horseshows, giving clinics and teaching lessons after college. He judged numerous horseshows through out California. Jeff took several students to their first highpoint/all-around titles. He also taught horsemanship clinics throughout the Central Coast of California.

In 1999 and 2000 Jeff team roped in the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association. During this time he competed in over 100 rodeos all over California.

In 2000 Jeff met his wife Katrina and in 2001 they married and moved to Colorado. Jeff continued to rope but began shifting his focus back to his family’s tradition of making quality bridle horses.

In 2003 Jeff and Katrina moved to Fallon Nevada where they are today.

Jeff has worked roping, gathering, branding and doctoring cattle on some of the biggest ranches in California, Colorado, Wyoming and Nevada. This practical experience along with his extensive competition background has all come together to help shape his training programs. Using traditional Vaquero training methods was not something Jeff had to seek out and learn later in life. Jeff grew up using Vaquero training methods and living Vaquero traditions. For Jeff it has always just been the way things are done.

Jeff remembers old time Vaquero legends, like Arnold Rojas, coming to his parents horse training facility to talk about horses and horsemanship. He remembers riding the same trails as the original Vaqueros and is dedicated to keeping the Vaquero traditions alive.

 Katrina Sanders

           Horses weren’t a part of Katrina’s heritage.  However, her love of horses began at a young age and was cultivated by her parents while growing up.  The 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles inspired her to pursue the dream to one day become an accomplished equestrienne.  English riding lessons became her passion and life.  All other sports and activities came second to riding and Katrina spent hours hanging out at the barn grooming horses and cleaning pens.  Soon, showing horses and ponies at prestigious places such as Pebble Beach, HIITS Indio and Santa Barbara became a way of life. 

            Growing up on the Central Coast, Katrina was also exposed to some of the best cattle ranching land in the country.  Childhood friends included long-time ranching families and Katrina was often towering over them on her Thoroughbreds to assist in cattle gathering and sorting.  Riding outside the confines of an arena allowed her to learn aspects of horsemanship that break the boundaries between “western” and “English”. 

            Learning how to start colts from a cutting horse trainer, Katrina found herself in a unique position in the local English riding community.  She began to have requests to start youngsters and her “feel” with green horses caught the eye of a top hunter/jumper trainer who offered her an assistant position.  Soon after, the barn relocated from San Luis Obispo County to the Aspen, Colorado area. 

While riding and working with horses that ranged from Warmbloods to Lipizzaners, Katrina learned to bring jumping horses along using dressage as a foundation.  Spending much more time fine tuning horses’ flatwork, Katrina learned the value of suppleness and lightness to enhance the relationship between horse and rider.  She spent two years training and showing on the “A” circuit  under the supervision of Austrian trainer, Martin Klein, before moving back to California to finish college. 

While attending Cal Poly, SLO Katrina continued to train and show her own horses.  After marrying Jeff, they moved to Colorado where Katrina managed a horse facility and had a training and lesson program.  She also showed her paint gelding in both open hunter/jumper shows as well as the Colorado and Nevada APHA circuit.  Since moving to Nevada, Katrina enjoys working with select individuals teaching lessons and training horses.  She continues to strive for lightness in every horse, regardless of breed or purpose, and encourages her students to pursue the knowledge of classical methods and apply them to their horsemanship as well.  



 Jeff’s father Ray Sanders

Coming soon

 Jeff’s mother Jeannette Dahl

A third generation Californian, Jeannette was raised on her family’s San Joaquin Valley ranch that ran cattle in the California coast hills where she worked with horses and cattle from an early age.

She began showing horses, both Western and English, as a child. As a teenager Jeannette began giving riding lessons as well as training and showing horses for others. This developed into a business that helped put her through college, obtain her teaching credentials, and later became her vocation.

Jeannette owned and managed a successful training and showing business in Santa Maria California for many years showing western pleasure, trail, reining, and halter horses as well as hunters and jumpers.

Residing in the heart of Vaquero country Jeannette’s training philosophy was steeped in the Vaquero traditions. Jeannette’s horses and students were very successful in open shows as well as breed shows. Jeannette and son Jeff trained and showed numerous paint horses to their championships at both the state and national level.

After many years of training and showing horses Jeannette became the manager of a large Thoroughbred farm in California where she trained the race horses as well as managing the breeding division of the farm.

Following several years as manager of the Thoroughbred farm Jeannette expanded her equine experience by moving to southern California where she managed a polo farm, assisted her husband in training polo horses and later assisted in the management of a polo club in northern California.

Coming full circle back to her roots, Jeanette and her husband now operate there own cattle ranch in central Nevada.