Lincoln resident wins 2021 Morgan World Championship in reining

Lincoln, Mont. –.Chris Holm learned to work reining horses in 2018 and went on to win the Morgan World Championship in Reining in 2021.

Growing up on a ranch in Montana, Holm started riding horses before she could walk. She and her sister spent their childhood summers on horseback moving cows back and forth across the ranch. Holm continued to own horses into her adulthood and, in 1985, she started breeding Lippitt Morgans.

Working horses were what she knew, but for many years she had a dream to take her amazing Morgans into the world of reining. In 2018 she hired a trainer to train her stallion, Devine Cool Hand Luke, to become a reining horse. While he worked with her horse, she tried out a few of the trained horses in the barn and loved it.

Reining is a western riding competition for horses where the riders guide the horses through a meticulous pattern of circles, spins, rollbacks and stops. Originating from working cattle, reining requires the horse to be responsive and in tune with its rider. The horse should be willingly guided with little or no apparent resistance. Reining is a beautiful and precise sport, often compared to figure skating on horseback.

For more than 35 years The Grand National & World Championship Morgan Horse Show has been considered the pinnacle of achievement in the Morgan Horse world. The 2021 Grand Nationals World Championship Morgan Horse Show was held in Oklahoma City, Okla. in October. Riders from 45 states and four nations, as well as more than 5,000 Morgan enthusiasts, attended the competition. To qualify for the championship competition riders had to first place in other classes. Holm won in the Non-Pro Adult and took Reserve in World Champion Non-Pro classes before advancing to the World Championship Trials.

Holm has continued to hone her breeding stock and skills over the years since she first started her Morgan breeding program. She has done extensive research on how to produce original Morgan type and also color in Morgans and has had great success. One of her stallions, Devine Cool Hand Luke, is full Lippitt, a line bred to the original Justin Morgan. You can learn more about Holm's work at www.colorfulmorgans.com.