Reining
Western equestrian dressage — a choreographed pattern of spins, sliding stops and lead changes ridden with one hand.
👥1 per team🌤both
What is Reining?
Reining is a Western equestrian discipline sometimes described as "Western dressage". Horse and rider perform a choreographed pattern of small slow circles, large fast circles, flying lead changes, rollbacks, spins and dramatic sliding stops — all ridden with one hand and minimal cues. The NRHA World Championships and FEI World Reining events crown annual champions.
Quick facts
Category
Equestrian Sports
Type
Individual
Players
1 per team
Where played
both
Country of origin
🇺🇸 United States
Estimated origin
American West working-cowboy tradition; NRHA founded 1966
Olympic
No
Popularity
major
Sources & provenance
Last verified 2026-08-24.verified