Spotlight on Don Adams

Maritime Reiner

If you have watched reining in the Maritimes at all in the past couple decades, Don Adams needs no introduction! He is the king of reining in Atlantic Canada.

Don looks like he was born on horseback. Although he loved horses as a little kid, when he about 14 yeas old a school teacher (Joan Charters Corey) came into his life who had a horse and she invited him to hang out at the barn and ride her horse.

Later he started hanging out at a local riding stable run by Ned Murray who quickly became a close friend and mentor.

Don bought his first horse when he turned 16 and started showing at local shows. In true Don style he bought that first horse with his own money.

After graduating from high school Don worked at the Bank of Nova Scotia for 4 years, then moved on to Co-Op Atlantic for 1 year. He always had a horse through out this time.

In 1972 he purchased land in Indian Mtn and built a house and barn. It wasn't long before he had built a 60 by 120 arena. When Don does things, he goes big. 6 months later in 1974, he left the Co-Op and never looked back!

Don was busy training and showing in AQHA shows. In 1976 his wife Jo-Ann's grand mother passed away and left her a small amount of money. The plan was to buy new furniture, but Jo-Ann totally surprised him with his first stallion, Darby Fleet.

Don had continued success in AQHA shows and started reining in 2000. He was a crowd favorite at all the local shows, and the NRHA judges agreed. One of Don's many horses, a beautiful Grulla horse named Magnum aka DA Chick Olena Dunit is well known in Atlantic Canada. Don bought him as a yearling. He is 16 now. Don's granddaughter has also done well on him, winning the AQHA 14 to 18 youth reining on him at congress in 2019. Don trained many over the years including a couple Arabians that were shown successfully in the local reining shows.

Don Adams riding Magnum, photo provided by Jennifer Lovett.

By 2005-6 Don was reining at the Quarter Horse Congress! Don has had many Congress appearances, landing in the top 10 in 2010. He took reserve champion in 2011/12/13, /16/17/18 missing the championship by only 1/2 a point a couple of times.

By now, if you don't know Don, you have probably seen a trend. This guy gets it done! In 2012 he took two horses, Spook N Pep & Chocolate N Chex to the NRHA Futurity. He made it back for the second go round with Chocolate N Chex. "I got into the penalty box when I slowed down into the small slow circle (fell out of lead in the hind end)".

We all know the level of competition at the Futurity is world class. Getting there at all is a no small feat from Atlantic Canada. The cost, distance, and overall commitment it takes to physical get there is substantial. Taking 2 and making it past the 1st go round with 1 is quite an accomplishment!

A key ingredient to success at anything is continuing to learn, and Don was quick to note that he spent a lot of hours in the middle of the night watching the greats ride and was able to talk to some of them. He knows an opportunity when he sees it and capitalizes, learns, progresses. We see this trait in successful people in all industries.

I asked Don what advice he would give to a young non-pro rider with a dream of riding at the NRHA Futurity. "First someone has to have the financing and you need a really good horse. Then you just show up and pay your dues. And a non pro needs a great trainer and coach."

To many, the first part seems like the hard part. Financing can be tough. Any horse is expensive to keep and a good one can seem out of reach, but I think the 'then' part is truly the hard part. Don makes it sound easy. Hard work is in of his DNA.

When I asked how Don how it felt to ride through the gateway of champions, he said "That was super cool." Well my friend, the reining community in Atlantic Canada thinks you are pretty cool yourself!

Thank you for setting an example for all level of riders here in the Maritimes. You've shown that we can accomplish anything from this part of the world and are a prime example of hard work and continued learning paying off in success.

Lisa Spidell ~ December 9th, 2020