For more than two hundred years, since the first great Spanish herds of longhorn cattle were driven fromMesico to California, a unique relationship between man, horse and cow was established. In California, with its vast acres of range land, and with cattle herds numbering in the thowsands, this relationship saw its finest days with the development of the California reined cow horse. The great horsemanship practiced by their riders, known as "Vaqueros" was based on the training of the Spanish Light Cavalry, which was said to be the best the world has ever known. The horses they rode had been introduced by the Moors during their invasion around 800 A.D. The entire culture of the western horse and western riding equipment decended from the Vaqueros and it was the original purpose of the California Reined Cow Horse Association to preserve these traditions and to prevent them from becoming an obscure page in the history books.
After years of flourishing and creating some of the best known, most competitive events in the working cow horse world, the California Reined Cow Horse Association was transformed into the National Reined Cow Horse Association. The newly expanded organizatoin encompassed the ever-growing interest in this exciting and lucrative part of American history. There are members in neatly every state in the Union, including Hawaii and Alaska. Due to the dedication of many hardworking individuals, the very essence of the reined cow horse remain unchanged as you see him today.
The NRCHA was orgainzed on October 30, 1949. It is an established Non-Profit Corporation in the State of California, and has a published set of By-Laws, Rules and Regulations. It is governed by a Board of Directors that meet monthly and there is a yearly general membership meeting at the annual high-point awards banquet.
The NRCHA has one of the finest awards programs of any horse organization of similay size in the west. Riders compete in different divisions, most of which provide beautiful trophy saddles as year-end awards for high-;pacing riders and horses in each division. These awards are presented at the annual NRCHA Awards Banquet, a gala affair pleasantly anticipated by every active NRCHA member.
