While we celebrate horses every day, December 13 holds a special place as the National Day of the Horse. Over the past year, we’ve seen countless exceptional horses, but these standout stars have risen to the top and captured the spotlight in Horse & Rider headlines.
Reining Horses
Belissimo
Belissimo rose to the moment when it mattered most, delivering a commanding finals run to claim the 2025 NRHA Level 4 Futurity Championship and $350,000, a performance that showcased his depth of talent, ability to handle pressure, and the kind of presence that signals a horse built for the sport’s biggest stages.
Flexing Guns N Town
With a run that stunned reining fans across the world, Flexing Guns N Town delivered a confident, precision-filled run under the Las Vegas lights to claim the 2025 Run For A Million title with French rider Arnaud Girinon.
CS Sailor Made
CS Sailor Made stepped into the spotlight as a true homebred standout, delivering a composed, honest finals performance to earn the 2025 NRHA Level 4 Non Pro Futurity Championship and $75,000, validating years of careful development and proving she could handle the pressure of reining’s biggest stage.
Down Right Amazing
Down Right Amazing captured his third American Performance Horseman title and became the first reining horse to surpass $1 million in lifetime earnings, a milestone earned through consistency, composure, and a career defined by showing up when it mattered most.
OO7
OO7 had a standout year with Andrea Fappani, winning $100K Shootout at The Run For A Million with a huge 234 and then dominating the 100X Tulsa Reining Classic L4 Open Derby just two weeks later.
- Can’t Keep Andrea Fappani and OO7 out of the Top as They Dominate the 100X Tulsa Reining Classic L4 Open Derby
- $100K Shootout Sends 5 Riders to 2026 Run For A Million
Customize My Dream
Customize My Dream rose to the occasion under intense pressure to become the first horse to win an NRHA Derby title in the new OG&E Coliseum, delivering a clutch 233.5 with Casey Deary in the Level 4 Open Finals and proving once again that his trademark heart, style, and ability to elevate when it matters most define him as a true Derby horse.
Man Of The Year
Man Of The Year announced himself as a rising reining star at the 2025 100X Tulsa Reining Classic Invitational Futurity, marking a 225 in his 3-year-old debut with Andrea Fappani to earn the L4 Open title and nearly $77,000 for owner Andrea Stewart-Pritchett.
High And Mightey
High And Mightey rose to the moment in front of a packed Tulsa crowd, delivering two pressure-packed, crowd-pleasing slides—including a perfect tiebreaking run—to capture the Ranch Fuel Super Slide title and prove his ability to elevate when everything came down to a single stop.
Custom Nite
Custom Nite, the steady and willing stallion known as “Ammo,” showcased his trust and talent at the 2025 All American Quarter Horse Congress by carrying Taylor Roeder through a daring blindfolded freestyle to sweep both the Open and Non-Pro Freestyle Reining titles.
Cutting Horses
Look My Rey
Look My Rey proved his durability and championship class over a full season, repeatedly answering the call in high-pressure rounds to narrowly secure the 2025 NCHA Open World Championship with more than $130,000 earned and a performance that held up through four demanding finals rounds.
Minkish
Minkish announced himself as a true futurity standout, delivering a bold performance that separated him from the field to claim the 2025 NCHA Open Futurity Championship by five and a half points and earn more than $340,000 in his first major championship appearance.
Stevie Rey Von
Stevie Rey Von, a 2012 stallion by Metallic Cat, has become AQHA’s No. 1 sire in 2025 after his 684 money-earning offspring amassed over $20 million in career earnings across cutting, reined cow horse, roping, and other disciplines.
Bella Louella
Bella Louella and Michael Cooper won the 2025 Run For A Million $200K Cutting Horse Challenge in Las Vegas with a 226-point ride, adding $50,000 to the mare’s $145,933 lifetime earnings.
Cow Horses
Tha Rizzler
Tha Rizzler carried NRCHA Million Rider Nick Dowers to the Reno Snaffle Bit Futurity Open Championship with a winning 659.5 composite and a $60,000 payday. The red roan stallion doubled down on his success by also claiming the NRCHA Snaffle Bit Futurity Non Pro Boxing title with Dowers’ daughter, Tuli, making it a true family moment on reined cow horse’s biggest stages.
- 2025 Reno Snaffle Bit Futurity Open Champions Nick Dowers and Tha Rizzler Earn $60,000 Payday
- The Ride Podcast Ep. 127: Tuli Dowers in the Cow Horse World
Bowie Nights
Bowie Nights captured the 2025 NRCHA Snaffle Bit Futurity Open Championship with John Swales, turning in a fence run that sealed a deeply personal victory for the Swales family and honored the mare’s preparation by his sister, Veronica.
Hazardouz Material
Hazardouz Material powered through all four events to win the 2025 World’s Greatest Horseman title with Erin Taormino, showcasing elite cow sense, stamina, and an X-factor mindset that proved he could rise to the sport’s toughest test.
Peptos Stylin Time
Peptos Stylin Time rose to the occasion under pressure with a blistering fence run to capture the 2025 Run For A Million Cow Horse Challenge title with Abbie Phillips, adding another marquee victory to his growing legacy at the sport’s highest level.
Ranch Event Horses
Always Do
Always Do, the flashy gray gelding piloted by Dana Avila, headlined the 2025 AQHA World Championship Show by shattering records across multiple ranch events, highlighted by a historic 244.5 in Select Ranch Riding and a dominant run to the Select All-Around Amateur title.
SUMAC Gunnabeflashy
SUMAC Gunnabeflashy, “Romeo,” added another milestone to his résumé in 2025 by breaking his own AQHA Senior Ranch Riding world record with a 257 under Bud Lyon and then claiming the AQHA Superhorse title for the second consecutive year—an achievement that underscores his consistency, versatility, and place in ranch riding history.
- Bud Lyon Breaks His Own Records
- SUMAC Gunnabeflashy Becomes First Ranch Riding Horse to Win Superhorse Award at AQHA World Championship Show
Tuff Tobe Woody
Tuff Tobe Woody and Corey Cushing demonstrated their versatility at the AQHA World Show, excelling in every phase of the Ranch Horse Classic to earn $33,000 and highlight the kind of all-around talent the event was built to showcase.
Everybodystalkinatme
Everybodystalkinatme made history at the 2025 All-American Quarter Horse Congress as the first-ever ranch horse crowned Congress All-Around Horse. With multiple ranch championships and top placings, he capped off a landmark week that solidified his place among the discipline’s elite.
- Shannon Quinlan Hill Overcomes Surgery Setback to Win Big in the Ranch Classes at the All-American Quarter Horse Congress
- The Ride Podcast Ep. 126: Shannon Quinlan Hill’s Rise in the Ranch Horse Events
Ranch Sorting Horses
The Freak
Cattinlilreycat, better known as “The Freak,” is a 2016 gelding whose proven résumé, rare ability to pack riders of every level, and remarkable comeback from a near-fatal trailer accident have made him one of the most recognizable and valuable horses in ranch sorting today.
Shes Pretty Smooth
Shes Pretty Smooth proved to be the most influential mare behind the 2025 Cinch RSNC World Finals, with six world champion ranch sorting horses tracing back to her mare line. The 1991 NCHA Non-Pro Futurity Champion’s legacy continues through multiple generations, cementing her place as one of the most impactful broodmares in ranch sorting today.
Halreycious
Halreycious, a 2002 sorrel stallion by Dual Rey with nearly $227,000 in cutting earnings, has become a proven ranch sorting sire, producing versatile, big-hearted horses whose success now stretches across multiple disciplines—including standout wins at the 2024 Cinch RSNC All Star Sorting Bowl and more than $3.9 million in progeny earnings.
Kotas Delta Playboy
After years in retirement, Dave Schaffner’s senior Paint gelding Kotas Delta Playboy—“Kota”—defied age and past soundness issues to return to the ranch sorting pen in 2025, proving that heart, pedigree, and grit can carry a great horse back to the winner’s circle.
Catty Hawk
Catty Hawk’s influence is shaping the ranch sorting world, as the stallion has paired elite cutting credentials with versatility, producing millions in earners and a new wave of 2025 Ranch Sorting World Champions across multiple levels.
Cat D7
Once started as a sales prospect, Cat D7—nicknamed “Mouse”—has grown into a Cinch RSNC Pro-Futurity Champion, turning patience, a standout mind, and steady development into a World Finals win and a future as a top-tier ranch sorting horse.
—H&R—