HALL OF FAME INDUCTEE - John Wicks

The Reining Australia Hall of Fame was introduced to recognise those who have shown excellence, with outstanding achievements in roles supportive to the sport of reining within Australia. Receiving this award at the Hall Of Fame was John Wicks.

John Wicks has won numerous State and National Derby Titles, numerous State and National Open Horse Titles and is a five time NRHA National Futurity Champion in 2001, 2005, 2007, 2013 & 2016.

In 1995 he represented Australia at the International Reining Council in Oklahoma, USA. John was part of the Australia Reining Demonstration Team for the Sydney 2000 Olympics and got to show case the sport of Reining in front of a crowd of 20, 000 equestrian enthusiasts. He has also been awarded two Reining Australia Legends Awards and in 2014 he represented Australia at the World Equestrian Games in Normandy, France.

John started riding horses at the age of six and he was always riding growing up. He attended Pony Club and competed in Gymkhanas from a young age. In his teens he did camp drafting and show jumping and then in his late teens he had a break from horses and did an apprenticeship. John started riding again in his early twenties. In the early days, and still now he admires Ian Francis and Mick Connelly.

John’s natural training talent became apparent not long after he started competing in Reining in 1993 and it wasn’t long before he was placing and winning at State and National Shows as a non-professional. It was obvious that John had a talent for Reining and an affinity with horses.

As of 2016, John has spent the last 23 years competing in Reining and training horses professionally for the public for 19 years. Every year John is more determined than ever on achieving greater success with his career.