To clarify, Bugsyskeeter is correct in how you approach it from a judging perspective. Every maneuver starts as average or zero. Then depending on the quality or lack thereof of the maneuver, points are added or subtracted. Penalty scores are independent of maneuver scores. Typically a penalty precludes a maneuver score from being high. Although not always the case. Say a horse adds a lead change in the first quarter of a circle after a plus one change in the appropriate place. It would be unusual bu in the above scenario ther could be a positive score as well as a penalty.
Correct. When actually judging, they begin with a 70 and then plus or minus accordingly. At least that is what was done the handful of times I’ve scribed. It makes the math easier.
Sorry for the confusion - I meant they start with a 0 for each maneuver. Zero all your maneuvers = score of 70.
My mare stops with her ears pinned…that’s just personality. She is farm from uphappy in the pen - just focused on her job. You can’t always determine unhappiness by pinned ears in the show pen. Wringing their tail, biting at the bit, gaping mouth - those are all signs as well.
While a horse being “unhappy” is not grounds for a penalty, it can take away from the overall appearance of the run. A maneuver that was in between a 0 and +1/2, might be marked a 0 if the judge doesn’t like the look of the horse.
Remember - the first lines in the NRHA Judges Section is “To rein a horse is not only to guide him, but also to control his every movement. The best reined horse should be willingly guided or controlled with little or no apparent resistance and dictated to completely.”
Depends on what you are wanting it for. A Open caliber futurity horse? Easy 6 figures.
There is a rumor someone tried to buy Dan Huss’s mount MsDreamy (Silver Medal Indiv, Team Gold) last year for just under a half million.
The winner of the NRHA Futurity Open Level 4 is guaranteed a pay check of $150,000.
For those who would like to watch more reining, STREAMHORSE TV lists all major reining competitions that are televised. The Congress is the next sizeable reining that is livestreamed , but do not know if it is free. About the first week of October.
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Also a total newbie to reining here. In the transition from the two big, fast circles to the smaller, slower one, what is the ideal way to do the transition? Being a dressage person, I liked the smooth transitions between the two, but from what I could tell from the crowd reaction and the scoring, it seems like a more abrupt transition – with a clear demarcation from fast to slower – was the preferred option.
I wish I could like this reining. I tried, I really did. I do like the lightness, the sweet calm stock horse demeanor. But the head so low. I swear, a real working cowhorse wouldn’t look this way. I know this isn’t ranch horse competition, but still. I even tried to enjoy CA until the headset did it for me. I think working equitation is more my thing, wish it was in the WEG.
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You want a solid instant transition in the comedown from fast to slow. Instant but not abrupt. It was a hard change in mindset and response for both me and my horse when we went from reining to dressage - I tend to make all my downward transitions instant as opposed to smooth.
There is a greater degree of difficulty in a quick speed transition. The risk of your horse breaking or falling out of lead is much greater. You want 2 large fast circles and one small slow. Not 1 3/4 fast circles, 1/4 circle slowing down, and 1 small slow circle.
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That is a good explanation.
Also horses with the more choppy “lope” tend to lose impulsion and start fourbeating in the small slow circle if you don’t watch it, which takes points away.
Agree. Race horses pin their ears when they are running flat out - I think it can denote anger/aggression/unhappiness in some circumstances, and focus/concentration/effort in others. Kind of like people will frown with concentration. So if your horse stops with “pinned” ears, it may be because the horse is focusing on the rider and exerting a lot of effort.
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I’m kind of ending up here as well. I’ve never been a fan of the sliding stops and I really wonder what the horse’s think. A horse pretty much never wants to fall…and yet the way these stops look now, they are being asked to almost fall.
And the slow circle is getting into that trope world with that ridiculously low head.
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You cannot force these horses to stop the way they do. My mare LOVES to stop. Its so easy for her.
As far as being low headed - these horses are bred to move that way. My gelding I sold this spring was super low headed. When he relaxed while loping, his head dropped to the ground. When he got tense and nervous, he head came up.
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nononono. they are trained slowly and methodically to use their back end and stop. With appropriate shoeing and good ground, they know they can sit behind, lope upfront and slide to a stop. Those horses aren’t worried about falling down.
https://youtu.be/CcrsvDXD4s4?t=56s
they aren’t troping, regardless of the head. If they do, they get dinged for it.
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Holy crap…that seems so complicated. 
Watching horses running around on their own, you can already see which ones have a natural ability to stop and elevate in front and move front legs out of the way, while balancing with their head and neck properly, some lower, some higher than others.
Judges are not supposed to give more or less points by where a horse’s head is while working, but that the whole horse is correctly moving and performing to their standard and with no resistances while performing.
Where the head is, how much hair a horse has or how much silver in the saddle is not what is being judged there.
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Low heads do not always tropers make. It is the constant slowing and backing off of speed that makes a troper. Now I admit sometimes that does go hand in hand but not typically with reining trainers. They still like to go fast sometimes!
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I got to sit on a cutting horse once. It was a disaster, LOL. We were supposed to just walk them around, which I was FINE with, when, I don’t know what I did, I moved the reins like a fraction of an inch forward or something and the horse just scooted forward like I’d booted him. Which naturally caused me to get left behind a bit. Which caused him to stop immediately. Which caused me to fall forward… we started and stopped a few times like that before I got it sorted, but not until I nearly came off a few times, LOL
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