Reining Champion
Jesse James Dillaman, 18, of Slippery Rock recently reined his quarter horse, Cornbreadntinseltown, through circles, spins and slides to win two world titles.
He traveled to Oklahoma last weekend for the presentation of a saddle, two belt buckles and two bronze trophies he earned while winning the National Reining Horse Association's 2018 Rookie Professional World Championship and the Limited Open Reserve World Championship.
Jesse said he and Spot, his 8-year-old stallion's barn name, competed in 18 NRHA shows across the country and took home nearly $2,700 to win the rookie competition and nearly $3,000 to win the limited open competition.
“Two years ago, I never would have imagined becoming a professional. It was an amazing feeling to be able to do that. Coming from a small town, Slippery Rock, and traveling all the way down to Oklahoma and competing in all these shows. It was definitely a lot of hard work that ended up in a world championship,” Jesse said.
His parents, Jim and Karen Dillaman, bought Spot, a registered quarter and paint horse, from Texas for him in April.
Spot had already been trained in reining. Jesse said all he had to do was spend some time in the saddle “to figure him out.”
Figuring out a horse is crucial in reining. During the process, a rider uses reins to guide a horse through a series of spins and circles while changing directions. Lead changes, slides and rollbacks are other reining skills that put horse and rider to the test.
A dozen patterns that competitors must navigate are laid out on the arena floor and each horse-rider team is assigned a pattern to complete.
“They're long patterns. You're not running. It's not a timed thing,” Jesse said.
Jesse and his family have been involved with horses for many years through Butler County 4-H and other organizations.
“We bought Jesse his first horse when he was 4 years old as a Christmas present. He was the proud owner of a 5-year-old, black and white miniature horse named Quietdellsjustintime, aka Justin, who he still has today,” said Karen Dillaman.
He has two older siblings — Amanda (Dillaman) Reynolds and Joshua Dillaman — who were involved with horses and participated in the 4-H horse program and the Ohio Valley Team Penning Association, Karen Dillaman said.
With nine years between Jesse and Joshua, Jesse was taken along to all of the functions in which the older siblings participated. Jesse showed his first horse when he was just 2 years old at the Big Butler Fair in a halter class.
Jesse was a member of the West Sunbury Wranglers 4-H Horse and Pony Club for nine years through age 17, serving as treasurer, vice president, president and a youth council member. He showed horses and participated in the many 4-H leadership programs.
He was accepted into the 4-H Team Horse Power Program with 11 other Pennsylvania 4-H members to promote horsemanship skills and handling safety. He assisted members across the state with their riding and handling skills.
Jesse was a member of the Ohio Team Penning Association and the Pennsylvania Quarter Horse Youth Association. He was a PQHYA member for three years and was a director at large. He belonged to the Western Pennsylvania Reining Horse Association, Tri State Reining Horse Association and the Grove City Equestrian team.
“He learned to compete in the reining world through these local organizations and won many awards,” Karen Dillaman said.
Jesse and Spot competed in the 2018 Adequan North American Affiliate Championships in Oklahoma City, where he won the rookie professional reserve champion, limited open reserve champion and rookie professional reserve champion and placed fourth in the limited open class.
As an affiliate member of the Yankee Reining Horse Association in Hamburg, N.Y., Jesse is the 2018 open champion, intermediate open champion, limited open champion, rookie professional champion, novice horse 2 champion and novice horse 1 reserve champion. He also clinched two titles at the Buckeye Reining in Springfield, Ohio.
He traveled with his horse to NRHA rookie professional and limited open competitions all over the country and scored enough points and earned enough money to win the championships. He topped 719 other riders in the limited open class and 339 riders in the rookie professional class. NRHA competitions are held around the world in such countries as Japan and Italy, making the championships true world titles, Karen Dillaman said.
“They had an amazing year,” she said.
The most difficult part of the NRHA season was a journey from one competition in New Jersey to another in Kentucky.
Jesse said he arrived in Kentucky at 3 a.m. and spent two hours getting Spot settled into his stall. He said he only had enough time to get a little sleep before the show started at 7 a.m.
“It was well worth it, but it was a lot,” Jesse said.
Jesse worked for iSlide Performance Horses in Sharpsville, Mercer County, from January 2017 to April 2018 before striking out on his own to become a professional in reining and opening his own business, Double J Equestrian Center in Slippery Rock, where he boards, trains and sells horses.
