National Reining Horse Association Hall of Fame(42)

Jonathan Elmore
Aug 8
3 min read

People don't know by looking at me that I grew up in a farm community. I worked on a farm, tended to cattle, helped in the wheat fields, raised pigs, and drove tractors. I also played bass in a rock band, listened to Mötley Crüe, and hung out in an arcade on the weekends. Later in life, I worked on a horse ranch on Monkey Island in NE Oklahoma. I grew up being a few different people all rolled into one. What I'm trying to say is I've seen a horse event or two in my day despite looking like a hippie. With my history with horses, I was hopeful going into the NRHA Hall of Fame.

If you're not aware of what Reining competitions are I'll give you the quick explanation. A horse and rider team are judged on how well they perform a pattern of specific maneuvers. They have to execute spins, circles, sliding stops, and rollbacks to earn points. (Rollbacks are basically the horse stopping, doing a 180 turn, and trotting back over his tracks.) Like most contests, the better you perform those maneuvers, the better your score is. Watching an event like this is pretty close to watching a dance between rider and horse. Like seeing two people perform a tango, the horse and rider have to act as one in the arena. Performing as perfectly as possible gets them both notoriety and prizes. Like race horses, the owners often look for specific qualities in a horse that is going to be trained for reining. One horse pictured below, Hollywood Dun It, is in the history books as the NRHA all time leading sire. He's the first (and only so far) $4 million dollar sire. That means his babies are valuable! And one thing that people who have never grown up around animals like these should know, the horse's well being is the absolute first thing on the minds of the owners and the riders.

When I walked into the Hall of Fame I was expecting to see a huge amount of photos of the riders. I did see those, but they've been digitized on an interactive screen rather than portraits hanging on the walls. What I wasn't expecting were painted portraits of the Hall of Fame horses hanging on the walls. They were amazing! The gallery felt almost like you were browsing in someone's living room. There were leather sofas and ornate chairs mixed among the trophies, statues, and portraits. I think if I had brought snacks I would have plopped down on one of the puffy couches and taken a nap. I would have but I don't like being woken up with, "Sir! SIR! You're going to have to leave now!" HA!

If you make it to this Hall of Fame exhibit, and you really should go see it, be sure to look around for the NRHA magazines and brochures. Pick one up and flip through it. If you're not in the market to buy a horse, you can at least become a fan of the sport and go see events when they come to town. They're having an event, the Futurity Show, at the brand new OG&E Coliseum at the OKC Fairgrounds November 24th through December 6th. I might see you out there! Like the NRHA says, "It's The Slide of Your Life".

3021 W. Reno, OKC

405-946-7400

https://www.nrha.com/