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NRHA Announces Leading Events for 2021

National Reining Horse Association events around the world have grown dramatically in recent years, both in size and payout. Nowhere is that more evident than on the 2021 Leading Event rankings. Sorted by total purse, the shows span the globe and give an idea of the importance of reining worldwide.

Not surprisingly, the NRHA Futurity & Adequan® North American Affiliate Championships Show leads the field, with a total payout of $2,636,355! The NRHA Futurity Challenge supporters helped boost the purse, as did increased added funds from the NRHA. Ultimately, those added dollars along with incredibly large entry numbers resulted in a record-setting Futurity.

Second on the list for 2021 was the Four Sixes NRHA Derby presented by Markel. The show grew dramatically in 2021 as well, thanks to new sponsorships from 6666 Ranch, Yellowstone, Bosque Ranch, Colston Paving, Tamarack Ranch, GlycoGuard and Story Book Stables.

Along with the two NRHA-produced events, The Run For A Million presented by Teton Ridge and the National Reining Breeders Classic also boasted payouts in excess of $1,000,000. The Run For A Million in Las Vegas featured the highest amount of added money for any event with $1.2 million added.

Making the Top 50 list for NRHA’s Leading events is an honor for any show, and a testament to show managers and committee members working hard to promote reining, worldwide. Excitingly, 10 different countries were represented in the Top 50 Events list for 2021.

“The show organizers and affiliates who conduct our events are the quiet stars of our galaxy. Their tireless and often unacknowledged work is what makes our industry go,” Gary Carpenter, NRHA Commissioner, noted.

NRHA President Rick Clark agreed, “We celebrate and reward the top riders and horses, but this segment of our industry is essential for our industry’s growth and continued success. The opportunities created by these great shows, worldwide, are amazing, and each year you can see that they are working to become even better.”

Exhibitors have shown their appreciation for those opportunities in 2021, with a five-year high of 112,929 total entries and more than 10,000 different horses shown. They competed for a record total annual purse of $19,157,953.

For the complete list of the 2021 Top 50 events, click here.

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NRHA Announces Longtime Event Sponsor Priefert as a New Corporate Partner

Longtime National Reining Horse Association event sponsor Priefert has recently joined the Association’s impressive list of Corporate Partners.

It’s hard to picture the NRHA Futurity and 6666 Ranch NRHA Derby presented by Markel without the signature, high-quality Priefert panels and products that can be found around the Oklahoma State Fairgrounds. Priefert has been an Event Sponsor for the past several years, and the new Corporate Partnership will help to enhance the NRHA Award program.

Sammi Miller, NRHA Senior Director of Corporate Relations and Communications noted, “It is an honor to welcome Priefert as NRHA’s newest Corporate Partner. As a proud ‘Made in America’ manufacturer, Priefert has long supported the western and equine industries. We are thankful for Priefert’s commitment to NRHA and the sport of reining!”

Family-owned and operated since 1964, Priefert is one of the largest farm, ranch, and rodeo equipment manufacturers in the world. Priefert is recognized as having the highest quality equipment on the market and is proud to have its products used and endorsed by the top cattle, equine, rodeo and roping organizations in the country. Priefert offers horse owners practical solutions for creating a safe, functional environment for their valued animals.

Designed with the highest degree of consideration for safety of both the horse and the handler, Priefert products are proudly manufactured in Mt Pleasant, Texas. Behind its success is a workforce of almost 1,000 employees helping to create and ship a multitude of Priefert products to dealers all across the US and around the world.

Courtney Dyer, Priefert’s Director of Marketing, shared, “Priefert’s partnership with the NRHA felt like a natural fit given our shared mission of preserving and promoting the Western lifestyle. As a family-owned company, Priefert recognizes the shared values of integrity, faith, family, and leadership that both of our organizations hold dear. We look forward to serving the members of the NRHA and sharing with them how our products can help keep their equine partners safe, healthy, and happy.”

About Priefert

Priefert is considered the leading innovator in the livestock handling industry. Dedicated to developing and producing equipment that is safe and durable for both the animal and the operator. Starting with Marvin’s invention of the first side closing, gliding action headgate, Priefert has continued to lead the way by introducing the first contoured side squeeze chute, the first double pivot calf table, the first open-sided sweep, and the first full line of powder-coated products. Priefert maintains total quality control by designing and executing each part of the development and production of its products. Starting with raw steel, Priefert oversees each step of the process through to finished good, creating products that are pound for pound, dollar for dollar, the best value on the market. With a dealer network of over 1200 dealers around the world, Priefert is recognized as having the highest quality equipment on the market. For more information, visit priefert.com.

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2022 Four Sixes NRHA Derby presented by Markel Expands with Extra Show Days

The 2021 6666 National Reining Horse Association Derby presented by Markel was a tremendous success by all measurements. The highest payout, plus the largest number of entries and stalls, resulted in a record-breaking mega-event.

It also created real challenges in getting so many horses shown in the allotted time. NRHA Events Manager Cheryl Cody explained, “Our entries grew amazingly. We went from 249 Non Pro entries in the previous year to 302 in 2021. The Open division increased from 247 to 274. In the four days allotted for the Open and Non Pro prelims, we had 80 more entries than in 2020. That was over a 16 percent increase with 576 horses to get shown.”

She continued, “Our officials and staff were faced with more than 150 runs per day in the Non Pro prelims and nearly 140 a day in the Open. Plus, the situation in the Adequan Arena was equally challenging, with comparable growth, so we knew we had to make changes.”

Cody and NRHA Commissioner Gary Carpenter met with the Oklahoma State Fair officials, Bill Allen, Vice President, Jim Norick Arena & Equine Facilities; Jonathan Fisher, Director of Jim Norick Arena and Equine Facilities; and incoming Oklahoma State Fair Executive Vice President Kirk Slaughter to work on the problem. Through those meetings, they were able to add two days to the Derby preliminaries and three days to the Adequan Arena classes.

Horses will now be allowed to move into the Derby at noon on Tuesday, June 14, and classes will begin on Wednesday, June 15, in the Adequan Arena with the first section of the American Quarter Horse Association and American Paint Horse Association classes. The show will continue through June 26.

The preliminaries of the Non Pro Derby will begin on Friday, June 17, and go through Sunday, June 19. The next day signals the start of three days of Open preliminaries.

Carpenter noted, “As our growth continues to amaze us in a positive sense, it also creates scheduling challenges. The State Fair staff and leadership have gone out of their way to be innovative in helping us through these record-setting shows.”

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NRHA Futurity Semi-Finals Qualifying Process Adjusted

At the 2022 Winter Meetings, the National Reining Horse Association approved a proposal from the Aged Event Committee to modify the number of Semi-Finals qualifiers for the NRHA Futurity, which will be held Nov. 24–Dec. 3 at State Fair Park in Oklahoma City.

The Aged Event Committee felt that the current method of taking 75 qualifiers from each division created an imbalance in the percentage of entries advancing to the Semi-Finals. Chairman Mandy McCutcheon explained, “We did it both for the schedule, and because it was weighted so much in the Level 1.”

The 2021 NRHA Futurity numbers illustrate the disparity with 75 from each division qualifying for the Semi-Finals.

LevelNumber of EntriesNumber to Semis Percentage of entries going to SemisScore to go to Semis
43967519%217.5
33137524%214
22397531%210
11267560%200.5

It’s easy to see by looking at the chart that 60 percent of the Level 1 entries advanced to the Semi-Finals, but only 19 percent of the Level 4 qualified. After much consideration, the Committee, and subsequently the NRHA Board, agreed that setting a uniform percentage of entries in each level to come back to the Semi-Finals would make the process more evenly balanced.

The final decision was that the fairest approach would be to combine the percentage with a minimum and maximum cap on the number of qualifiers from each division. McCutcheon continued, “It was felt that this would balance the levels to bring back a more uniform percentage, with Level 1 still potentially bringing back a slightly higher percentage if it hit the minimum cap.”

The clarified condition will now read that the Semi-Finals qualifiers will be those with the top 30 percent of the first go scores in each division. However, no more than 75 entries in each division will advance. In the case where there are fewer than 50 qualifiers in the top 30 percent in a division, then 50 will advance.  

The new system will go into effect for the 2022 NRHA Futurity.

A related modification was also made for the Honorable Mention Futurity class, which will now be for open riders only. This class will be limited to the first 35 entries.

For more information regarding the 2022 NRHA Futurity and Adequan® North American Affiliate Championships, visit NRHAFuturity.com.