Home - Contact – Equine Info – Outreach Programs - Owner Education – Riding Info – Sitemap
Reigning Overview
Reining is a uniquely western riding competition for horses where the riders guide the horses through a precise pattern of circles, spins, and stops. All work is done at the lope (a slow, relaxed version of the horse gait more commonly known worldwide as the canter) and gallop; the fastest of the horse gaits. Reining is often described as a Western form of dressage riding, as it requires the horse to be responsive and in tune with its rider, whose aids should not be easily seen, and judges the horse on its ability to perform a set pattern of movements. The horse should be willingly guided or controlled with little or no apparent resistance and dictated to completely. A horse that pins his ears, conveying a threat to his rider, refuses to go forward, runs sideways, bounces his rear, wrings his tail in irritation or displays an overall poor attitude is not being guided willingly, and is judged accordingly.
Reining - History: Throughout American history, dating back to the earliest Spanish settlers in what today is Mexico and the Southwestern United States, including Texas and California, ranchers needed to manage cattle from horseback. Cattle were moved, branded, doctored, sorted, and herded, often on open range without the benefit of fences, barns or other means of holding the animals. A good cowboy needed a quick and nimble horse, one that could change directions quickly, stop "on a dime," and sprint after an errant cow. The horse needed to be controlled mostly by legs and weight, ridden with only one hand and a light touch on the reins, so that the cowboy's attention could also be on tasks that could include handling a lariat (to rope cattle), opening a gate, or simply waving a hand, hat or rope to move along a reluctant herd animal. Informal demonstrations of these ideal characteristics amongst ranch cowboys and vaqueros evolved into the sport of reining, as well as the related events of cutting and working cow horse as well as several other horse show classes.
Reining - Movements: The reining pattern includes an average of eight to twelve movements which must be executed by the horse.
Patterns require the following movements:
Circles: the horse must perform large, fast circles at a near-gallop and smaller, slow circles at a lope. They should be perfectly round, with the rider dictating the pace of the horse. There should be an easily seen change of speed as the rider transitions from the large, fast to the small, slow circles. Most circles incorporate changes of direction that require a flying change of lead.
Flying Change: the horse changes its leading front and hind legs at the lope mid-stride, during the suspension phase of the gait. The horse should not break gait nor change speed. While completing a change at speed can improve one's score, precision is the most important factor in judging. A horse taking more than one stride to complete the change, or a horse that changes early, late, or that change only the front feet and not the hind feet will be penalized.
Rundown: the horse gallops or "runs" along the long side of the arena, at least 20 feet (6 m) from the fence or rail. A rundown is a required movement prior to a sliding stop and a rollback.
Sliding Stop: the horse goes from a gallop immediately to a complete halt, planting its hind feet in the footing and allowing its hind feet to slide several feet, while continuing to let its front feet "walk" forward. The back should be raised upward and hindquarters come well underneath. A particularly powerful stop may, depending on arena conditions, produce flying dirt and a cloud of dust. The movement should finish in a straight line, and the horse's position should not change. This movement is a crowd favorite, along with spins (see below).
Back or Backup: the horse backs up quickly for at least 10 feet (3 m). The horse must back in a perfectly straight line, stop when asked and hesitate a moment before the next movement. It is judged on how quick, smooth and straight the line is.
Rollback: the horse immediately, without hesitation, performs a 180-degree turn after halting from a sliding stop, and immediately goes forward again into a lope. The horse must turn on its hindquarters, bringing its hocks well under, and the motion should be continuous with no hesitation.
Spins or Turnarounds: beginning from a standstill, the horse spins 360 degrees or more (up to four and one-quarter full turns) in place around its stationary inside hind leg. The hind pivot foot remains in essentially the same location throughout the spin, though the horse will pick it up and put it down as it turns. Spins are judged on correctness, smoothness, and cadence. Speed adds to the difficulty and will improve the score of a correctly done spin. A pattern requires at least one set of spins in each direction. Horses must stop the spin in the designated place or be penalized for over or under spinning. The term Pivot is sometimes used to describe a turn on the hindquarters of up to 360 degrees where the horse has to keep a rear pivot foot stationary. In 4-H competition, pivots of 90, 180, or 360 degrees are sometimes used in pattern classes to introduce youth riders to reining concepts.
Pause or Hesitate: the horse is asked to stand still for a few seconds to "settle" between certain movements in the reining pattern, particularly after spins. Pauses are not judged as a movement per se, but a horse that is ill-mannered or behaves with impatience when asked to wait will be penalized.
Reining - Scoring: The horse begins with a score of 70, with a theoretical range of scores considered to be from 60 (if there are no penalties or disqualifications) to 80 (a near-impossible perfect pattern). Points are added or subtracted by 1/2, 1, and 1-1/2 point increments for each of the 7 to 8 maneuvers in the designated pattern. Each part of the pattern is judged on precision, smoothness, and finesse. The “degree of difficulty” for each maneuver, typically related to speed and agility is also assessed. Increased speed increases the difficulty of most movements and the potential for a high score. For example, a perfectly executed fast spin will score higher than an equally perfectly executed slow one.
For each maneuver, the point scoring is as follows:
-1 ½ for an extremely poor execution
-1 for very poor
- ½ for poor
0 for correct
+1/2 for good execution
+1 for very good
+ 1 ½ for excellent
A score of 70 is considered an average score for a horse that made no errors but also did not perform with any particularly exceptional ability. A score below 70 reflects deductions for incorrectly performed movements or misbehavior of the horse, a score above 70 reflects that some or all movements were above average. Certain misbehaviors may incur penalty points beyond a poor score for a given maneuver. Significant errors, such as an overspin (more than one quarter turn), will result in a "zero score", which might still allow a horse in a small class to earn a ribbon for last place (awards are given to the top three, five, six or ten competitors, depending on the type of competition and sanctioning organization). Major mistakes, such as a rider going off-pattern, result in disqualification, sometimes called a "no score," which prevents the horse from earning any award, even if it is the only horse in the class.
Reining - Breed Preference: Reining may be performed by any horse, but the Stock horse breeds, particularly the American Quarter Horse, dominate the field. The reining horse must be agile, quick, and very responsive to the rider's commands. Powerful hindquarters are required to hold position in a sliding stop or a rollback, excellent coordination is required for proper spins and flying lead changes. Correct leg conformation is essential, as the limbs and joints are often under considerable stress in competition. The horse must also have an excellent temperament to perform with both speed and precision.
Reining - Turnout: Riders must use a western saddle. Spurs are allowed, but whips are not. Bridles are western-styled, without a noseband or caveson. The bosal style hackamore is also allowed on "junior" horses. There are very strict rules about what types of bits and bosals are legal.
For protection, horses usually wear splint boots or polo wraps on the cannons of their lower front legs as well as skid boots on their hind fetlocks. Bell boots, which wrap around the pastern and protect the hoof and coronary band, are also usually seen, sometimes only on the front feet, other times on all four feet.
Reining horses are usually fitted with special horseshoes on the hind feet called slide plates. Slide plates have wider bar steel and are smoother than regular horseshoes, with even the hail heads filed to be flush with the shoe. When the horse plants its hind feet for a sliding stop, the shoes allow the hind legs to slide along the ground with less resistance. Slide plates often have long trailers to help the horse's hind legs slide in a straight path as well as a rolled toe so that the front of the hoof does not accidentally catch the ground.
Riders must wear a long-sleeved shirt, jeans, a cowboy hat, and cowboy boots. In most competitions, they also wear chaps. Gloves are optional. There has historically been less difference between men's and women's attire in reining than in most western events, though women's clothing is more influenced by fashion trends from Western pleasure competition, and thus women sometimes wear brighter colors, and are more apt to add a decorated jacket or vest, though usually not as flashy as in other horse show events.