Ryan, aged 84, had been in ill health with liver cancer.
"He was a real straight shooter," Maree Price, his daughter, said.
"He was ahead of his time in a lot of things and one in particular I recall was his method of gelding horses."
Price was among 12 children bought up by Ryan.
She drove Nuclear Byrd, owned and trained by her father, to set a New Zealand mile record of 1.54.1 at Winton in December, 1997. The time lowered the record of 1.54.6 set by Ginger Man in 1995.
Nuclear Byrd won the Central Otago Cup five days later. The Nuclear Canyon gelding also won the 1997 Tuapeka Cup.
Ryan had bought Nuclear Byrd in embryo with the broodmare Roydon Byrd, an unraced Roydon Albatross-Storm Byrd mare, for $300.
Ryan was then based at Waimate. He earlier farmed at Little River and his initial equine association was riding at gymkhanas.
He turned to harness racing as a 41-year-old and became licensed to train in 1960. He was licensed to drive in races in 1968.
He owned and trained his first winner, Carlisle, at Reefton in 1961.
Ryan won the first and fourth races on the card with Atlee at a Nelson meeting in June 1967. Ryan bred Atlee who was by the little known Spring Jinks.
Atlee won the 1968 Cheviot Cup and the same day Ryan owned and trained the winner, John Peel. He had taken over John Peel as a 7yr-old.
Ryan won seven races with Jerlin's Choice in the 1990s. He drove the Scenic Jerlin gelding to win the 1990 Reefton Cup at odds of 26-to-one. Jerlin's Choice paid $41.15 to win the 1992 Amberley Cup with Price the driver.
Ryan did much work in establishing harness racing at Motukarara through his association with the Akaroa and Banks Peninsula trotting clubs, a fellow administrator, Ross Stanbury, said.
"He was a rough diamond but a real worker. He was instigator of the all-weather track at Motukarara. He did a lot of the work with his own gear," Mr Stanbury said.
Ryan's practical approach sometimes had him at odds with racing authorities and he was fined substantially in the 1970s by the governing body for operating outside the rules when compiling fields for a meeting.
