Adan Banuelos and Purrn LikeaSmoothCat dazzled with exceptional cow work in the preliminary stages of the NRCHA's World's Greatest Horseman Competition.
Western destination Ft Worth, Texas, welcomed leading cowboys and cowgirls from across the nation this week for the National Reined Cow Horse Association’s (NRCHA) World’s Greatest Horseman Competition.
The event demonstrates the skill of a horse and rider in several main events: herd work, rein work, cow work, and steer stopping.
During this week's preliminaries, cowboy Adan Banuelos rode Purrn LikeaSmoothCat during an exceptional cow work performance. The pair made sharp turns, clean cuts, and fluid movements as they gracefully cornered and turned the cow at every stop, mirroring movements and anticipating motion. These actions earned them a score of 229.
This talented team has plenty of accolades under its belt already. The horse belongs to Adan’s father, Ascension Banuelos, who was the first Mexican-American ever inducted into the National Cutting Horse Association (NCHA) Hall of Fame in 2007.
Today, Adan carries on his father’s legacy and is building one of his own out of his Ft Worth, Texas, facility known as Adan Banuelos Performance Horses. Training and showing cutting horses is his specialty, and he is one of the youngest ever inductees into the National Cutting Horse Association Riders Hall of Fame, as well as being a NCHA Open Futurity Champion. He has currently surpassed 8 million dollars in NCHA lifetime earnings and has consistently performed at an exceptional level. In fact, Adan was the #1 leading open rider for the NCHA in the years 2018, 2020, 2021, 2022, and 2025.
Adan is off to a good start at the 2026 World’s Greatest Horseman with Purrn LikeaSmoothCat, and regardless of the outcome of the event, he will leave $10,000 richer thanks to their cow work performance. The pair also did well in the steer stopping, scoring a 221 in it, a 223.5 in the herd work, and a 210.5 in rein work.
The field of competitors this year is tough, and not just about the greatest horsemen in the world, but also the greatest horsewomen, as several top cowgirls showed out in the preliminaries.
In fact, the 2025 World’s Greatest Horseman Champion was one of these fine ladies: Erin Taormino and her mount Hazardouz Material. Hazardouz Material is owned by Linda Mars and comes from a breeding cross of Metallic Cat x Scooters x Daisy Dukes x Dual Smart Rey. The pair scored a 884.5 in last year's win and welcomed their new world champion title, showing that one rider, one horse, and one bridle can still lead to perfect execution and masterful horsemanship. Erin was the first woman to ever win the competition and has left her mark on history. She is off to a strong start in the preliminaries this year as well and has her same mount back to battle for a consecutive title.
Tomorrow will tell whether Adan soon be adding the title of World’s Greatest Horseman to his list of titles or whether Erin will make history for a second time. Or, in the true spirit of the unpredictable sport, another talented cowboy or cowgirl may claim the role for themselves.
Stay tuned and see who the next World’s Greatest Horseman will be.