Western style has been steadily trotting back into the American mainstream since the TV show “Yellowstone” became a huge hit. Recently, New York Fashion Week catapulted the trend to a whole new level, and not in the way you might think. While plenty of boots and hats were seen on the runways, it was supermodel Bella Hadid and her rodeo star boyfriend Adan Banuelos who drew headlines with a demonstration of their cutting horse skills, smack dab in the middle of New York’s Meatpacking district.
It may not be news to those who follow fashion, but I had no idea that one of the world’s biggest supermodels was also an impressive rider. In fact, Isabella (Bella) Hadid grew up on a horse ranch in California and is so good she almost made the equestrian team at the Olympics in 2016. Unfortunately, she had to drop out due to her symptoms from Lyme disease.
Hadid still owns and rides horses at her mother Yolanda Hadid’s farm in Pennsylvania. After nearly a decade spent getting her Lyme disease under control, she briefly returned to competitive equestrian last year. More recently, however, you’re more likely to find her at a rodeo in the cutting horse arena. In January, Hadid and her horse “Metallic Tito” finished in eighth-place at the National Cutting Horse Association’s $50,000 Limited Amateur event at Bosque Ranch, Weatherford, Texas.
For those not familiar with cutting horses, their job on the ranch is to separate a cow from the herd – and keep it from returning – which is a lot tougher than it might sound. As herd animals, they instinctively try to return to the group and can panic when it’s prevented. That is, until the cow gives up, which they always do in the end. Keeping the cow separated until that point, however, requires incredible physical ability as the horse mimics the movements of the cow, always staying one hoof ahead.
In modern day cutting contests, horse and rider have two and a half minutes to work two or three cows and keep them from returning to the herd. The herd is entered by the contestant, and one cow is in-turn separated and moved to the front of the herd at the contestant’s discretion. Once split from the other cattle the selected beast is worked by the horse, it’s rider setting his or her hand on the horse’s neck and only using his or her feet to assist the horse in it’s job. That’s right – no reins! Trained cutting horses are required to think on their own and anticipate and react to the cow’s moves.
According to the National Cutting Horse Association, the first known cutting horse contest was held in 1898 at the Cowboy Reunion in Haskell, Texas. Today, in twenty-two nationals worldwide, some forty-two million dollars is paid out annually as prize money, the majority in Australia and the United States of America, according to the NCHA.
The cutting horse demonstration that Hadid and Banuelos put on in New York’s Meatpacking district was held to promote a new documentary film, “Windows To The West: Horse Sense,” by Western lifestyle and media company Teton Ridge. The film follows Banuelos and his Horse Cutting career. Banuelos is a highly respected for his exceptional horsemanship skills and runs a successful cutting horse training program in Weatherford, Texas. His career highlights include being inducted into the National Cutting Horse Association (NCHA) Riders Hall of Fame at just 28 and earning over $5 million from his horse riding endeavors. (Sources: Cowgirl Magazine, Quarter Horse News, NCHA)
