Reining

The Day I Became More Courageous and Learned To Face My Fears I was sitting in the ambulance at the MHJA horse show in Ohio. “Can you move your eyes back and forth?” The nurse had asked me. I did as I was told. The nurse was listing many symptoms that she thought I might have, if I had a concussion. “I’m going to shine a light in your eyes, and all you need to do is look at me,” She said with a concerning voice. They said I appeared to be dazed, and I had late responses. That was the last thing I wanted to hear. She said if I had any nausea to come back. Of course I had nausea; I just didn’t want to go in the ambulance or to the hospital! The next day my alarm clock went off at five o’clock to get up for the horse show; I was ready to go. “We’re coming, settle,” Sarah, my sister, yawned. We got to the horse show and Lauren, my equestrian coach, put us to work! Around three o’clock it was time to get ready. I put on my show clothes, and could not have been hotter. I went to find Lauren where she was schooling Pepper. She gave me a pep talk, as she knew I get nervous about these types of things. “So remember, make an opening circle, jump the first two cross rails, then the other two. Don’t let him pull the reins out of your hands, OK? Alright, go ahead,” She emphasized calmly. I completed my opening circle successfully, as well as the first two jumps. However, I noticed toward the end of the jump, Pepper was getting a little frisky. I remembered what Lauren…

In the show ring, every run is one of thirteen NRHA approved reining patterns. When someone executes a pattern it is called a run or a go. Each pattern is composed of precise maneuvers designed to demonstrate the degree of which the horse is responding. Each pattern obtains five main maneuvers. The maneuvers are undoubtedly complex and requires the horse and rider team to be extremely precise in the execution of them. Patterns consist of galloping circles, dizzying spins, and abrupt sliding…

graduated to going to 4-H Horse Shows, which lead me to qualifying for the Virginia 4-H State Horse Show in Lexington, VA. This was the first time I had been to a horse show of this size. There were over 500 horses in the same place with riders ages 10 to 19. These riders were competing in all disciplines – Western Pleasure, English, Jumping, Dressage, Trail, Reining and more. Experiencing this size show fueled my passion for becoming a “true”…

The elaborate procedures in reining need to be broken down for non riders and riders alike comprehensions. The circles in the patterns need to be symmetrical and well rounded. The large fast circles should take up most of the arena ,and the slower small circles need to be around half of the size of the larger circles. There should be a definitive change in the speeds of the different circles that is noticeable to the judges. The horse needs to have a flat topline, this means the horse's head and…

Some people say all horses are the same, but actually there, are hundreds of species with their own unique characteristics. All horses have a mane, a tail, four legs, they come in many different colors, and they all eat the same food. The American Quarter horse and the American Saddlebred are both different breeds of horse with different capabilities. The American Quarter horse is usually more than 1,200 pounds. While the American Saddlebred weighs anywhere in between 1,000 to 1,200 pounds.…

The Famous Egyptian Pharaohs I am writing about King Ramses II. He was born in 1303 B.C. and died in 1213 B.C. His reign was for 66 years. His dad was Set I and his mother was Queen Taya. King Ramses spouse was named Nefetari. He had six children. Their names are Amun-her-Khepsef, Prince Ramses, Pareherwenemef, Khaemweset, Bintanath and Meryre. King Ramses II impact on the religion is after reining for 30 years Ramses celebrated the Sed Festival which makes him a god. Also it helped…

Natural equine behavior has very little to do with the things people ask of them, and it falls on the rider to learn enough horsemanship to ride safely (for horse and rider) and intelligently. Horses can't intuit the reasons for bits, reins and stirrups: it's when horse and rider work together that they construct a language for communicating. Training your horse is important if you want to work together to achieve anything—whether it's basic riding or more complicated activities such as…

It's made to spread the weight of the rider over a larger area of the horse's back, making it more comfortable for long rides. When riding western you take both reins in one hand, and your other hand fall naturally. The western saddle is used for roping, cutting, and reining. It's one of the most easiest and most comfortable saddles to ride on while working cattle or just going on long trail rides. Barrel racing is where a horse runs as fast as they can around three fifty-five gallon drums with…

When You Mess with the Bull, You Get the Hoofs and Horns There may never be greater excitement than riding a full-grown bull with all the unpredictability it entails. And yet, the sport itself is never shy of danger. Many who have gained some mastery of the sport have met disastrous endings in the quest of making their “most dangerous 8 seconds” stick. A bull riding helmet (from retailers such as A.A. Callister's) is a great way to upgrade your safety. Without ample protection, riding a…

After a restart, the other wrestler did a switch and grabbed my leg as time was expiring. One ref called two, awarding my opponent two points for a reversal. The home-team crowd roared with enthusiasm as they thought he had won the match. However, cheers turned to anger, frustration, and disappointment when the secondary referee called off the two-points because time had expired on the clock, something the first ref was unaware of. A committee of referees was now huddled at the side…