Reining slides to a huge reception at the Stampede! 

By Monique Noble 

The Calgary Stampede was delighted to host its inaugural NRHA-sanctioned Reining Competition on Tuesday, July 8, 2025. 

The stands were packed as five teams led by Canada’s top reining professionals competed with their gorgeous equine partners for a first-place win and a share of the $20,000 purse. 

Reining is a sport that showcases the athleticism and training of a ranch-type horse. It involves executing a series of maneuvers — such as spins, sliding stops, rollbacks, and flying lead changes — within a specific pattern. The goal is to demonstrate the horse’s willingness to be guided and its ability to perform these maneuvers with precision, smoothness, and finesse. 

Shawna Sapergia wearing her beautiful show shirt made by Molly Sapergia, with Legitness, competing for Team White. Photo: Show Champions Livestock Photography 

Teams consisting of three riders and three horses, titled by their colours Black, Blue, Teal, Red, and White, were led by top-tier Canadian professional reiners. Aside from the leader, each team was required to have one non-professional rider (Non-Pro) and was allowed one “Wildcard” rider. 

The showcase started off with an exciting freestyle performance by BC trainer Wanda Dee Haddad and her equine partner, Bentley. They wowed the crowd with a choreographed performance set to Lainey Wilson’s recent country hit Wildflowers and Wild Horses, which included jumping over decorated obstacles, a series of perfectly executed reining maneuvers, and a thrilling finish as Wanda and Bentley demonstrated their skills while a 21-foot train, painted with flowers and attached to their saddle, flowed behind them. 

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Wanda Dee Haddad and her horse Bentley performed their freestyle to the delight of spectators. Photo: Starizon Images 

When the applause finally receded, the first competitor Harlyn Heule entered the ring for Team Black. The 13-year-old stunned the crowd with an electric performance, setting the bar high for the rest of the competitors. 

Two hours of edge-of-your-seat action followed as horse-and-rider teams showcased escalating skill, speed, and difficulty — advancing from Non-Pros to Wildcards and ultimately to seasoned professionals. 

Judged by veteran NRHA judge and fellow Albertan Lyle Jackson, history and heartbreak were made as the 15 inaugural competitors achieved scores ranging from a stellar 72.5 to zeros due to teams going off the required pattern. 

When the dust and cheering settled, Team Red, led by Vicki Braun, was the victor. Vicki, an icon in Canadian reining, was emotional as this was a full-circle moment for her, her parents having both been longtime Stampede competitors in different equestrian sports. Vicki was honoured not only to showcase competitive reining at the Stampede, but also to come home with the first Reining Showcase victory. 

Above: Winning Team Red pictured with show organiser David Bénard and a really big cheque. Photo courtesy of The Xibition 

Above: Team Blue presentation. Photo courtesy of The Xibition 

Above: Team White presentation. Photo courtesy of The Xibition 

Vicki’s fellow teammates were Wildcard Guy Robertson from Manitoba and her son-in-law Non-Pro Colton Wong, who has been sliding to wins in reining competitions for years. Robertson and Wong were equally honoured with the team’s first placing and their share of the $10,000 first-place winnings. 

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Team Blue, led by accomplished Albertan trainer Amanda Antifaev, placed second, just 4.5 points behind the winning team. They took home $4,000 split among riders Tyrell Smith (riding for his fiancée Antifaev who had their first baby — an adorable redhead just like her mama — less than three weeks earlier), Wildcard Kim Smith, another well-respected Albertan trainer, and Natalie Draper, local youth rider and Non-Pro phenom. 

Above: Tyrell Smith and Smart Whiz Dollars competing for Team Blue. Photo: Show Champions Livestock Photography 

Above: Non-Pro Natalie Draper with Shooting Off Sparks competing for Team Blue. Photo: Show Champions Livestock Photography 

Team White, led by Albertan reining royalty Shawna Sapergia, placed third. Sapergia will share $2,500 with teammates Wildcard Sage Sapergia, a well-known Albertan trainer and fierce competitor who also happens to be Shawna’s niece, and local Non-Pro Shonda Day, a longtime friend and client who is a force in the reining pen and the interim president of Reining Alberta. Third in the running but first in style, they were decked out in gorgeous show shirts made by Shawna’s mom, Molly Sapergia, who was cheering her heart out in the stands for her girls! 

Related: Turning Around: Pirouettes, Cow Turns and Reining Spins

It was a sweet hometown moment for a family that has been reining in Alberta for decades. As a child, Sage used to watch her mom, Terry Lee, and Aunt Shawna perform reining freestyle showcases at the Stampede in the 1990s. It’s a statement to the growth and popularity of the sport that it is now a highlighted NRHA-sanctioned Stampede competition and that Sage, now an adult, is one of the first competitors. 

Team Teal, led by the highest-earning Canadian trainer in the NRHA, Jesse Beckley of BC, came in fourth and will split $2,000 with his teammates Wildcard and assistant trainer Shayla Malmberg, and Non-Pro Meaghan Myers of Lloydminster, AB. As a bonus, Malmberg’s equine partner Snip of a Dream took home the Stampede’s CQHA/AQHA Daily Fan Favourite Horse Award, which is voted on by horse lovers and Stampede fans nationwide. 

Team Black, led by BC-based trainer Hubert Heule, placed fifth and will share $1,500 with his teammates Wildcard and local reining and cow horse legend Clay Webster, and his daughter Harlyn Heule competing fresh from a buckle-earning Derby win in Prince George, BC. Harlyn left us all speechless with her speed and determination. 

Another Winning Team 

While all horse-and-rider teams performed admirably, another winning team of the event was the incredible partnership between The Calgary Stampede and the brainchild behind this event, David Bénard. A longtime Western horse sport enthusiast, Bénard has been behind the scenes providing visual media support to equine events in Western Canada and abroad for almost 20 years.  

David Bénard and Stampede Ground Magician Bill Fraser making sure the ground is in great shape for the competition.  Image: Starizon Images 

Creator of the local show series The Xibition, Bénard has done groundbreaking work producing fun, exciting, and well-run shows in Alberta for the last three years. The Xibition is now arguably the most anticipated show of the Western Canadian reining circuit. All the Reining Showcase competitors are incredibly grateful to Bénard for his dedication to the sport of reining and the opportunities he continues to create for reining in Canada. 

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Bénard’s vision was not only to bring reining to the Stampede itself, but also to have an NRHA show held at one of the premier equine event facilities in the world. A former Canadian Hockey League hockey player, Bénard is no stranger to hat tricks, and with inimitable style he has scored one for the horse community. In 2025, he not only managed to have reining showcased as a competition on the worldwide stage at the Calgary Stampede, but his idea was also enthusiastically backed by the NRHA, which sanctioned the event and allowed one of their exceptional judges to participate. 

To complete the hat trick, in a first for both the sport of reining and the Stampede, the $10,000 Jack Carter Open NRHA Reining Competition is set to be a thrilling highlight of The Xibition (August 2–9, 2025, Calgary Stampede Park). A prestigious reining class featuring a $10,000 purse and showcasing the highest level of horsemanship, this event will run alongside a full slate of ancillary NRHA and TXRS classes, bringing together elite riders and horses in a dramatic display of precision, athleticism, and competitive spirit. More information is available HERE. 

Final Scores including the Slide Off, a new exciting addition to reining recently introduced by the NRHA. Image courtesy of The Xibition 

Brett Warder, the Calgary Stampede’s Manager of Agriculture and Western Events, was exhilarated by the Reining Showcase and is excited to be hosting The Xibition Reining Show in August. Keenly looking forward to the Reining Showcase returning to the Stampede next year, Warder is positive that this new partnership will continue to elevate the sport while welcoming back the cheering full house and exceptional horses and riders that have spun in a new age of reining at The Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth, and the place they now both call home.  

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Main Photo: Courtesy of The Xibition.