I dont get it....

The people I work for have many reining horses and I just havent had the nerve to ask what the point of reining is? I know that in barrels it's to see who's horse can make the best turn and run the fastest. Any help here?

Reining horses take alot of training to make the pattern correct. They have to change leads both ways, doing a flying change, they have to do good rollbacks, great stops, fast and slow circles and all have to be under perfect control, have a perfect headset, etc.
A good reining horse is absolutely beautiful to watch do a reining pattern.
But to be truthful, its not just how fast a horse can turn a barrel and run fast, a good pattern has to be run to be fast, exact turns around the barrels, the horse changing leads at the right time, the rider turning to look at the next barrel, knowing when to stop the forward motion so the horse can make the circle fast and correct without dropping its shoulder.
Both reining and barrels, along with all types of riding take a well trained horse and rider to do it correctly

Oh ok I get it now. I've seen some very "ugly" patterns and then when I watch my boss his horses seem to do everything perfectly. But atleast I get it now. Thank You

Reining is in some ways the dressage of western riding. It is meant to put the horse through his paces, as well as lead changes, sliding stops (judged on how far they slide), roll backs as well as spins. The best reiners do this with the smallest amount of encouragement on their rider's part & alot of them are ridden without bridles.
Some horses have extentions put into their manes & tails to dramatize the movements & sliding stops.

Actually this is not true. It does not really matter how far a horse can slide it is more how correct they do it. Same with any of the maneuvers. It is not the speed but how correct they are. With the speed and fineness you gain points. However speed will never trump correct.

I know what you mean, I got to ride my bosses horse and im use to my barrel horses just pivoting with a spur but his horse spun right around til I took the spur of his side. I wasn't really expecting him to be so responsive.

Riding a well trained reining horse is amazing and something you will never forget. The precision that they do spins, rollback, stops, etc is so powerful yet graceful.

Just like the purpose of WP is to judge the "perfect" western horse that is a pleasure to ride, Reining is the judging of the "perfect" western/ranch horse. A reining horse should be able to perform manuvers with no resistance and the slightest cues from his/her rider. A reining horse should be able to keep a consistant "slow" (NOT WP slow) lope. The horse should be able to stop at great speeds by bringing his hind end underneath his body and sort of skidding to a stop. Rollbacks, spins, and lead changes are ways to judge the responsiveness of the horse to the rider, all the while showing off the precision and agility of the horse. All of the manuvers in a reining pattern are derived from the basics a ranch/western horse should know how to do/be able to do.

Keep in mind where and why reining originated. The NRHA Started in Ohio the purpose was for the people in that area who did not have cattle and where not able to really do the cattle events to show that their horses could do the job with out actually needing cattle.

What ended up was these people started the NRHA set rules and patterns which have evolved into what you see today. In the beginning you would see a difference in styles from west cost reiners and the east cost reiners or actually mid west reiners. Over the years these 2 styles have come together into one. However you do still see some through backs to the old west cost style of reining. Either one is acceptable and just accordingly.

Ok well thanks everyone atleast now I don't have to ask my boss(:
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