Ride & Slide with Bill
The Elusive 70 Everybody that walks into the reining
arena starts out with a score of 70. Then depending on the quality of maneuvers and mistakes made, points are added and sub- tracted to come up with the final score. That being said, if you go through the pat- tern, don’t make any mistakes and do the maneuvers well but nothing out of the box, you should get a score of 70. This sounds easy yet it is not always. This month I want to talk about going
and showing a 70 run. Now for some peo- ple starting out in reining that may be a huge milestone. In no way, shape or form am I saying here that it is easy and anyone should be able to do it. Hopefully the points we raise here will help those with a 70 as their goal score be able to better achieve it and those more experienced to be better able to structure their run so when it money is on the line they can score high- er.
For the more advanced competitor, at
the larger shows where there is money and prizes up for grabs we are going to push our horse and ourselves to get the maxi- mum score possible. Now if you are at a
more local show and it is just a ribbon class, you don’t want to run your horse at mach speed to win a ribbon. If you always show your horse at his maximum, you will create show pen habits that will ultimately negatively affect your score and long term performance of your horse. There are two parts that are also note-
worthy here, namely the horses ability and the riders ability. If your horse on it best day with a professional rider can do the maneuvers to an average standard, then a learner non pro cant he held to the same standard, but following the principles of a well structured run, they can achieve their best score possible. For this rider his cruis- ing run may be a 67 score rather than a 70. The same principles still apply. For a horse/rider combination capable of scoring a 73, they should be able to go into the show arena and cruise and score a 70. But this should be done without any minus maneuvers or penalties and making them back up with plus maneuvers. It is inter- esting to sit back and watch classes at local and regional shows. You will see someone go in a run all out to score a 69 and some- one else cruise through for a 70 or 71. Whilst the reining pattern calls for some things to be done at speed, faster is not
Bill Norwood grew up showing all around horses in his native Australia. Competing in classes ranging from halter to reining and everything in between, he won 10 National Championships. He came to America in the late 90's to ride reining horses. Success has followed with NRHA Limited Open Futurity Championship, NRHA Open Futurity finalist, NRHA Intermediate Open Derby Res. Championship, NRBC Intermediate Open Finalist and numerous other titles. His NRHA earning exceed $72,000. He operates Norwood Performance Horses in Murrieta California with his wife Kelli and children Austin and Ella. For more information go to
www.norwoodperformancehorses.com
always better. Reining is also about the demonstration of control and correctness. I guess the point I am trying to make is
to go show your horse for correctness. When you can go through and show your horse without losing any points, just have to make the same run faster with a higher degree of difficulty, and stay correct to improve your score. In addition just because your horse can mark a 73 doesn’t mean he has to every time he enters the show arena. Correctly schooled he should let you take him through slow or take him though fast. Being able to do a well bal- anced, penalty free run will maximize your pluses. Remember you are not just judged on how big your horse stops or how fast he turns but everything from when you enter the arena to the end of the final maneuver. Some things to consider in structuring your run. Here are some points that may help you structure your run. • Ride the run in your head before you enter the arena. Know what you are going to do at the different parts of the pattern and visualize where in the arena you will be. • Properly balanced use of the arena shows the judges you can control your horse. Lop sided circles or bad rundown position makes it hard to determine if your are asking your horse to do the maneuver to a lower standard or the horse is not fol- lowing direction well. Either way your maneuver score will be negatively affect- ed. • Where you are required to walk or jog to the center of the arena to start the pat- tern, don’t go straight to the middle. Swing wide so that you enter the middle of the arena facing the left fence. • Breathe. Take your time. It all hap- pens slower in the arena than what you think. • Make your big circles big and small, small. They should be balanced in the arena and flow together well. • Make note of the middle of the arena. All your circles show connect through it. • Stay straight through the middle of the arena when circling. This helps prevent sudden direction change in the middle affecting your performance and the bal-
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ance of the pattern in the arena. • Run downs down the middle should be down the middle. • Run down down the side of the arena are best between a quarter and third the way across the arena. • Go well past your markers to stop. Just because the pattern calls for going past your middle marker doesn’t mean that you stop at the middle marker. Go down near the end marker, you are still past the mid- dle marker. For end marker stops go well past the marker. Not just is this better for your horse, but you eliminate getting a 2 point deduction from your score in the form of a penalty. • Did I mention breathe. • Look up when riding, see where you want to go and guide your horse there. You are driving the bus, not the horse. If you are not giving him direction, he will add in how he wants it done. • Ride your horse just like you do when you are outside the show arena. If you want him to perform the same, you need to perform the same. • Read the rule book and understand how the class is judged. • Don’t rush your rollbacks. Make sure your horse has finished stopping before you cue him to rollback. Don’t be too fast with your hand • If you are doing something at 5mph outside the show pen don’t do it at 8mph inside. • At the end of each run analyze what you did well and what you didn’t do well. Understanding where you made your mis- takes and lost points will help you learn from it. No run is ever a waste if you learn from the experience. • Smile. It will help you relax and breathe. By focusing on the correct controlled
performance of the reining patterns you will better school your horse inside and outside the show arena. You will focus on what is important whether going fast or just cruising. This will also help you per- form to a higher level on the money runs. Until next month, ride, slide, breathe, smile and have fun.
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