Olaf Growald
Adan Banuelos
PART 1: A BIRTH IN THE SADDLE
Adan Banuelos rode horses before he was even born.
This statement is not an exaggerated joke to explain Adan’s otherworldly ability to ride, train, and communicate with equines, paving the way for more cutting titles than he can even count (seriously), his becoming the youngest Mexican American to be inducted into the National Cutting Horse Association Hall of Fame, and many labeling him the sport’s first superstar.
No, he quite literally rode horses before anyone on this planet knew his birthday. Even if he had yet to experience the sun on his skin or the sweet musk of a stable, Adan felt the thrill of being in the saddle while in his mother’s womb. And regardless of when one first throws a leg over a saddle, attached to an umbilical cord or not, any horseman will tell you that getting back into those stirrups is an itch that will remain for the rest of one’s life. For Adan, he had that itch at birth.
“I guess my mom was seven months pregnant and still riding whenever she was going to have me,” Adan says. “And after that, I didn’t know anything else. So, this was my favorite thing to do from day one.”
Before you go around Googling whether it’s safe for a pregnant woman to ride — it’s not as taboo as you might think — remember that life on a horse ranch, which is how Adan grew up, is the antithesis of a snuggly suburban or convenient city existence. There’s no clock punching, trigger warnings, or YouTube streaming. It’s a life of break-of-dawn mornings, hard work, and calloused hands. And one earns those callouses by straddling horses, even when pregnant.
And according to his mom, Tiffani, whom Adan calls the steady hand behind the scenes, once one fully embraces this lifestyle that she readily calls chaotic, it’s not something one leaves with any ease. Such work becomes a craving or even an obsession — a hole that constantly needs filling.
“I think the horse part is what [causes the craving],” she says. “And I think you’re born with it. I think there are people that are born with this innate sense of wanting something more. Wanting a deeper connection with something and making this connection through more than just verbally speaking. And I think some people, when they realize it’s the horse, once they’re drawn to it, they can’t go back.”
“And Adan?” I ask. “Was he born with it?”
“I don’t know if he had a choice,” Tiffani says. “But he was very in tune with horses from a very young age.”
Whatever you wanna call it — language, ESP, mind-reading, horse-whispering — Adan has a gift of being able to understand and communicate with horses. And there isn’t a sport in the world where being in tune with a horse — having harmony, synchronicity, and rapport with one’s equine counterpart — is as consequential than in the sport of cutting.
“The cutting horse industry is the only horse sport that you put your hand down; you’re not steering this horse,” Adan says. “And so that means it takes a lot of reading minds and reading the energy. Cowboys don’t talk about energies and chakras and vibrations. But I believe in them, and I always have.”
For those who don’t know or understand cutting, here’s a quick 101: After the horse and trainer separate a single cow from its herd, the trainer cedes authority to the horse, whose job is to prevent the isolated bovine from returning to the herd. What ensues is a duel of anticipation, with the horse — in a very unhorse-like crotched position — slinging from side to side, mirroring the cow’s every move to impede its return. Horses that excel at this have what industry folk call “cow sense,” a natural ability to read and react to cattle instinctively. While many quarter horses are bred for this purpose, cow sense needs to be carefully coaxed out of a horse through training, which is where people like Adan come into play.
When one watches the choreography between the horse and cow, and the nonverbal exchanges between trainer and horse, there’s a distinct artistry and poetry to cutting — it’s not the fierce unruliness of rough stock. And this is likely why Adan speaks so poetically about the sport. For a self-described person who struggles with shyness, Adan’s words don’t flounder on the subject of his livelihood.
“It takes two years to teach a horse before you ever show up in public; I don’t like using the word training because you’re a teacher, you’re a life coach to a horse,” Adan says. “And when you show up to your first competition, you better hope you did a good job teaching and you treated that horse right because, if you didn’t, it’s going to tell on you. It’s important to remember that it’s these horses who decide to put food in my fridge and give me a name and give me a life, an opportunity.”
And what a life they've given him. Adan’s list of industry accomplishments includes over $7 million in lifetime earnings, claiming the 2020 NCHA Futurity Championship, becoming one of the youngest ever inductees into the NCHA Hall of Fame in 2017, capturing The American Performance Horseman titles in 2023 and 2024, and ending 2018, 2020, 2021, and 2022 as the leading NCHA Open rider. Add to this, his longtime girlfriend, Bella Hadid, is one of the most popular fashion models in the world — more on this later — leading to coverage in the likes of Vogue and Vanity Fair, and it’s no wonder people are hyping him as the sport’s first superstar.
1 of 5
Olaf Growald
2 of 5
Olaf Growald
3 of 5
Olaf Growald
4 of 5
Olaf Growald
5 of 5
Olaf Growald
PART II: A SUPERSTAR CUTTER
Adan and I had already met in-person a couple of times, once at an amateur cutting event, where he was assisting clients, and another at his horse ranch near Granbury, aptly called Adan Banuelos Performance Horses, where we photographed him for this issue.
During these meetings, we’d have short bursts of interactions that mostly amounted to an exchanging of pleasantries, shooting the shit, and my cracking up over his string of self-deprecating comments. “Damn, that photo looks good, except for the face. But there’s nothing we can do about that.”
But when it came to requesting time for an interview, he’d tell me, “I could do it now, but I gotta tell ya, it’s not gonna be worth a damn. I’m much better over the phone.” Okay, phone it is. “And no Zoom,” he insisted.
A few hours later, he calls me from his truck — I can faintly hear the engine rumbling from his Dodge dually — and 20 minutes into our conversation, we begin chatting about his wins at The American Performance Horseman at the massive Globe Life Field, his new-found fame, and his girlfriend of nearly three years, Bella.
“That first time I rode into Globe Life [Field], my agent had four legs and spoke no English and put me on the map,” Adan says. “And now, I’m, like, dating a freaking supermodel. I’m in love with a supermodel. At first, I thought, let’s just see what she’s like. Then I find out she’s a freaking angel, and she gets as nervous as I do. That’s why I wanted to do this [interview] in the truck because, if I’m not on four legs, dude, I’m not that strong. But I’ll f***ing scare some people on four legs. But if it’s just me and no horse, I don’t know what to say sometimes.”
There’s an authenticity to Adan that’s, if you’ll pardon the cliché, refreshing. And he also presents a slew of dichotomies. I don’t think I’ve ever met someone so secure about their insecurities, so comfortable with their anxieties, or so charismatic when describing their social awkwardness.
While I pick up on the shyness and occasional yet fleeting bouts of nervousness, Adan still comes across as confident as hell. He has an effortless swagger that appears void of machismo. Whether my vision is being clouded by the fact he’s a man who’s at the top of what he does — and what he does happens to be badass — could be up for debate, but I don’t think so.
He’s also quick to deflect praise (“horses have done more for me than I’ve ever done for horses”), extremely well-mannered (he called me sir a few times despite our being the same age), and seemingly very empathetic, especially toward his horses. And in a world where there are questions over reclaiming masculinity or what it means to be masculine, et cetera, et cetera, Adan might be a guy who checks all the boxes on both sides of the aisle.
Of course, Adan’s shyness and self-deprecation were nowhere to be seen when I saw him in July during The American Performance Horseman at Dickies Arena. This marked the first time I had ever seen Adan during those 150 seconds when he’s most in his element — on a horse in a cutting competition.
Going into it, I knew of him — by now, it seemed everyone knew of him (for one reason or another) and, well, it showed. No knock on any of the other competitors — the crowd was engaged throughout the event — but Adan’s performance had a certain electricity that was unmatched. A frenzy, as if people were cheering for the home team — though most notable cutting horse trainers are from the area.
The atmosphere, in a near-capacity Dickies Arena, is unlike any that has ever been seen at a cutting competition. Tell someone 10 years ago that a cutting and reining event packaged with a country rock concert and pyrotechnics would draw over 10,000 people, and they’d tell you to rein it in, cowboy. But this is the state of the sport. Call it the “Yellowstone” effect or give credit to whomever you wish, but the recent surge in popularity of cutting is undeniable. And I’d argue, after witnessing The American Performance Horseman, Adan and Bella deserve some credit for the growth, as well.
And if the sport is truly on a path to the mainstream, who’s going to take it there? As I posit in my question to Adan, every sport needs someone like a Michael Jordan or a Shohei Ohtani to carry the mantle and give the public a rooting interest, to take it to the next level of popularity — to be a superstar. Could this be Adan for cutting?
“Some people, and people that manage our association, say things like that to me,” Adan says. “But I’ve always been bad at taking compliments. Of course, it makes me feel good, don’t get me wrong, but there are a lot of people busting their asses off and grinding. Everybody works hard. And I would hate it if I ever accepted that.”
Truth is, despite his wins, and despite his status, Adan’s simply not a competitive guy. At least, not in the way you might think; his definition of winning doesn’t include trophies and cash prizes.
“In my opinion, winners aren’t necessarily the people that always come out on top,” Adan says. “To me, a winner is someone who, on their worst day, is still going to open the door for someone and say, ‘Yes ma’am,’ ‘No ma’am,’ and whatnot.”
Olaf Growald
Adan Banuelos
PART III: A JOURNEY OF A THOUSAND MILES
Seeking a better life for himself and his 13 siblings, Ascencion Banuelos, Adan’s father, was 13 years old when he ran away from his home in Zacatecas, Mexico, and illegally crossed the border into the U.S. — risking his life to cross the river after a journey of nearly 1,000 miles. A young teenager in a foreign land with no money or means to survive meant he had to lie about his age to get a job at a dairy farm, where he worked 19-hour days milking 400 cows twice a day for minimum pay. According to Adan, every six months, he received only a handful of days off.
Growing up with horses his whole life — his family didn’t have cars or trucks in Mexico — Ascencion got a job at a horse barn during his days off, where he was first introduced to cutting, an industry that would change the fortunes of his entire family.
“My dad’s my best friend,” Adan said during an interview for Teton Ridge’s “Window to the West” series. “And he’s also kind of a hero. Knowing he ran away at 13 … all to get to horses, all to get to [providing his family] with the opportunity, to get me to this point, it’s a very special feeling.”
Ascencion would go on to become a highly decorated cutting horse trainer, who became the first Mexican American inducted into the NCHA Hall of Fame. And his way of teaching — his motto and moral compass as a horseman — has clearly been an important influence on Adan.
“I would tell Adan, I’d rather stay friends with my horse than to go get a big check and have that horse hate me,” Ascencion said in the same “Window to the West” documentary.
As the son of a horseman, this, of course, meant Adan would grow up on a horse ranch and, there, he would receive a horse ranch education.
“I made it to the second day of the third grade,” Adan says about his time in classroom settings. “That’s how far I made it. And then I started working. I guess people would say it’s working, but me, I just wanted to get out of school. So, I had recess all day, every day, doing what I love to do since then.”
No school lessons, no textbooks, no tests, no computers, no prerequisites, and no fake fire drills. But also, no understaffed schools, no overcrowded classrooms, no cyberbullying, and no boredom. Instead, Adan was invested in the thing he already knew he was going to pursue for the rest of his life: horses.
It’s not your typical schooling, but it is no doubt an education.
“I never really played Nintendo or PlayStation or Game Boys or whatever,” Adan says. "All those things were horses to me. And from a very young age, every day I tried to beat my high score, not necessarily in a show pen or in a competition, but just how much better could I get my horses from the time I was probably 9 or 10.”
Tiffani, Adan’s mother, recalls the time she became certain he would become a horseman.
“I had a teasing pony that you could barely get a halter on, and one day, out of the blue [Adan] says, ‘I want to break that pony.’ And I said, ‘I’ll get you a pony. We can find you a pony.’ And he says, ‘No, I want to break that one.’ And he, the boys, and his uncle put in the time, he built him a little tiny snaffle for this little heathen horse — and it was a heathen — and he broke that one. And then he was just kind of hooked.”
As Adan puts it, at the horse ranch, full of family and friends, “there weren’t any employees, there wasn’t work, there wasn’t days off.”
Perhaps as an homage or even a way to recreate this time that Adan calls some of the happiest days of his life, he purchased his current horse ranch and training facility in 2018 — a 100-acre plot near Granbury that was previously a breeding facility.
“My office is huge,” Adan says, “and it has sandy floors, and I make it rain, bro, every day. It’s beautiful. And just because my office has sandy floors doesn’t mean that I’m not somebody.”
At this facility, they train 90 horses at any given time.
You see, in this sport, Adan doesn’t necessarily own the horses he trains. While he and his team care for their stabled horses, feed them, shoe them, train them, and more — a horse takes a village — they’re owned by other, sometimes very wealthy people who have entrusted Adan and his team to coach up a champion.
Among the heavy hitters Adan has as clients, they include Alice Walton, heiress to Walmart, and Bobby Patton, co-owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers, just to name a couple.
“It’s a gratifying feeling that people like that, who could afford the best at anything — they could have bought a yacht, they could have bought a NASCAR — and they purchased horses and picked me to entrust with their investment … it’s incredible.”
Adan puts his foot in the stirrup more than anyone else — his words, not mine. And even said he got on 76 horses in a single day. And, yet, he still doesn’t feel like he’s worked a day in his life.
“The fact that I’m lucky enough to get paid for it is just a huge blessing,” Adan says. “And God’s taken care of me in so many ways, from [helping me avoid] injuries to providing amazing opportunities. I am a strong believer in that.”
1 of 3
Olaf Growald
2 of 3
Olaf Growald
3 of 3
Olaf Growald
PART IV: A LIFE-CHANGING TRAIL RIDE
There was a lot of tabloid chatter and headline-making in the celebrity gossip columns — somewhere Adan likely never envisioned his name would end up — in October 2023: “Bella Hadid Spotted In Fort Worth, Texas, Holding Hands With Cowboy.” Grainy videos and out-of-focus iPhone pics went viral, Cowtown did a collective squeeee, and even Fort Worth Magazine’s resident celebrity headline reader shot me the story via email.
Though he would become privy to it by the time this TMZ story hit the web, when Adan first met Bella, his knowledge of her Fashion Week catwalks, magazine cover poses, and Instagram follower count was the grand total of zilch.
Bella, in case you’re unaware, is a pretty damn famous fashion model — which does indeed equate to a supermodel — who regularly appears in magazines (normally on covers) and has modeled in campaigns for Dior, Versace, Ralph Lauren, Calvin Klein, Victoria’s Secret, and Michael Kors, just to name a few. She also grew up on a horse ranch in Santa Barbara, California, and excelled at English horseback riding.
One week, Bella’s mother, Yolanda, invited her daughter to Fort Worth to take a breather from work and attend a cutting horse show, where Yolanda’s boyfriend had horses that were competing. Adan, a mainstay at most cutting events, was of course present. Thus, Bella and Adan were in the same room, and the two naturally got to chatting and hit it off.
To recap: Adan had just spoken to one of the world’s most famous supermodels, and he was none the wiser.
This naivety would quickly dissipate when those around him, including his sisters, made him aware of her celebrity status. But neither Adan’s cowboy vocation nor Bella’s life on the runway would discourage the other from keeping the channels of communication open.
“[After we first met,] we talked three or four times over a week,” Adan says. “Then I invited her to the ranch, and we went on a trail ride, which I never get time to do. But because it was with her, I was like, ‘Okay, we’re going on a trail ride.’” Bella would accept under one condition: That her family could come, too.
“You could tell me the Grinch was your uncle, and I would also invite him,” Adan jokes.
During this trail ride and, well, in the years since, the pair let down their guards to one another, shared vulnerabilities, and talked about those deep subjects and feelings one only shares with someone for whom they truly care.
But Adan wasn’t sold on the fact that he’d see her again. With Bella due to leave that day on a flight to who knows where, as the two were preparing to say their goodbyes, Adan got off his horse, gave her a flower from the ground, and said, “Hey, I may never see you again, but I’m going to regret not asking you. And I don’t care if it’s on the cheek, but if you’ll go to the top of the hill over there, behind that tree, and let me give you a kiss, even on the cheek, I would be very grateful.”
As promised, Adan would kiss her on the cheek, and Bella would not catch her flight that day; she’s remained in the area ever since.
Today, Adan and Bella, clearly in love, have been together for almost three years.
“I was in a place in my life where I had to kind of cut the bullshit out; I was no longer trying to impress anybody,” Adan says. “And I think it was the same for her where she was kind of over a lot of people putting pressure on her.”
Despite what one might see as an opposites-attract relationship, this is far from the truth. The pair have undeniable parallels: growing up on horse ranches; a busy, travel-heavy work schedule; a deep fondness for and interest in equine sports; and, most importantly, genuine humility. Seeing them interact during an amateur cutting event where Adan coached Bella on her rescued horse, Angel, I couldn’t help but sense a solid balance of infatuation and playfully giving each other shit. “I don’t know what [Adan] said to you, but he’s lying about his age,” Bella said to me jokingly. “He’s actually 40!” (As best I’ve gathered, he’s 37, by the way.) And I’m guessing this solid riff game doesn’t come from living a year and a half with Adan in a fifth wheel — yes, this happened. No, I sense it’s something Bella brought to the table from the get-go.
Interestingly, Adan and Bella have managed to not only step into one another’s worlds, but have had a profound impact, as well. Bella, already a natural on the horse and, according to Adan, similarly born with an innate ability to communicate with and sense her equine partner, has taken up cutting and received NCHA Rookie of the Year honors in 2024, given to the highest rookie earner for the calendar year.
“I think she was born in love with something like this, but after spending all that time during her career in a much different world, I think she thought it was a fairytale and would never happen,” Adan says. “Horses were her first love and, yeah, I think she decided to give her career [as a model] a hundred percent so that she could find her way back to horses.”
And Adan, for his part, has helped bring the world of Western sports to New York Fashion Week, when he and Bella held a cutting horse demonstration in the middle of the Big Apple's Gansevoort Street — with dirt and everything, y’all.
For a next act, both have already publicly talked about wanting kids, and it’s something Adan expressed to me during our interview. “Tell you what, I’ve wanted a kid for so long, I didn’t even care if I had a woman,” Adan said half-joking. For now, it appears Adan’s waiting for a little bit of consistency and lining up his and Bella’s schedules to ensure they can “do a good job by them.” Either way, kids seem destined to happen.
Toward the end of our interview, while reflecting on the serendipitous moment of his and Bella’s meeting and his life since, Adan knows just what deserves his enduring appreciation, and repeats his debt of gratitude.
“I’m happy that horses introduced us. Again, I owe more to horses than horses owe to me, that’s for sure.”
Olaf Growald
