Clinician Al Dunning used his Saturday evening session to introduce the audience at The Mane Event to the world of reining. If you ever wanted to learn about reining or were thinking about trying out this exciting sport, this was the seminar to be at.
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Al Dunning shares his reining expertise with the audience and three riders at The Mane Event.
Photo: Christine Sweet
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Although Dunning was riding his horse Lucky to demonstrate reining, he said Lucky's real job is as a roping horse. "Lucky just didn't have the qualities of a reining horse," said Dunning. "He can do it because I trained him to but he is more suited to other activities."
Dunning's point was that a reining horse doesn't have to just be a reining horse. But, a successful competitive reining horse needs to have the right qualities.
"If you want to be a competitive reiner you need to find a horse that is pretty, a good mover with a low look, and the horse has to be able to stop like heck."
Dunning also shared his expertise on what it takes to be a successful reiner. "Reining is all about rhythm; the rhythm in the circles, rhythm in the stops, and rhythm in the turns. The rider needs to have a sense of rhythm to be successful."
During the clinic, Dunning worked with three riders and their horses, giving them pointers on proper reining technique.
"The key to reining is to get the points. To get those points you need to be able to do smooth transitions and accurate circling. The centerline is where the points are made or lost."