WILSALL — “Do you like competition? Do you like horses? Do you like seeing people try hard?” Janis Anderson said.
It’s a sport of precision and communication: Reining has been a sport for years in the United States, but its history in Montana is much more recent.
In 1985, Jay Dee Anderson began the Yellowstone Reining Horse Association – the first of its kind in the Treasure State, Janis Anderson said.
“I’m very thankful to be able to have done what I’ve done.” Jay Dee Anderson said, “One thing about reining is, it’s for people of all ages!”
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Janis Anderson said that the couple were first introduced to the sport when they were at horse shows, where they saw a variety of events, reining included.
“He just went for it – gung-ho! He was a bricklayer for seven years and then tried to do whatever he could so he could get involved with the horses,” Janis Anderson said. “He really studied it, and he worked with some of the best in the industry.”
The couple shortly moved to Montana, built a 9-stall barn, which soon became a 10-stall barn, then an arena, and today there is a large indoor arena. That ‘old arena’ is now the home to many horses in training.
Janis explains that the horses that are used in Reining are typically Quarter Horses; they are a little smaller in stature, and a good, sharp mind is essential when entering the show ring.
“Some people call it western dressage because you try to do it with very little hand movement and very little leg movement – so the horse looks like it’s doing it themselves,” Janis said.
These movements include loping, or canter, slow and fast circles, spinning, and, of course, the run and stop maneuver.
When it comes to scoring, a participant steps into the ring with a ‘70’. From there, a judge can add points for proficient moves and executions of maneuvers, or they can take away points for inaccuracies in the pattern.
For Janis, she says she walks into the ring with a feeling of gratitude.
“There are so many people who can’t do that who would love to do it. So I am always just happy and grateful that I can head out and go show, and all I really want to be…is one with my horse,” Janis said.
