Sizzlin' spins & slides

I finally was able to see world-class reining horses last night. I watched about a dozen horses or so in the Brownwood Derby at the 2006 Clayton Woosley Hall of Fame Reining and USEF Reining Horse Championships.

For the non-horse people out there, reining horses are the dressage of the western world. I bet that really helped a lot. ;) The video above (a qualifying show for the Lexington competition) shows some of the maneuvers for which reining horses are famous including super fast spins and long sliding stops. The goal and purpose of reining is to execute intricate maneuvers like flying lead changes, spins, stops, and gait changes with absolute quietness and subtlety of the rider. I think its roots trace back to cutting horses but I'm not sure. (cutting horses work cattle)

As I mentioned, it's the "dressage" of the western world (you'll notice they wear cowboy hats and use saddles with saddle horns). Dressage is the same idea - the pinnacle of controlling the natural movements of the horse. These movements go beyond walk, trot, and canter in the advanced levels that you may be familiar with because of the famous Lipizzaner stallions from the Spanish Riding School in Vienna, Austria.

Anyway, the championships tonight will determine the USEF Reining team to compete at the FEI World Equestrian Games in September in Aachen, Germany. So it's a really big deal. Unfortunately, I already have plans for tonight and won't be able to see the championships but I was very happy to see world-class reining horse and rider teams.