BORN IN OHIO
National Reining Horse Association (L-R): Bill Horn, Sr., Dale Wilkinson, brothers Bill and Paul Horn
Photo courtesy of Rick Weaver
by Elaina Eppinger
When thinking of reining you may think of Texas first, but did you know that reining has deep roots in Ohio? The National Reining Horse Association (NRHA) was started and first registered in Ohio. Today, reining is one of the fastest growing horse sports, gaining attention from all over the world and earning new investors in the sport. Why? It is entertaining and exciting for even a non-horse enthusiast to watch. There are purses as high as a million dollars and even the popular new television show, Yellowstone, includes reining horses. More than that, though, people love the western lifestyle and family atmosphere of the shows. And once you ride a reining horse, it’s pretty hard not to be hooked! How It Started Before there was a club exclusive to reining horses, known today as the National Reining Horse Association (NRHA), reining enthusiasts used to show at open shows, jackpots, and state fairs. The state fairs were a really big deal and most of the reining horses were shown in several disciplines, such as halter, pleasure,
cutting, barrels and, of course, reining classes. Every discipline and breed of horse was seen at the state fairs, which were then the lifeblood of showing horses. The quarter and stock horse shows were usually where you found a lot of the reining horses. In Ohio, there were three major shows put on by the Ohio Western Horse Association,
86 OHIO EQUESTRIAN DIRECTORY 2022
including: Spring Horse Show, Midwest Horse Show and the Fall Round Up. The Fall Round Up is what we know today as the AllAmerican Quarter Horse Congress, which was first held in 1967, a year after NRHA formed. The first NRHA Futurity was held in Columbus, Ohio in 1966, continuing there until 1972, when it moved to Sedalia,
Missouri. It was moved back to Columbus the following year to be part of the All-American Quarter Horse Congress. In 1994, the NRHA Futurity moved to Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, where it is now held at the end of November and first week of December. (source - NRHA Historical Archives) It is important to mention a few
