Biography
Shane Steffen and Gunna Be A Smartie produced the greatest composite score in World's Greatest Horseman history in 2021 — 894 points that shattered the previous record set by Kelby Phillips in 2018 and established a new benchmark for what peak performance at the WGH level looks like. Every phase of the championship was delivered at or near its maximum scoring potential, producing a result that the reined cow horse community recognized immediately as historic.
Gunna Be A Smartie, a Very Smart Remedy mare carrying bloodlines connecting back to the 2005 WGH champion sire, performed with a consistency and quality across all four events that left virtually no margin for improvement. Her herd work demonstrated natural cattle instinct of the highest order. Her rein work showed the athletic precision that high-score reining demands. Her steer stopping combined speed, power, and timing. Her cow work was electric. Steffen's preparation had brought this mare to the absolute peak of her capabilities at the exact moment the championship required it.
The 894-point record stands as the WGH's all-time scoring summit. Steffen's 2021 championship will be remembered not just as a victory but as a performance — the most complete single-year WGH result in the event's 27-year history, a standard against which every subsequent champion will be measured.