The U.S. reiners—Matt Mills, Aaron Ralston, Tim McQuay and Dell Hendricks—took the gold medal in the team competition over Canada and Italy.  This is the second time that reining has been included in the World Equestrian Games, and the second time that the United States has won gold.

More than 8,000 people showed up to cheer for the cowboys, in the Deutsche Bank Stadium, and 74 reiners from 22 countries competed.

The star of the U.S. team was McQuay, who holds the world record score in reining, 233.5 points.  He scored 222.5 in the team competition with Mister Nicadual, a 6-year-old Quarter Horse stallion.

“I’ve only showed him one time—at the qualifier,” said McQuay.  “We bought him last fall to do the 6-year-old events and for this event.  He’s a real solid horse.”

While McQuay certainly earned a solid score for the team, it was Smart Paul Olena and Aaron Ralston who put in the best ride for the United States, scoring 223.5 points.

“He belongs to my wife,” said Ralston of the 12-year-old stallion.  “He was trained as a 2-, 3-, and 4-year-old, but then he was turned out for four or five years.  We chose him because he’s the only one we had.”

Hendricks rode Starbucks Sidekick to a score of 219.0 points.  “I won my very first reining on his grandmother,” said Hendricks fondly.

Mills was the youngest rider on the team and also ended up as the drop score with Easy Otie Whiz (217.5).  “Everything was going really well. His left spin was really good and the first half of the pattern felt exactly like I wanted,” said Mills.

But he lost points in his sliding stops.  “It felt like he might have hit a hole in the first stop,” he said.  “He really stopped hard, very physical. He tried too hard and didn’t hold the ground like I wanted, but overall I’m still happy. I can’t say anything bad about him.  I’ve been able to count on him every time I go out.  He really jump-started my career.”

Mills also spoke up about what makes the U.S. team so hard to beat.  “We have four strong competitors,” he said.  “If one stumbled, then there were three others to pick it up as far as consistency.  All these guys are great.

It also doesn’t hurt that reining is hugely popular in the United States and is dominated by American Quarter Horses.  All of the reiners on the U.S. team are professional reiners and trainers who make a living through reining horses, although Ralston stated that he grew up on a cattle ranch and is thinking of training Smart Paul Olena to work cows.

While the Canadians did come second to the United States, they earned the top score of the competition with Hang Ten Surprize and Duane Latimer (225.5).  Latimer declined to comment on what he thought his chances were for the individual medals on Sunday, but he did speak about the pressure he felt when he entered the ring as the last rider for Team Canada.

“I knew I had to mark a 227, and I walked in hoping I could,” he said.  “If I could have my first stop back, I might have.  In everything else he gave me as much as he could.  I’m happy to be second, but I don’t like losing.”

Although reining is still a relatively new sport in Europe, it’s catching on quickly, and the Italians are especially serious about improving their skills.

“A lot of the boys from Italy have been to my place,” said McQuay.  “They’ve been good students and are very competitive.

Another team of note was the all-female Swiss team, which finished fifth.  “Those girls did a great job,” said Hendricks.  “The women in this sport have really stepped up.”

The Germans finished fourth, just out of the medals, but they had to compete with only three riders when two of their horses were spun at the jog.  Gricscha Ludwig intended to ride Coeur D Wright Stuff but was able to use his reserve horse, BV Smart Innuendo, instead.  Alexander Ripper’s Solanoswarleeboy also failed the inspection, so he had to sit out the competition.