Kentucky 2010 : Anky suprised everybody with her ride

Sorry, but I think that's quite impressive. Reining is described as "dressage on acid" :) but still, it's very difficult to switch disciplines like that, especially with the pressure of being on top of one of them.
 
I think its amazing - she looked as if she had a wonderful time - and certainly went for the gallops and halts. Must be good for the sport of reining, as i've never really watched it before - and I expect a lot of people will take a look now to see what it is about...
 
Do it!! It's good fun. But the spins are very fast and the saddles, for some odd reason, are very slippery. :D

I have to say, the sport gives me pause because traditionally the horses are so young and it's so tough on them, especially their hocks. I think getting into the FEI is the best thing to happen to the discipline as they have to conform to the age rules and it's given people a reason to keep horses going to a greater age and possibly avoid the Futurity route in favour of playing the long game. But it's amazing to watch and the horses are very cool.

It's worth going to a good reining show, especially if you're used to dressage. People holler and whistle and stamp their feet and scream during the stops. You can't help but join in.:D They don't do it on there but in many comps the rider has to "show the bit" at the end - take it out of the horse's mouth and show the judges it's legal. Lots of riders take the bridle off while they're still on the horse and then ride out without it. Can't really see too many GP horses going for that at the end of a test! :)
 
I don't care what people say about her dressage training in ref to rolkur and the like - that vid just shows how talented she is as a rider!

Fantastic vid :D
 
TarrSteps said:
It's worth going to a good reining show, especially if you're used to dressage. People holler and whistle and stamp their feet and scream during the stops. You can't help but join in.:D They don't do it on there but in many comps the rider has to "show the bit" at the end - take it out of the horse's mouth and show the judges it's legal. Lots of riders take the bridle off while they're still on the horse and then ride out without it. Can't really see too many GP horses going for that at the end of a test! :)
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Oh my goodness, that is just so cool. How on earth can they ride out after a competition, in a new place with all that noise and all, without a bridle?!

Years ago I was very close to trying a reining competition (something very low level and local!) on a friend's really good reining mare but she then got injured.

The thing that really put me off reining is that, at least in Italy, some of the things *some* trainers do to the horses are barbaric, but I am sure that not all of the reining world is like that.
 
Frankly, coming from someone who is not an Anky fan, I've got a lot more respect for her having seen that video. I don't like the way she does dressage, but her reining impressed me, and she looked a lot happier doing it!
 
Yes a very creadible run nice stops and roll backs she could have gone a bit faster on the run down and her spins might have droped a her score a little... but hey not bad for a dressage rider :D I think one of our top UK dressage riders is having a go at reining so could get interesting ....
 
You can clearly see that she's schooled that horse on the flat in English tack- its very engaged, soft and supple and very very straight.

Very impressive, tho the spins and the gallops to halts do look a lot slower than other top reining shows that I've seen?
 
That is incredible. I have so much respect for her. How on earth does she find the time to practice 2 different riding styles to that level. It shows what a rider she is!
 
seabsicuit2 said:
You can clearly see that she's schooled that horse on the flat in English tack- its very engaged, soft and supple and very very straight.
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I'm curious why you'd say that? I've sat on some very "well broke" horses that have only ever been ridden in western tack. In fact it can be quite tricky to get English saddles to fit stock type QHs well - there are specialist models sold for AQHA horses - and many are actually more comfortable in their good stock saddles.

Reining (and equitation) saddles are also built to allow for more athletic movement than more WP style saddles (the equivalent of GP saddles) - lighter, shorter skirts etc, - so you don't have some of the same problems with them marking horses hips etc. Those horses would have been started in snaffles (and shown in them initially) and ridden "two handed" for at least the initial stages of their careers. Many trainers continue to work in snaffles at least part of the time for their flatwork.

Reining is HUGE business in North America and getting more so in Europe - there are a lot of good people doing it, using good equipment, proven methods etc to make good athletes. (And as FB says, a lot on the other end of the spectrum too. As in everything with horses, I'm afraid. :( )


I would agree the FEI classes don't seem as "flash" as the top Reining I've seen but I'm not sure why that is. Possibly it's a trick of video but more likely there is some differentiation. Only a segment of the Reining population in Canada and the US seems to be including FEI ambitions in their repetoire, which would suggest it's not exactly the same.

Interestingly, Tim McQuay's wife trains hunter/jumpers and their daughter rode YRs and up to GP (and I think did some eventing) so they had some experience with FEI competitions before, and he was one of the first Americans to really embrace the new direction.
 
TarrSteps said:
I would agree the FEI classes don't seem as "flash" as the top Reining I've seen but I'm not sure why that is. Possibly it's a trick of video but more likely there is some differentiation. Only a segment of the Reining population in Canada and the US seems to be including FEI ambitions in their repetoire, which would suggest it's not exactly the same.
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Really? This is so interesting. The top reining would be Futurity, right? It seems so strange to me that a recently-backed youngster (not sure how old they are at the Futurity but I'd guess 3 or 4??) with so little training (relatively speaking) can produce better tests than a 7-year-old with far more training and experience? How is it physically possible?!
 
FrodoBeutlin said:
Really? This is so interesting. The top reining would be Futurity, right? It seems so strange to me that a recently-backed youngster (not sure how old they are at the Futurity but I'd guess 3 or 4??) with so little training (relatively speaking) can produce better tests than a 7-year-old with far more training and experience? How is it physically possible?!
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Have a look at this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=od8lj_FOkh8 Admittedly this is a much higher score than Anky's but it does show how fast they go and how hard they stop! I would bet my boots that horse has never had an English saddle on. ;)

I think some of it, honestly, is the horses can either do it or they can't (with the proper production) and Futurity horses are the best in the world at what they do. I read an article by one top trainer saying out of every 100 prospects he looks at he takes 10 for training and expects 1 of that 10 to be ready and able by the Futurity. There is SO much money involved in the Futurities it's pretty attractive but there's no point putting in a horse that isn't going to be up there. (There are all sorts of Futurities, of course, at various levels of quality.) I rode western when I was young, where we pretty much rode what we had. It was a real shock to work for a top AQHA breeder/producer later on and realise the horses just "went like that", whether we're talking WP or Reining or whatever. So yes, you can train it in to a willing participant to some extent, but, honestly, a well produced "natural" will win over the slogger ever time. :) It affected a lot of my thinking on what's important in top horses for any discipline.

So, like the Bundeschampionship, you're talking the best of the best and the most precocious.

The level of work doesn't really increase either. There are different "tests" and to some extent they increase in difficulty, but basically the movements don't get more difficult so an older horse doesn't necessarily have an advantage. In fact, given the strain on the horse and the fact that some horses lose their "keenness", it might be a disadvantage.

Because of the money for Futurity horses, as in racing, successful colts and fillies don't usually go on in competition, they go home to make more reining horses. Some of the others go into cow work (there are also reined cow horses, which have a two phase competition), some go into other disciplines, many go on to be amateur and youth horses, where the competition level is obviously lower. There are Open classes as well and many do continue to compete but these aren't nearly as high profile as the Futurities, I guess because they don't pay out as much.

The joke was the first year they did FEI reining some of the horses actually came out of breeding retirement to compete. I'm not sure what people do now, whether they keep the horses going until they're six, or select out horses to wait on. Also, I have no idea what the standard program is in Europe but they don't seem to have the same Futurity culture so maybe horses just start later and don't show as much.

Bizarrely, the most competitive and rewarded divisions in the AQHA are "Junior" which are for horses 5 and under. They have a whole system of "paying for points" - year end money for points not just class winnings - along with "double judging" - one class, two judges, two prize line ups - that means good horses can make some good money. There are also some impressive sponsorship deals so people regularly win saddles and trailers! The AQHA is a pretty impressive organisation and EVERY QH owner and breeder in the world pays into their coffers. The NHRA obviously is a separate entity (again with a huge pay in and pay out program) but if you look at the WEG list there's only one horse on there that's not registered with the AQHA!
 
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seabsicuit2 said:
You can clearly see that she's schooled that horse on the flat in English tack- its very engaged, soft and supple and very very straight.
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thats either the funnyest or the most stupid comment ive heard in a long time the reason its good is because someone, I guess her friend and reining trainer rider Reiky Young put alot of time in and schooled the horse with western tack and training methods ..English tack my foot ...mutter mutter goes off on one at the very idea !!!!!
 
FrodoBeutlin said:
Really? This is so interesting. The top reining would be Futurity, right? It seems so strange to me that a recently-backed youngster (not sure how old they are at the Futurity but I'd guess 3 or 4??) with so little training (relatively speaking) can produce better tests than a 7-year-old with far more training and experience? How is it physically possible?!
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no its not the futurity which showcases the trainers and up and coming young horses...... I would say the NHRA Derby or breeders classic is where you would see riders and horses at the top of the game...
 
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And to be fair, there are older horses in the Derby (and NRHA in general) but even so, if you look at this year's Open division winners, a lot of them are four and the majority are under six. So not horses with years and years of miles on them.

I did read something today from one of the WEG competitors saying she's now targeting her program away from Futurities etc. in order to peak the horses for FEI competitions.

I wouldn't get too stressed about it, perfect11s - how many people in the UK have even seen a good Reining (or any Western discipline) horse, let alone seen it in training or sat on one? To be perfectly fair, a lot of English riders in North America are surprised by how well schooled Western horses can be. (And many Western riders are surprised to find out that not all English horses are nut cases. ;) )
 
Thank you 'perfect11" and TS for kindly enlightening me on the subject of english tack Vs Western- my bad, clearly I did not appreciate that western horses can be v well schooled in their tack. Did not understand how they could possibly learn to be really engaged and balanced in a huge heavy stock saddle and a big gag mouthpiece. But obviously they can!
 
seabsicuit2 said:
Thank you 'perfect11" and TS for kindly enlightening me on the subject of english tack Vs Western- my bad, clearly I did not appreciate that western horses can be v well schooled in their tack. Did not understand how they could possibly learn to be really engaged and balanced in a huge heavy stock saddle and a big gag mouthpiece. But obviously they can!
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You would never start a western horse in a curb bit you want the horse to be confident and fully understanding of a snaffle and or a bosal before moving up to the curb (leaverage bit) which is to add finesse and headset to a finished horse and not to force him to stop or steer..on a well schooled western horse you go, steer and stop with your legs/ weight transfer and guide with your hands..
 
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seabsicuit2 said:
Did not understand how they could possibly learn to be really engaged and balanced in a huge heavy stock saddle and a big gag mouthpiece. But obviously they can!
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Out of curiosity, why would you think that it couldn't be so? Purely because of the tack? Or the loose contact?

I think it shows a great deal that a horse can carry itself without having it's front end held in a constant contact.
 
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