What's Reining? Barrel racing or Reining?

Question

Im not sure yet if I want to do barrel racing or something else with my horse, and someone told me that reining is fun. I looked up videos and it looks cool, but can anyone tell me what you have to actually do (like spin, sliding stop ect....) and is there anything else that I can do wester saddle besides barrel racing and reining? and which one do you like better of the 2?

Thanks in advance

Answer 1

i am a jumper, it is more fun in my opinion

but barrel racing you need to turn fast and it looks really hard.

reining is much easier in my opinion

but all of it looks dizzy

Answer 2

That all depends on you and what you like. Reining is a blast! a typical pattern consists of walk, lope both directions, lead changes in both directions, spins, slides, circles, rollbacks, and a rating of speed. A finished reining horse should have no problem being patterned for barrels or gymkhana. It is very feasible for you to do both on a well rounded horse.

As far as other western events go there are a lot of fun things for you to do with your horse. You can team rope, goat tie, western pleasure, break away rope, team pen, sort, cut, do trail competition, horsemanship, showmanship trick training and you can just go out and ride. search the web and see what looks like you might want to try. There is no need to commit to just one thing, sure you and your horse will have your strong points but you can try a lot of things to see if you like it. It has always been my opinion that a good horse has more than just one trick up his or her sleeve. That isn't to say that you have a nag if you can't go out and win the world in three different categories it just means that you should be able to try new stuff on the same horse. Good luck and I hope you can find something that you enjoy ;)

Answer 3

I have not done reining myself, but Wikipedia does wonders:

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 changes 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 or 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.

As for barrel racing, I absolutely LUV it! It's real easy to follow and mastering it is not hard. Other things you can try is western pleasure. It's a good bonding form w/ your horse. It is a little boring (Around in circles U'll go =]) You should also consider other forms of gaming, like key hole, cloverleaf barrels, straight barrels, and such. Why limit it down to barrel racing when there are others to enjoy, as well? Personally, I do a lil of both (gaming and western pleasure.) And, if you are an amatuer rider, reining might not be best for you.

Hope this helps!

Answer 4

if you want to do reining you might want to get a horse trained im barrels or reining cuz it takes a wile to get that spin on a horse, i do barrels and realy enjoy it because i have always trained my own horses for it.  You could also do pleasure and horsemanship in an westrn saddle, not so fun for me.