can someon give me tips on h ow to ride a reining horse please?
i have been riding since i was 3 yrs old.i trail ride a lot do some barrels and poles.i am looking into getting a reining horse.i have never ridden a horse that is trained in reining.can someone please give me advice on how to seat in the saddle when the horse is spinning and stopping and maybe the reining pattern.thank you
If you’ve never ridden a trained reining horse, don’t go out and buy one. A good reining horse is easy to ruin if you can’t ride it correctly, because if you hinder his movement, you’re basically untraining it. I show with a guy who went out and bought a fancy and talented reiner so he could show with his girlfriend (who shows WP); unfortunately, the guy doesn’t have a clue how to ride the horse. Over the last two years, the horse (who started out as green but very talented) has become difficult, inconsistent, and not fun to watch simply because he hasn’t been allowed to move like he’s been taught.
A reiner needs light contact, yet control. You can’t hang on his mouth and try to drive him, because he’s trained to respond to the slightest touch. To stay with him, you need to sit deep; otherwise, you’ll fly over his head (or off his rear end) during a deep stop. You need balance to stay out of his way while still supporting him. It’s difficult to get it “just right.” I rode a nice reining horse in IHSA competition once; I had very little experience with reiners as I didn’t show reining regularly and most IHSA horses aren’t that talented (so the reining horses simply stopped, pivoted, and loped–no sliding stops, spins, hard gallops, etc.). At one show, though, someone brought a very nice reiner. It was an extremely fun ride, but it was hard to ride the horse well and still make him look good–because it’s so different from regular riding (WP, HMS, trail riding, speed events, whatever).
Please find a trainer who specializes in reining and take some lessons. Then have that trainer help you find a horse suited for you. By the way, the reining pattern includes those spins and stops, along with circles (large/fast and small/slow), lead changes, and runs.
Reining Horse finals