Reinmaker: The Dale Wilkinson Story

If you’re a fan of reining, cutting or the history of Western horse breeds, you’ll want to get your hands on Reinmaker: The Dale Wilkinson Story. The final work by renowned equine historian and author Frank Holmes, Reinmaker is the legendary trainer’s complete biography.

Dale Wilkinson, who passed away in 2010, remains one of the most celebrated reining and cutting horse trainers of all time. The only individual to be inducted into four Halls of Fame—AQHA, NRHA, NCHA and All-American Congress—he is also the only trainer to win both the NRHA and NCHA Futurities. In addition, he was instrumental in the formation of the NRHA, and has been dubbed “The Father of Modern Reining.”

Reinmaker begins with an in-depth look at Wilkinson’s childhood and family life. Also included are chapters profiling
the Millstream Stables, Findlay University and Waynesboro, Georgia, years. The life and times of Wilkinson’s great stallion Mr Gun Smoke are detailed in two separate chapters, and the legend and legacy of Dale Wilkinson is discussed in the book’s final chapter. Numerous photographs, many published here for the first time, chronicle the life and times of one of the greatest horsemen who has ever lived.

 “Dale Wilkinson was without a doubt one of the most innovative horsemen of his era,” author Holmes observed. “A bona fide thinking man’s trainer, he was always searching out better ways to encourage a horse to perform at the very highest level possible. In terms of his overall contributions to the Western horse industry, he was a forward-thinker whose ideas regarding the formation and future of the NRHA proved to be profound and enduring.” This book proved to be Frank Holmes' final legacy.   

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Read an excerpt from Reinmaker: The Dale Wilkinson Story as a PDF or Unformatted Text.

View the table of contents as a Word Document or Unformatted Text.