When a National Reining Breeders Classic champion wins a saddle, there is no question of quality. The four saddle sponsors that produce the NRBC’s champion trophy saddles are all industry leaders and there is often a waiting list to become an NRBC saddle sponsor.

“It became apparent early on that having too many saddle manufacturers of dealers would reduce the chance for a successful show for our vendors, so saddles and tack became one of the few protected product categories for the show,” said Loren Morris, who coordinates the trade show vendors at the NRBC. For the past decade, the saddle sponsorships have been limited to four manufacturers.

Each saddle sponsor, Bob’s Custom Saddles, Kyle Tack, Continental Saddlery, and Superior Saddlery produce saddles every year and those saddles are always prominently placed and widely admired during the show.

Kyle Tack

At the forefront of the line of saddle sponsors is Kyle Tack, a family-owned business that has been sponsoring the NRBC since the beginning. Marshall and Phillis Kyle own the company while Lainey Kyle-Barshofsky acts as saddle manager with her husband, Robert, serving as office manager.

Specializing in custom silver and leather craftsmanship, Kyle Tack saddles are built in-house by master saddle smiths and are highly sought after in the reining horse industry. The pride of the company is to stand behind its products through the full repair shop in its retail store.

Although Kyle Tack is located seven miles south of Whitesboro, Texas on Highway 377, most customers do business at the multiple horse shows and events that the Kyle Tack crew travels to throughout the year.

With friendly personalized service, the Kyle Tack booth is always a popular place to visit and offers a full range of services and products. The online store at kyletack.com offers easy access and quick shipping with the same individual service found in person at the store and in the booth.

To contact Kyle Tack, email at sales@kyletack.com.

Continental Saddlery

The original Continental Pullman Saddle Company was an Indiana business founded in 1985. Now located atop Sand Mountain in the small town of Ider, Alabama, the company has grown to international prominence largely because of two special individuals.  Oliver and Heike Dusterhoff are a husband-and-wife team that began managing the company twelve years before they purchased it in 2008.

Exceptional customer service is paramount to the Dusterhoffs’ business. The two make it a priority to personally man their booths at events where they can create personal relationships with customers.

The saddles are made by hand in-house on “Equi-flex” trees,  developed specifically with today’s performance horses in mind. Equi-flex trees eliminate pressure points and bridging that are known to cause dry spots and sore backs on equine athletes.

For riders, state-of-the-art seat padding provides what many consider the most comfortable ride they have ever had while still providing the closest possible contact with the horse.

The combination of excellent customer service and using the best materials available to create beautiful, distinctive, quality saddles at a reasonable price has earned Continental Saddlery a place in reining culture. For more information, visit continentalsaddlery.com.

Superior Saddlery

Since 1998, Superior Saddlery has been providing custom and private label saddles for customers worldwide using only the finest materials available.

For over a decade, Andreas Maschke has been researching, testing, designing, and improving his concept of a new saddle tree. In close cooperation with some of the industry’s most successful trainers, the company developed a variety of saddle trees to cover most of today’s performance horses and improve the performance of horses and riders in competition across the world. SYMMETREES are the very base of Superior saddles. Known for being the most precise and symmetrical trees around, they are made in-house.

Superior Saddles are made 100% in the shop in Texas with all American materials. The skirting leather is made at the Hermann Oak Tannery in St. Louis, Missouri. The sheep-skins are processed and tanned in San Antonio, Texas, and all the hardware is from Texas as well.

To learn more about Superior Saddlery, LLC., email info@superior-saddlery.com or call (940) 391-7476 or (417) 793-1403. You can also visit the website at superior-saddlery.com.

Bobs Custom Saddles

Bobs Custom Saddles has been a consistent supporter of reiners and the reining industry worldwide, endorsing riders and sponsoring events as well as the National Reining Horse Association.

Bob’s Custom Saddles has been building custom saddles for over 40 years. The company takes pride in truly custom creations from intricate, hand-designed tooling and silver patterns to the meticulously crafted seat, tree, fender, and horn variations.

The greatest element of every Bob’s Custom Saddle is formatted from a close contact riding system that the company began developing in 1976. The saddles are designed to sit the rider correctly with a line from the shoulder to the hip to the heel.

The Winning Position is achieved for every rider through three different seat styles and a choice of eight different fender styles and custom lengths. Multiple tree variations provide the horse and rider a better fit and seat while the four different front ends, three different gullet widths, three different cantle heights, and six different horns further customize the ride. By utilizing all these choices to create the perfect fit for horse and rider, the Winning Position helps riders perform better in their discipline to achieve a higher winning score. To learn more, visit bobscustomsaddles.com.

The National Reining Breeders Classic never skimps on quality when deciding on awards, so in 2018, when Skyline Silversmith was chosen to provide custom award buckles for NRBC champions, it was a natural progression. Skyline Silversmiths has continued to produce beautiful trophy buckles every year since.

Dave Hammond, who shares ownership of Skyline Silversmiths and Vaquero Trophy & Tack with Ryan Fowler, said, “The NRBC is one of the crown jewels of the Reining Horse industry, and it is a real honor to be the official buckle maker for the million-dollar show. We are proud to be a part of it.”

The custom engraved buckles with signature tooling are given to NRBC Classic, Classic Challenge, and Yellowstone Rookie Shootout champions and reserve champions as well as the high point winners of the double slate of NRHA Classes.

NRBC Secretary Treasurer Cheryl Cody is proud that the show can offer these one-of-a-kind buckles to high-achieving competitors. She said, “The NRBC Board of Directors and Show Management have always tried to give quality awards that exhibitors are proud to earn and use. These buckles are a fitting symbol of accomplishment at the NRBC.”

To be in the running for one of the distinctive high point buckles made by Skyline Silversmiths, exhibitors must enter both slates of qualifying ancillary classes. A point system is used to combine points from the first and second slate to determine the champion.

This year those high point categories are:

Open

Intermediate Open

Limited Open

Rookie Professional

Novice Horse Open L1

Novice Horse Open L2

Novice Horse Open L3

Non Pro

Intermediate Non Pro

Limited Non Pro

Prime Time Non Pro

Novice Horse Non Pro L1

Novice Horse Non Pro L2

Novice Horse Non Pro L3

Rookie Level 1

Rookie Level 2

Rookie Prime Time

Green Reiner Level 1

Green Reiner Level 2

Unrestricted Youth

Youth 14-18

Youth 13 & Under

Short Stirrup

Youth Walk Trot

Located in Marysville, Cali., Skyline Silversmiths and Vaquero Trophy & Tack have been designing and manufacturing custom hand-crafted buckles, jewelry and silver items for over 40 years. Both Dave and Ryan have competed in the rodeo and horse show world and know what winning a trophy buckle means. Hammond said, “We are proud that our buckles will represent the hard work, skill and competitive spirit that it takes for you and your horse to be winners.”

For information on Skyline Silversmiths, visit the website at skylinevaquero.com or call Dave at (916) 801-9465.

In 2020, youth riders at the National Reining Breeders Classic were able to compete in the youth classes for free, thanks to Brad and Amanda Kelly of Adh Mor Ranch. The Kellys, under the name of their stallion PS Mega Shine Chic, known in the industry as Crush, covered all youth horse show entry expenses, including entry, video, drug, and judges’ fees.
The sponsorship – Crushing the Fees – will continue at this year’s NRBC, which will be held at the Great Southwest Equestrian Center April 19 – 25.
The 2021 sponsorship illustrates the Kellys’ commitment to supporting youth in the reining industry. Amanda said, “We love this opportunity to showcase the youth and reward them, especially after last year when so many had to endure disappointment from dealing with COVID. Hopefully, this will help them to feel rewarded for their talent and achievements with reining horses.”
NRBC Vice President Colleen McQuay noted, “In every industry, it is of utmost importance to support the next generation. The Kellys, with their innovative idea to pay the fees associated with the youth classes, are ensuring that these young riders can come and compete in this great atmosphere. We believe that their sponsorship will help bring more youth to, and keep them in, the reining industry.”
Cheryl Cody, NRBC Secretary-Treasurer, added, “Reining can be expensive. This partnership with Brad and Amanda – and Crush – gives the parents a financial break so that the kids can get on their horses and do what they love to do, which is go show!”
One of the most successful National Reining Horse Association Markel Futurity Prospect Sale Alumni in history, PS Mega Shine Chic is an 8-year-old AQHA stallion by Shine Chic Shine out of Megas Sugar Baby. He was a 2016 NRHA Futurity Level 4 Finalist and 2017 NRBC Open Reserve Champion. In 2019, Dany Tremblay rode him to win the Level 3 Open NRBC Championship, as well as the $100,000 Open Shootout at the Run For A Million. PS Mega Shine Chic’s first foals will be debut on the futurity scene in 2021.

Known for innovation, the National Reining Breeders Classic is normally a flurry of activities with parties almost every night, a poker tournament, and so much more; however, in 2021 many of those activities won’t be possible due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Joao Marcos, owner of Cardinal Reining Horses understands that people still need a handy place to unwind during the horse show and that’s why he continues to sponsor the Dun It For Whizkey / Inferno Sixty Six Hospitality Patio named for the ranch’s showcase stallions.

The Dun It For Whizkey / Inferno Sixty Six Hospitality Patio will be conveniently located across from the concession stand during the show slated for April 18-25, 2021 at the Great Southwest Equestrian Center in Katy, Texas. It will be a comfortable refuge to enjoy food and beverages, catch up on the day’s events, or unwind after a busy morning. Social distancing and masking requirements will still be in order so everyone can enjoy the Patio safely.

Marcos recognizes the importance of safety as well as the need to unwind all too well as he said, “

With a regal heritage, Dun It For Whizkey is quickly becoming a household name in the reining horse industry. His sire, Topsail Whiz, reigned as the NRHA All Time #1 Reining Sire for twelve years. His offspring have earned over $12 million. His dam, Dun It For Chex, is a 2018 NRHA Hall of Fame Inductee who became NRHA’s second Million Dollar Dam in 2019.

Inferno Sixty Six has been turning heads ever since he first walked in the show pen. Sired by NRHA Million Dollar Sire and NRHA Open Futurity Champion Gunnatrashya. His dam, Snip O Gun, is an NRH All-Time Leading Producer, Hall of Fame Inductee and Million Dollar Dam. Inferno Sixty Six showed incredible talent early, ending up as the 2015 Tulsa Reining Classic Futurity Champion and the NRHA Open L4 Futurity Reserve Champion accumulating LTE 208,000+.

Situated on 200 lush acres in Aubrey, Texas, Cardinal Reining Horses is a top reining horse operation quickly moving to the forefront of the performance horse industry. It features the largest private covered arena in the world, a first class show barn, over 200 stalls and a state-of-the-art breeding facility. Cardinal Reining Horses is breeding top-level equine athletes thanks to an outstanding collection of broodmares and stallions. For more information about the ranch and its stallions, visit http://cardinalranchtexas.com/.

Twenty-four years ago, a select group of reiners put their heads together to create one of the most groundbreaking programs in the reining world, the National Reining Breeders Classic. The show, slated for April 18-25 in 2021, is held annually at the Great Southwest Equestrian Center in Katy, Texas.

Eighteen years after the inception of NRBC – in a similar fashion – a group of veterinarians began fulfilling a vision for a probiotic that would effectually improve the gut health of foals and equine athletes. The result was Glycoguard and its key to success are the two strains of bacteria exclusive to this probiotic.

These two innovative entities – the NRBC and Glycoguard – were destined to unite. “Glycoguard’s values reflect the NRBC’s in many ways, but I feel the biggest is that we are both here to support the riders and their horses,” said Glycoguard Senior Sales Representative Caitlyn Caldwell. “So, when choosing who to sponsor and work with, it was very easy to choose NRBC. It’s a great show that brings top riders and horses from across the country and some internationally. Glycoguard strives to support our riders and their equine athletes. The stress of training, hauling, showing puts a huge strain on our equine athletes’ gut and overall health and wellbeing. A healthy gut means a happy healthy horse!”

Glycoguard is a 100 percent drug-free probiotic that supports the equine athlete’s gut for optimal health from the inside out. It is all live active bacteria made in small batches able to colonize in the gut. The unique combination of B. infantis and L. plantarum is designed to improve the balance of healthy microbes and promote the production of important short-chain fatty acids necessary for gut health. For more information about Glycoguard, visit the website at Glycoguard.com or contact Caitlyn Caldwell at 610-246-2073.

The National Reining Breeders Classic’s longest-standing sponsor, Twin Cities South renewed its sponsorship for the 24th year since the show began. The company began its tradition of providing a year’s use of their trailers for the Open and Non Pro Classic Champions only six years after their company’s inception.

The relationship began with a friendship between owner Gary Raak and NRBC Founder and current Board Member Tim McQuay. Tim said, “I’ve known Gary for at least 50 years. He was in the horse business when I was a kid, and he and my dad were very good friends. Before his business moved to Texas, we were going to Minnesota to buy trailers from him. When I asked him to provide trailers for the first NRBC, he never hesitated and still hasn’t.”

“Whatever Tim does, is usually a good thing to be involved with.” Gary added, “The trailers we offer are pretty deluxe, and they are hauled by the top names in the reining world with our name and lettering on them. Sometimes the winners will go ahead and buy the trailer after a year and sometimes people see the trailers and bring us their business. We support the reining industry, and we hope it will support us, too.”

Twin Cities South prides itself on providing the best customer service with knowledgeable sales and support staff and a huge inventory of new and used trailers to choose from. The company has an aggressive trade-in policy, easy financing options, and will deliver trailers anywhere in the lower 48. For more information, visit twincitiessouthtrailers.com, or stop by 8448 Hwy 377 in Pilot Point. Texas.