Equine excitement

Weston Oliver, 10, from Ocala, and his horse Magnums Chic Magnet won two short stirrup classes and high point overall champion for short stirrup at the 2026 National Reining Horse Association Derby in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. [Photo by Purple Media Group TX, courtesy Amanda Oliver]

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Posted July 21, 2026 | By Susan Smiley-Height, [email protected]

Marion County’s Weston Oliver and his horse Magnums Chic Magnet, also known as Riley, recently won two short stirrup classes and high point overall champion for youth 10 and under short stirrup at the 2026 National Reining Horse Association Derby in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

Reining is a judged event designed to show the athletic ability of a ranch type horse within the confines of a show arena. Each pattern includes small slow circles, large fast circles, flying lead changes, roll backs over the hocks, 360-degree spins done in place and exciting sliding stops that are the hallmark of the reining horse, according to the HRHA website.

In competition, contestants are required to run a pre-selected, approved pattern. There are multiple divisions of competition for all levels of participant. The association’s two key annual events are the Futurity and the Derby.

“It’s one of the years largest competitions for reining horses and this was a record year on entries,” said Weston’s mother, Amanda Oliver, of the Derby.

According to information online, short stirrup classes are primarily for young riders, usually aged 12 and under. The focus is on basic riding skills, safety and control.

Weston has two trainers, Jeanne Levine from Ocala, which is where he got started and who he bought his horse from, and Patrick Flaherty of Honstetters Performance Horses in Scottsdale, Arizona, who he’s been training with and took him to the NRHA Derby, Amanda Oliver said.

“He’s 10 years old and this was his first major event, and he came out on top—pretty impressive for a young man who just started riding a year and a half ago and had his first official lesson in December of 2025,” Oliver added.

The family is originally from Vermont. They moved to Ocala six years ago to start a family feed store, Imperial Hay Ocala. 

According to Weston, he started riding in November of 2024 when his sister bought a new horse “and I was able to take over her old horse, Bo.”

“I had just watched the Run For A Million in Las Vegas and it inspired me to start riding and doing reining. My first official lesson was in December of 2025 with Jeanne Levine. We had heard really great things about her that were all true. She also had a horse available to lease, which is part of why I started riding with her. His name is Magnums Chic Magnet but we call him Riley. He’s 13 years old. I ended up loving him and bought Riley in March. She was such a great person to help me. She’s very nice and great to her horses. She has helped me so much,” he said.

Weston, who is homeschooled, describes reining is a “western sport that has a lot of exciting maneuvers like the slide stop (my favorite) the spin, lead changes and fast and slow circles.” 

“I love reining because it’s exciting. I really like running fast and doing big stops. I’m lucky I have such a great horse; he really makes it fun and exciting. He’s a big stopper, runs fast in his circles and spins good too. He knows his job if I ask him right. He’s a very special horse, both my trainers say that and it’s true,” Weston noted.

He said he practices six days a week and has competed in Florida and Arizona as well as Oklahoma.

“Weston takes his riding very seriously,” said his mother. “He has big goals and puts the time in every single day. It’s so great to see him do well. I am so proud of his dedication.” 

In addition to equine sports, Weston said he enjoys dirt biking and mountain biking.

As for the future, “I would like to be a multi-million-dollar rider in reining and possibly own a cattle ranch.”