WEATHERFORD, Texas —
He has made a name for himself in the sport of cutting horses.
Performance Horse Athlete Adan Banuelos of Weatherford has been named the champion of The American Performance Horseman twice.
Banuelos, who began training with horses with his father at a young age, is documenting his journey as a professional horseman in Teton Ridge’s new short film Window to the West: Horse Sense.
"I believe that God built me for this,” Banuelos said during a sit-down interview with WFAA. “It’s a life. It's nothing small. It's my entire life, my family’s entire life."
Banuelos recently attended a special screening event at Teton Ridge Ranch (TR9 in Weatherford).
“We’re dealing with an animal that outweighs you times ten. It could crush you hurt you in the blink of an eye,” Banuelos said. “They create a life for you, and I think that’s very humble of them. Without horses, I wouldn’t be here.”
His competitive horses and Western culture are having a moment.
Banuelos, who also happens to be dating supermodel and celebrity Bella Hadid, has recently taken Cowboy culture to a wider audience. Hadid attended the screening in Weatherford, but she stayed away from TV cameras.
Earlier this month, the couple dazzled a large crowd in the middle of Manhattan’s Meatpacking District when they shut down an entire city block and put on a horse-cutting performance. The moment made headlines and brought New York Fashion Week to a close.
Teton Ridge CEO Deirdre Lester said she had never witnessed anything like it.
“It was pretty remarkable,” Lester said. “It's making its way to a broader audience, and it’s creating this whole new genre of people, which I call ‘Cowboy curious.’ What you’re seeing is a growing interest in all things Western.”
It was the last place Banuelos, a Cowboy from North Texas, thought he’d end up.
“I’m nervous about the whole thing, but happy and proud that I’m the guy shining some light on the cowboy side of things,” Banuelos said. “It's more about highlighting my family and how grateful I am.”
Banuelos posted a video in August about Hadid competing in a Fort Worth equestrian and cutting horse competition.
"She is a 2x semi finalist and 2x finalist!" he wrote.
Banuelos opened up about sharing his passion for horses with Hadid, who also had a love of horses before they met.
The world is watching the worlds of fashion and cowboy culture collide.
"It’s amazing,” Banuelos said. “I have a whole new respect for my woman’s life that she has had to deal with because it gets a little crazy. “It’s awesome to see how beautifully she handles all that. When this whole deal started, she’s like, ‘Hey this is your deal, you do it, and I’m like, ‘Baby I'm bringing you a horse, hopefully, you change your mind.”
She did.
“I had to kind of push her into being a part of it with me,” Banuelos said.
Together, they’re sharing a lifestyle the Mexican-American cowboy considers his entire world.
“I’m excited to be a true testimony that you can do what you wanna do and follow your heart,” Banuelos said.