Reining champs
Purcell ranch breeds horse reining champions
While casual equinesports fans tune in to spring races, an Oklahoma ranch is busy as always developing some of the world’s finest reining horses.
Xtra Quarter Horses in Purcell is home to hundreds of horses, most of which are born and bred in hopes of achieving success in the horse reining ring. Reining is a competition designed to test a competitor’s ability to perform intricate pre-designed routines requiring athletic, obedient horses.
“Our sport is really intense,” ranch spokeswoman Sarah Ganser said. “It’s really fast, really intricate and it’s hard. It’s a really hard sport.”
The competitive sport, combined with lucrative tournament purses, leads owners to spend big money to obtain horses with championship pedigrees and high-quality training. Xtra provides both. Former championship-winning horses are bred to develop the next crop of potential winners, while training and medical care are provided to horses whose owners hope to see their prize animals bring home awards of their own.
Wimpys Little Step is the ranch’s most famous resident. The National Reining Horse Association Hall-of-Famer earned a career $185,757 and has produced 32 money-earning offspring. The ranch, established in 2010, grew in prominence largely because of the success of Wimpys Little Step. However, Xtra was sold to Arizona-based Silver Spurs Equine LLC in 2017, which has expanded the offerings provided. Breeders can choose from 35 stallions cared for at the Oklahoma and Arizona ranches.
Silver Spurs owner Michael Miola sought to acquire the ranch because of Oklahoma’s prominence in horse breeding.
“We felt a hole in breeding them and getting people to see them in Arizona because so much of that occurs in Oklahoma and Texas,” Miola said.
Breeding and training
The breeding focuses on specific traits and specific horse bloodlines.
“Some people prefer certain bloodlines, or some mares cross different on different studs, so that’s a whole science in itself,” Ganser said.
Athleticism and obedience are prized in reining horses.
“You want them to be quiet, mentally quiet, but still have the ability to go,” Ganser said. “You want them to have some athleticism and speed, but you want them to have the mentality where they wait on you to tell them to do it. Reining horses are correctly, very obedient. You want them to be very responsive, but not overreactive.”
In addition to the stallions kept on site, trainers and riders work with many foals as they develop for competition. Foals begin their reining training in their second year, with their first competitions occurring as 3-year-olds. The championship pedigree is helpful, but early training is critical to success.
Foals raised and trained at Xtra can be kept for future competitions or sold to other enthusiasts. Prices vary on age and the promise a foal shows.
“As yearlings, we will start to weed out the top prospects we see for the ranch and we might mentally set them aside as ones we want to keep in our program,” Ganser said. “Or, likewise, there might be some really nice prospects we think we can sell at one of the really nice horse programs.
“Most of our yearlings start around $15,000 and go up from there,” Ganser said. “We have 3-year-olds priced at over $250,000. As they get older and we see their potential, then the prices change.”
Some are sold, but a new owner might choose to keep the horse at the ranch for training and development.
Another reason owners will keep a horse at the ranch is for the on-site medical treatment before, during and after breeding. Owners desire high-quality care for their high-dollar investments.
Oklahoma City is home to the biggest competition in the sport, the NRHA Futurity, which showcases 3-year-old horses. Ganser compared it to the sport’s version of the Super Bowl, and having it in Oklahoma is a great representation of the sport and the business.
“For us to be based here, makes it feel even more like home,” Ganser said. “When we go to horse shows in Oklahoma City, we feel like we are a representation of Oklahoma because we are already here.”