This March, The American Performance Horseman builds on its inaugural success in 2023, bringing exciting equine disciplines to wider audiences.
Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas, is typically home to Texas Rangers games and concerts by big-name performers. For one night last spring, however, its green baseball diamond was covered in dirt, and the major players were horses and horsemen competing in The American Performance Horseman.
The American Performance Horseman celebrates Western equine culture, past and present. Its aim is to elevate Western equine sports and promote them to a new audience.
The innovative event spotlighted the top five open riders from the National Cutting Horse Association, National Reined Cow Horse Association, and National Reining Horse Association. Teams of three were drawn, with one rider representing each association on each of the five teams.
The event’s million-dollar purse is unprecedented in Western equine disciplines, and so is the size of the crowd. The 42,000-seat field was filled to capacity for the first competition.
“Events like this help people understand our sport,” says Adan Banuelos, who won the cutting and was a member of the winning team, which included Reined Cow-Horse trainer Sarah Dawson and reining trainer Fernando Salgado. “I’m happy that the stage is big enough to where more people can reach it, more people can experience it, and more people can become interested in it.
The winning team members in 2023 all have family ties to their respective events. Banuelos is the son of Ascencion Banuelos and Tiffani Banuelos-Ray and credits his parents with instilling a love of the horse and a desire to be a good caretaker for his charges. Dawson’s father, Richard Winters, is a clinician and reined-cow-horse competitor, as is her husband, Chris Dawson. She grew up helping with her father’s business and started showing reined cow horses as a youth rider. Salgado, who has been in the United States since 2010, comes from a family of trainers in Brazil.
Part of The American Western Weekend, The American Performance Horseman returns to Globe Life Field on March 9, 2024. While Teton Ridge created and produced the inaugural event, the company has entered into a three-year partnership with Concerts West and AEG. The event also is supported by the NCHA, NRHA, and NRCHA, along with the American Quarter Horse Association and American Paint Horse Association.
Fans can subscribe to Teton Ridge Plus to receive ticket alerts and advance ticket sales offers. Ticket information for all the weekend events, including musical concerts and The American Rodeo, is available at americanrodeo.com.
PHOTOGRAPHY: Courtesy Chelsea Schneider
