“Someone who does not train reining horses for money, and who owns the horse he or she rides.”
“Any special breed of horse?” my friend asked.
“Not in the open, remember? That’s what open means- open to all horses, registered or unregistered. The amateur and ladies events are also mostly open reinings; but there are reinings restricted to a particular breed. For example, the NRHA Futurity for three-year-olds is for Quarter Horses. But the important thing is the horse; the whole object is to develop the reining horse and prove him through competition. The NRHA was established for that reason, and to regulate and provide consistent judging. It’s really an effective organization.”
The crowd rose to its feet cheering. “Just watch this horse,” I said, “watch how he works on a light rein and how collected and in control he is, and how he looks like he’s drawing the pattern with a pencil. Look how strong he is, and how much snap he’s got in his roll-backs.”
My guest froze in his seat, staring at the sorrel horse spinning fluidly, and circling with phenomenal exactness. The sorrel and his rider covered the distance of the arena, then went sliding into a beautiful stop as if floating over ice, always balanced and with more power and explosive energy at the rider’s slightest command.
“What about these patterns who makes them up?” my guest asked.
“A committee set up by the NRHA. They change the old patterns, and add new patterns. The point is to continue challenging the reining horses, but to keep them from getting sour and stale, which is caused by repeating the same pattern time after time. The patterns also increase in difficulty, with No. 1 in the Handbook being the easiest. Some of the young horses, like the futurity horses, aren’t ready to jump right into a highly complex pattern, so they gradually work up to the more difficult ones.”
“That makes sense. Is the NRHA nationwide?”
“It’s mostly in the midwest because it started there, but NRHA affiliates are located all over the country and in Canada. I’ll show you the NRHA Newsletter and you can see how widespread the interest is.”
“Do the reinings pay money, and does the association make any money?”
“Some of the reinings really pay well. For example, the NRHA Futurity held last fall at the Quarter Horse Congress in Ohio paid out around $41,000 to the contestants. But the NRHA really doesn’t make any money because it is a non-profit organization.”
As we filed out of the coliseum with the crowd, my guest was still excited about what he had just seen. But I told him, “The best part is riding a reining horse. I’ll get you hooked yet!”
