18/ MAY 2026 THE RIDER


Ontario Reining Horse Association 2026 Board of Directors


EXECUTIVE President Samantha Speed


www.orha.on.ca


First Vice President, Shows, Volunteers Ashley Janzen


Second Vice President, Youth Team Rebecca Nelles


Past President Dan Fletcher


ELECTED DIRECTORS Secretary, Online Media Vikki Dawson


Shows, Website, Membership Mike Munroe


Treasurer Sara Brown


APPOINTED DIRECTORS


Futurity Leona McAtee


Futurity Tracy Nelson


We’re Back in the Saddle! The ORHA’s Exciting Start to the 2026 Show Season Can you feel it? The sun feels a little


warmer, the air doesn’t hurt your face… but the mud certainly threatens to swallow your boots. But, with rain and mud come flowers and grass. Add a little sun and you have DRY PENS to ride in! Time to do a happy dance and look ahead to the first show offerings of 2026 brought to you by the ORHA and their amazing sponsors!


ORHA Spring Fling- May 1-3 REACH Huron, Clinton Ontario. The first show of the year is almost here!


Shine up those poofy ponies, brush the horse hair off your jeans and make your 2026 debut in the pen! The first show of the year feels a bit more magical than all the rest. You have a clean slate to work with as you set goals and strategize for the season. Here are some of the features to look forward to:


Spring Fling Saturday Night Feature: ORHyA Team Challenge: Sponsored by MIA Designs This year, we have an exciting addition brought to you by our youth association, the


ORHyA. The challenge will feature teams of two. One open/non-pro rider and one begin- ner/rookie/youth rider. Each member of the team will ride half of the assigned pattern and the highest combined score takes the top prize! The entry fee is $50 per team with $150 in added monies up for grabs. All proceeds go to the ORHyA varsity team. Thank you to MIA Designs for your sponsorship!


SS Performance Ranch Series Hey there Ranch riders, have you had


your eye on one of the gorgeous ranch pads available through SS Performance? If so, you will definitely want to enter the SS Perform- ance Ranch Series! Riders can opt into the se- ries by paying $10 dollars per Ranch Riding and or Ranch Rail entry. Four ranch pad awards are available for the following cate- gories: Non Pro Ranch Riding, Non Pro Working Western Rail, Open Ranch Riding and Open Working Western Rail. In addition, there will be $200 dollars in added money in the open and non-pro that will be split be- tween the ranch riding and ranch rail. Thank you to sponsor Abby Lennox!


The first slate of the series will be of-


fered at the ORHA Spring Fling in May, and the final slate will be offered at the ORHA Grand Finale in September. The awards cere- mony will be prior to the Futurity awards presentation.


ORHA Summer Slide- June 5-7 Ancaster Fairgrounds. Our second show of the year is packed


with new features and opportunities for big prizes! This year, the ORHA is offering a new buckle series sponsored by Steel Built, a Ma- turity sponsored by Vikki Dawson of Victory Farms and a return of the popular Super Slide event sponsored by Anchor G Bar and Arena FX.


Steel Built Corp “Buckle Up” Series Calling all Open and Non-Pro Novice


Horse riders! This series is just for you! Novice horse riders can opt in to the buckle series by paying $20 dollars per Novice entry at both the ORHA Summer Slide in June and the ORHA Canadian Classic in August. The added money structure is as follows: 1700 NOV OPEN L1 1750 NOV OPEN L2


$350.00 $750.00


1800 NOV NON PRO L1 $350.00 1850 NOV NON PRO L2 $750.00


reining horses, horses aged 8 and up are eli- gible to enter. Vikki Dawson of Victory Farms is our Maturity sponsor this year. She took a moment to tell us more about why she chose to support this program:


I chose to sponsor this event in honor of


my amazing Stud who is still showing at 18 years old and going strong. I’m hoping to in- spire people to get excited about the older horses, not just the derby horses. I want to cel- ebrate the “been there done that” horses, the horses that made us better riders and the ones that taught us how to rein. I hope Dyno (rem- inicstopsailnwhiz) serves as that inspiration. He has had a long history in reining and was a born and raised as a stud in Ontario Canada, I am proud to say that he is still standing for stud at Victory Farms. [Vikki Dawson]


Anchor G Bar and Arena FX Present the Annual ORHA Super Slide A crowd favorite, the super slide focuses


in on one of reining’s most exciting maneu- vers, the sliding stop! With $500 dollars in added monies, this is sure to be a popular event. The maneuver consists of running into the arena and performing a sliding stop, with- out backing up. The class is open to any level of rider and riders are not required to own the


Banquet, Sponsorship Sharon Hart


Print Media Ashley Gregoris


Banquet, Online Media Darby Mailhot


Vikki Dawson and Reminicstopsailnwhiz. Photo credit Connie Smith. The series and added monies will run


across the first slate of Novice classes at both the June and August shows so be sure to add this to your entries. Buckles for all four divi- sions of Novice Horse will be awarded in Au- gust at the ORHA Canadian Classic prior to the Derby awards presentation. The ORHA would like to extend our thanks to Steel Built for their sponsorship of this exciting buckle series!


Summer Slide Saturday Night Features: Maturity and Annual ORHA Super Slide Victory Farms Maturity The Maturity features more experienced


horse they compete on. Horse and rider pairs are scored on a scale of 0 to 10 in half-point increments, with 10 being perfect. All scores are counted, and there are no marker penal- ties. Judges evaluate approach, form/style, de- gree of difficulty, finesse/willingness and physicality. Thank you to Anchor G Bar and Arena FX for sponsoring this exciting event!


Coming up Next… Stay tuned for our next article featuring


more exciting show opportunities including: Continued on Page 19


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