Category: Shows

For Immediate Release – October 18, 2020 – Oklahoma City, Oklahoma – As the temperatures drop, the excitement for the National Reining Horse Association (NRHA) Futurity and the Adequan^® North American Affiliate Championships (NAAC) begins to build. NRHA is pleased to announce the officials for the 2020 event:

2020 Adequan^® NAAC Judges
Doug Allen, United Kingdom
Rick Weaver, Pennsylvania
Cathy Luse, Texas
Marlin Holroyd, Michigan

2020 NRHA Futurity Judges
Filippo Masi, Italy
Van Luse, Texas
Terry Thompson, Texas
Eugenio Latorre, Spain
Margaret Fuchs, Ohio
Tom McBeath, Mississippi
Pat Wickenheiser, California
Ollie Griffith, Ohio
Bob Kail, Arizona
Shannon Fowler, Indiana
Brett Walters, Indiana
Harvey Stevens, Florida

2020 NRHA Futurity Stewards
Matt Lantz, Michigan
Lyle Jackson, Alberta, Canada
Walt Larson, Arizona
Shawn McClurg, Montana

Selection Process

The selection process for judges and stewards at each major NRHA event occurs several months before the first horse ever enters the pen. Both judges and stewards are selected at the same time using the same process. Here’s a synopsis of how your judges and stewards are selected:

• Every eligible judge across the global is contacted for their availability of the event.
• All available judges are compiled into a list and sent to each member of the judges committee.
• The Judges Committee members make selections from the list to fill the allotted slots for the event.
• These names are compiled into a short list and discussed on a conference call with all members of the Judges Committee. Nominations are allowed to be made on this conference call.
• The committee members, except for the chair, then rank their choices and each ranking equates to a certain number of points. The points are compiled and submitted to the committee chair.
• The committee chair reviews and makes recommendations based on the outcome of the vote and the needs of NRHA.
  1. Example: If five judges selected and all have judged an NRHA major event recently, the recommendation could be to move up a “newer” judge to replace the 5th judge on the list. If an inadequate number of international judges are selected, the recommendation could be to bring in the next highest-ranking international judge, etc.
• The ranked list with the Judges Committee Chair recommendations is submitted to the NRHA Board of Directors for final selection.
• Both judges and stewards

For a more detailed overview of the selection process, refer to NRHA’s statement of policy by clicking here.

For Immediate Release – October 17, 2020 – Oklahoma City, Oklahoma – After many negotiations with event management, the French government, and our European Executive Board, the National Reining Horse Association (NRHA) made the decision to postpone the 2020 NRHA European Derby until 2021.

Due to the rising number of COVID-19 cases in France, the French government made the difficult decision to cancel Equita, Lyon in an effort to keep the population safe. As it is now fall, and the story of this pandemic is not yet over, the European Executive Board and NRHA staff feel that moving the 2020 NRHA European Derby to 2021 is in the best interest of European members, riders, owners, breeders, nominators, and fans.

“This decision did not come lightly, as we know so many of you were ready to compete and have been waiting for this moment for many years,” said Samantha Oldfield, NRHA Director of Competition and Education and the European Liaison. “We know how invested you all are. We share your passion and are devastated that we cannot provide a European Derby in 2020.”

The European Executive Board, along with NRHA staff, are working tirelessly on a plan for next year. In 2021, the horses that were eligible for the 2020 European Derby will have the opportunity to run for the purse money their nominators invested in them for this pandemic year. The goal is to prevent those horses from losing the opportunity to compete in four NRHA derbies.

Updates on the progress of next year’s event will be available by the end of November.

“We want to thank our hosts GL Events and the entire team at Equita, Lyon for all of their efforts in trying to put on a 2020 NRHA European Derby,” Oldfield said. “Their hard work and dedication means a lot to NRHA and our members, and we are thankful for their time and energy.”

For Immediate Release – August 22, 2020 – Oklahoma City, Oklahoma – The National Reining Horse Association (NRHA) Affiliate Committee recently made the recommendation that the Eastern Pennsylvania Reining Horse Association (EPRHA) host the Northeast Affiliate Regional Championship (ARC). The decision was finalized after the Central New York Reining Horse Association (CNYRHA) couldn’t host the ARC due to state COVID-19 restrictions. The November 5-8 event will now take place in Logan Township, New Jersey.

The Northeast ARC is the final qualifying show for the 2020 Adequan^® North American Affiliate Championship (NAAC) held only two weeks after the conclusion of the ARC. This presented a challenge for meeting the November 6 NAAC entry deadline. NAAC entries for the Northeast region were extended to November 12 to accommodate this later show date.

“The Eastern Pennsylvania Reining Horse Association is pleased to host the Northeast Affiliate Regional Championship and give everyone in our region a place to show to stay on track with their year,” said EPRHA president Don Burgy. “We want to welcome everyone with open arms to the New Jersey Dream Park.”

At the July 2 Board of Directors meeting the qualification standards for the 2020 NAAC were altered to accommodate for the disrupted show season. Read more about those changes here.

In a year of unprecedented challenges and seemingly endless unknowns, associations have struggled with difficult choices. Key among them has been making decisions that are best for the most members. The National Reining Horse Association, like other equine organizations, has waded through difficult waters, very aware of the reality that what benefits one member can negatively impact another.

The recent move of the NRHA Board of Directors to reinstate the NRHA World Championship races and titles for 2020 is a perfect example. In June, the championships were suspended because of how the COVID-19 pandemic had reduced the amount of shows, but feedback from members resulted in reconsideration of the issue.

NRHA President Mike Hancock noted, “At an impromptu meeting held at the NRHA Derby, people spoke of the months and months of preparation and planning that were part of hauling for a title. They stressed how important those World Championship races were to members, noting it was the title and not just the awards – that in view of the NRHA’s budget constraints, they would pay for their own awards if the titles were just reinstated. The board took a lot of time with the issue – considering several alternatives – from continental championships for North America and Europe among other ideas. But the central theme of what the board tried to accomplish, in my opinion, was helping us return to some form of normalcy even though it was still not the same for everyone. This decision does allow a large portion of our membership to reach goals they had set out many, many months in the past. Likewise, the members of the board do realize that there are people who are negatively impacted by this. There are just no simple answers.”

He explained that the issue will be reconsidered for 2021 and all options will be examined. For 2020, exhibitors must win money in seven NRHA approved shows to be eligible for titles.

An acknowledged impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has been the drastic reduction in revenue to the NRHA from shows around the world. A barebones budget enacted by the Board and Finance Committee resulted in staff and travel cuts and in some cases, member service streamlining. With that reality, the funding is simply not available for a full round of World Championship awards.  At this point, some of the year-end awards have been sponsored by members wanting to assist and the board is hopeful that others will join suit in support of the program.

For NRHA Professional Jared Leclair, the process has been enlightening. “When I had an assistant trainer finish Reserve in the world for the Rookie Professional, I realized how important such a title can be for a young trainer. This was the first year I tried to go for a title, myself. I started out the year and didn’t completely understand how big a deal it was until the program was canceled.”

He continued, “People told me how important these standings and titles are to them and their careers and businesses. I had a dog in the fight for sure but I learned that there is a silent majority out there who base their business on this program and there are a lot of non pros for whom this is the ultimate goal.”

He complimented the process of addressing the issue – and the dedication of the NRHA Board. “This is a group of people who are volunteering their time to better the association. I saw them listen to all perspectives from the membership and try to come up with the best decision they could make in a difficult year.”

As far as the reduction in awards, Leclair noted. “Everyone who runs a business understands budget cuts. With this pandemic, we have all had to adjust our business models. We just need to keep people playing – keep goals for them. Sure, we’d like to get a truckload of awards, but the title is the thing. We can understand as a group we want to keep this program going, keep the NRHA strong, and keep the industry alive for everyone.”

He urged others in the industry to step forward to help with sponsoring awards. Individuals and companies wishing to sponsor different classes should contact NRHA Senior Director of Corporate Relations Sammi Miller at smiller@nrha.com.

Since the world title race has been reinstated, all NRHA event approvals received January 1 through August 1 will be considered Top Ten Events, which count for year-end standings. For these events to count toward the standings, the approval must be complete with all information required. This gives show management and affiliates the opportunity for August and September events not yet submitted to be considered as Top Ten Events.

For Immediate Release – July 10, 2020 – Oklahoma City, Oklahoma – As reining events around the world start to organize again, the Italian Reining Horse Association (IRHA) is looking forward to the 2020 National Reining Horse Association (NRHA) European Futurity in Cremona, Italy, November 20–28.

Although IRHA is excited for a successful event, what started off as one image for the event at the beginning of the year, quickly changed due to COVID-19. At the beginning of March, European Futurity sponsor ELEMENTA announced that, with the intent to make an injection of confidence and support for the industry, they would contribute significant added money to the 2020 NRHA European Futurity purse. Following this announcement, the world went into quarantine as the global pandemic took over, forcing businesses to close, events to be canceled or postponed, and the overall worldwide economy to take a large hit–the reining industry being one of many sporting groups that felt the impact. After careful evaluation of every opportunity, ELEMENTA will not support the 2020 European Futurity as they originally announced, remodeling their corporate sponsorship for this year.

However, with the end of the lockdown hopefully on the horizon and new reining events starting back up (with specific limitations to keep everyone safe and healthy), the Italian show season is preparing to resume with regional championship competition. In addition, IRHA is proud to announce the added money for the 2020 NRHA European Futurity will be €230,000 and looks forward to seeing everyone in November at the Cremona Fair Grounds.

Press Release by Italian Reining Horse Association (IRHA).

The National Reining Horse Association is not responsible for the information contained in this press release. Please contact the author or submitting organization for further information, requests, or questions.