Courtesy NRHA/Waltenberry (Todd Crawford on Matt Dillon Dun It)
Traditionally, the NRHA Futurity & Championship Show has been the annual meeting ground for reining enthusiasts from all over the world. But this year is even more special. The first-ever $100,000 FEI World Reining Masters Finals Presented by NetJets is slated for Thursday evening, December 2.
Sixteen countries held one or more CRI qualifiers for the FEI World Reining Masters Series Presented by NetJets and of these, six riders shipped their horses over from Europe.
Frank Costantini, President of the FEI Reining Committee; Dr. Kim Sloan, NRHA President; and Trigg Rentfro, FEI Reining Development Director, officially welcomed riders and owners to Oklahoma City. “This event has brought the international community together, and we would like to congratulate all those who qualified for this important and competitive event,” said Costantini. “These riders are making history and we appreciate the efforts made to be here.”
The World Reining Master Series is a “rider based” program, which means that the reiners with the most money earned in their country’s qualifying CRIs were allowed to go to Oklahoma City to the FEI World Reining Masters Finals. The countries that made the finals of the 2002 World Equestrian Games in Jerez, Spain, were allowed to send two riders each (USA, Canada, Italy, Germany and the United Kingdom); all other countries could send one entry.
There will be two categories of competition: The FEI Reining Masters Open Division is open to entrants from every country that sends riders; The FEI Reining Masters Restricted Division is open to all countries, except those five that made the finals in Spain. Most riders will be professionals, but a few will be seasoned non-pro competitors. All will be serious reiners looking to win a prize.
The FEI World Reining Masters was made possible by the Presenting Sponsor NetJets and the support of the Classic S Ranch, NRHA, AQHA and the Reining Horse Sports Foundation.