Earlwood Ambassador Shane & his partner Margo, run Sainsbury Performance Horses on the NSW South Coast. They specialise in showing, training and breeding Reining Horses, but also provide clinics, lessons and show services to the Western disciplines.

 

 

Shane focuses on a smaller client base so he can offer each person and their horse, the dedication they deserve - they become part of his family. He says reining teaches patience, perseverance and work ethic, and makes you look deep within yourself. It is about competing against a standard, not other people.

 

Shane was hooked on reining after he experienced his first spin, and has made it his lifestyle - an equine lifestyle he is very pleased he doesn't need to wear jodhpurs for, ha ha. He competes in the Open level category and his passion is training Futurity horses. He takes great pride in taking a young horse that knows nothing, and being a solely positive guiding influence, to help it achieve its potential.

 

He loves helping people reach their goals, and finds it very satisfying to know he has played a part in someone else's equine journey, and as such, offers us the following insight into reining for those who have wondered about it...

 

 

Reining is a judged event designed to show the athletic ability of a ranch type horse in the confines of a show arena. In NRHA and RA competition, contestants are required to run one of sixteen approved patterns. Each pattern includes small slow circles, large fast circles, flying lead changes, rollbacks over the hocks, repeated 360 degree spins done in place, and exciting sliding stops that are the hallmark of the reining horse.

 

The attraction of reining involves speed, precision, and unity of horse and rider. While reining is somewhat similar to dressage in its level of finesse while performing a pattern, the added elements of speed and riding one handed on a loose rein make for a much higher degree of difficulty. And while great reining competitions are often fast and thrilling, the level of discipline involved in a well-executed reining pattern is not found in any other equine speed event.

 

"Reining is truly unlike any other horse sport in the world. It is thrilling to watch, but an especially incomparable experience from the back of a well-trained reining horse."

 

 

Learn to Speak Reiner

Reining has its own vocabulary, and it is essential to understanding the sport. Here are some common words and phrases you’ll hear around the barn and in the show arena.

• A. General — A. General is the “golden rule” under which reiners are judged and it is the hallmark of the NRHA Rules.
• A. General: To rein a horse is not only to guide him, but also to control his every movement. The best reined horse should be willingly guided or controlled with little or no apparent resistance and dictated to completely.
• Manoeuvres
• Stops — The action of slowing the horse from a lope to a stop position. The horse brings the hind legs under himself sliding on the hind feet.
• Spins — A series of 360-degree turns, executed over a stationary (inside) hind leg. Propulsion for the spin is supplied by the outside rear leg and front legs.
• Circles — At the lope, small slow and large fast circles demonstrate control, willingness to guide, and degree of difficulty in speed and speed changes.
• Rollbacks — This is a 180-degree reversal of forward motion completed by running to a stop, rolling (turning) the shoulders back to the opposite direction over the hocks, and departing in a lope as one continuous motion.
• Lead Changes — Changing the leading legs, at a lope, when changing the direction travelled.

 

Read more from Shane in 'The Reining Stop' blog on our website.