Jonas Bujnoch is a multiple Czech reining horse riding champion, who has travelled across the world to compete.
Various EliteVoyage clients own horses which are kept and trained at Jonas’s Bujnoch Ranch in Jistebník, near Ostrava. We met with Jonas to discuss his travels, horses and riding.
Jonas, you were the 2018 European Championship in Germany for western riding, in the reining category. What achievement are you most proud of?
Western riding is a young sport, only about 35 years old in the Czech Republic. There are a lot of interested amateurs who do it for a hobby.
People in Europe didn’t expect that we could come from a small country and be so competitive at the shows. A lot of people were surprised when he had big success.
It’s not only me. I’m most proud of the success of my customers. My business is about training people and horses for the amateur classes. I compete in the open class.
Now when we go to competitions people take us in a different way. They give us more respect and are a little bit scared that we can beat them.
You’re the most successful reining rider in the Czech Republic. Tell us more about this reining style of horse riding?
This western style of riding originated on ranches in the USA. Cowboys use horses for work, to manage their cattle, and a competitive sport of reining riding developed out of this.
There are different individual disciplines. Like speed which includes barrel racing and pole bending, and cattle which has cutting and ranch sorting. I’ve been Czech champion in different categories.
Traditionally there’s been a lot of English style riding in the Czech Republic, which is dressage and jumping. But for jumping you need to be athletic and in good shape, plus it’s more dangerous because you can fall.
If you own a racehorse then only a jockey can ride it, but with reining riding there are no limits.
You can be six or 60 years old and do this western riding, with a normal level of fitness. You can be 40 kgs or 120 kgs, so it’s a very accessible sport that’s open to everyone.
If you own a horse and want to compete you can show your horse at a competition. But if you just want to be the owner, the trainer can show your horse in the open category.
What is your favourite show to travel to?
My favourite show is the ARHA Futurity & NRHA Show in Austria, for three and four year old horses. We had a lot of success here.
Last year we won the highest category with a four-year-old stallion PL Six Six Six.
It’s an American quarter horse, one of the best stallions in the country, which I compete with at the major shows in Europe.
The World Reining Championship is held every two years at the CS Ranch owned by the Schumacher family in Switzerland. It’s the most beautiful place I’ve been until now.
In 2017 I competed in the USA which was a dream for me. It’s almost impossible to get there with a horse and they gave me a horse to show in one of the biggest American horse events.
Travelling with horses and competing has challenges. When we go to a big show in Italy or France we drive more than 1000 kilometres, which can take 18 or 20 hours with horses.
The arenas are used for competition during the day, so we spend the nights practising with the horses and then we compete during the day!
If you are lucky you sleep four hours a day and you have to be a little crazy to love it. But I think that’s the same with every sport.
How did you start riding horses?
It’s a simple story really. When I was five my parents bought two horses for hobby riding and to have some fun. Slowly they put me on a horse and bought me my own when I was eight.
Later they took me to a horse trainer, slowly we started going to competitions, buying another horse, and another, until we bought the ranch we are now.
When I finished school I became a horse trainer for people, so what started as a hobby became a business.
When did you establish your Bujnoch Ranch?
We bought the ranch in 2010, rebuilt it and built a covered area. At first it was just my horses, then one customer, then a second.
Initially we competed in the Czech Republic and Poland, then more people came as we enjoyed good results. Step by step we started competing across Europe.
We want to attract new people who are interested in this riding style. We have a few schooling horses, so anyone can try it during a lesson with a trainer.
If they enjoy it they can come for lessons and maybe later they buy a horse.
Now we have 60 horses in the barn and are working with most of them, me plus two more trainers. Around 20 horses are going for competitions, a few of them to Italy, Germany, France and elsewhere in Europe.
What is your advice to others to help them pursue their own dreams?
It’s important to have dreams and not give up on them. Maybe something doesn’t go very well, you have to be patient and work hard, because one day it will come true.
Connect directly with Jonas on Instagram, Facebook or via his website, https://bujnochranch.cz/
