Rookie to Reining Champ in Lightning Speed


purchased Fancy Dual Train, known as Ernie around the barn, and the following year, Shannon headed to his fi rst NRHA competition.


The Show Pen


Shannon Snyder and Fancy Dual Train with their trophies from the 2018 reining season.


by Katherine O. Rizzo While still in high school, Pennsylvania-na-


tive Shannon Snyder met his future wife Me- gan and rode one of her horses. Although all he did was walk around an arena, Shannon swore that was enough and left the horse stuff to Me- gan. Well, clearly that was not the end of things as - only four years after deciding to sit on a horse again and only two years after his fi rst competition - Shannon was recently crowned the 2018 National Reining Horse Asso- ciation Limited Non- Pro World Champion, and now has more than $10,000 in career earnings.


The Reining Bug While Shannon and


Megan’s relationship blossomed from high school sweethearts to being married for 10 years, Megan was the rider in the family, competing in reining. After Megan graduated from the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine in 2010, began an internship with Damascus Equine Associates and the couple moved to Maryland where she is now a veterinarian in that practice. Which is when she began to train with champion reiner Dutch Chapman. Shannon took on the typical horse husband


Ernie had come to Chapman Reining in 2014 and was campaigned by one of Chapman Rein- ing’s


assistant trainers


Breann Huyett. Together, they earned sixth place in the Rookie Professional


Top 10 standings that year, with approximately $5,000 in earnings.


Although Ernie had more training under


his girth than Shannon had under his belt, he challenged Shannon in ways that helped him grow as a rider. “One of the best pieces of ad- vice Dutch ever gave me was to say, ‘You will fi gure out what you need to do after the show’.” Shannon said that all made sense once he went to his fi rst show. “Ernie goes one way at home but then once he’s in the show pen, he’s a dif- ferent horse,” Shannon added. T e Snyders


Shannon and Megan Snyder with Ernie and Ameri- can Pharoah pony horse Smoky


traveled with the Chapman Reining team and competed all over the mid- Atlantic area, with Shannon improving each time he went into the show pen.


At the beginning of 2018, Dutch told Shan- non he should aim for the world title. “I really thought that was a lofty goal but fi gured Dutch knew what he was talk- ing about so I’d give it a try,” Shannon added.


role cheering Megan on at shows and support- ing her riding while he continued to manage his own company, S2 Enterprise Solutions. In 2014 however, Shannon started helping Megan with exercising her horses. Megan began to give him a few lessons but, as Shannon chuck- led, “For the sake of our marriage, I started tak- ing lessons from Dutch and his team.” Shannon took to reining fairly quickly and


in 2015, he leased Fancy Dual Train from Don and Evelyn Burgy. T at same year, the Snyders www.equiery.com | 800-244-9580


The Road to the World Title


Shannon and Ernie began their 2018 season in Williamston, North Carolina, in March in the Limited Non Pro di- vision. Over the course of the season, they entered the show pen 27 times, fi nishing the year in New Jersey in November.


Shannon explained that the Limited Non


Pro division is for amateur riders who have less than $10,000 in career earnings. In addition to that division, Shannon also competed in the Intermediate Non Pro (no more than $5,000 in earnings the previous year) and Non Pro (non professional). By the time the NRHA handed out its year-end awards last month, Shannon fi nished with top 10 placings in all three divi- sions.


He won the World Title for Limited Non


Pro, fi nished sixth in Intermediate Non Pro and seventh in Non Pro. “It was a lot of showing, and sometimes was


very diffi cult to balance work with show travel,” Shannon said. “T e people I report to are very understanding and I’m able to work on my lap- top between classes.” Often showing all week- end, Shannon would pack up the trailer after work on T ursday and frequently not return home until early Monday morning. Megan was with him on many of these trips,


often bringing her younger mare to school in the practice rings. However, Shannon’s fond- est memory of the 2018 season was heading to Campbell Hall, New York, when he drove Ernie all on his own. “We were heading right into the heart of New York City and there was the skyline next to me with Ernie in the back. It was cool.”


The Road Ahead After having such a banner year in 2018,


Shannon Snyder and Ernie with their trainer Dutch Chapman


11-year-old Ernie is getting a little rest and relaxation at the Snyder’s Derbyshire Farm in Woodbine while Shannon and Megan focus on raising their new baby Ava May, who was born the day after Christmas. “Reining really is a family aff air and we can’t wait to be able to bring Ava with us to shows,” Megan said. She went on to talk about the “Future Sliders” lead- line class that NRHA off ers. “I really wouldn’t have shown in 2018 as much as I did if it wasn’t for Shannon,” she added. Shannon is on the Board of Directors for the Eastern PA Reining Horse Association and said he’s going to take it easy in 2019, spend- ing more time help- ing out at the local association’s shows at Dream Park in New Jersey. But then again… the Snyders did just purchase a new mare last fall ex- pecting to use her as a broodmare, but it looks like Shannon and Stop and Rest are clicking so who knows… there might be another World Ti- tle in his near future!


FEBRUARY 2019 | THE EQUIERY | 27


Katherine O. Rizzo


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