How a WGH Champion Is Made
Building a horse capable of competing at the NRCHA World's Greatest Horseman level is among the most demanding undertakings in western horsemanship. Unlike single-discipline sports, the WGH demands mastery of three distinct skill sets — reining precision, herd work cattle instinct, and fence work athleticism — requiring a training program that develops all three simultaneously over years of careful, systematic work.
The foundation begins with the snaffle bit — the first bit used in training young horses — where the basics of steering, stop, and responsiveness are established. The NRCHA's training progression mirrors the historic vaquero system: snaffle bit, hackamore, two-rein, and finally the finished bridle horse, each stage refining the horse's responsiveness and building toward the finished product that competes at the WGH level.
The NRCHA's Snaffle Bit Futurity showcases three-year-olds at the beginning of this journey. The WGH competitors represent the finished product — horses that may have five to ten years of training invested in them by the time they compete for the championship.
Developing Cow Sense
Cattle instinct — cow sense — is partially genetic and partially developed through careful exposure. The best reined cow horse breeding lines carry natural cow instinct that emerges early and intensifies with training. Trainers begin introducing cattle work gradually, letting the horse develop confidence and instinct before asking for the high-speed, high-intensity tracking required in fence work competition.
Developing a horse for fence work specifically requires exposing it to cattle of varying difficulty, building its confidence tracking cows along the fence, and teaching it to rate (control its speed relative to the cow) while maintaining the athleticism to make explosive directional changes. This process cannot be rushed — a horse pushed too fast loses confidence and instinct in equal measure.
The Trainer's Role
The WGH champion is as much a tribute to its trainer as to the horse itself. Elite WGH trainers — riders like Corey Cushing, Russell Dilday, Bob Avila, and others who have claimed multiple titles — combine extraordinary riding ability with the patient, systematic training philosophy required to develop a complete champion. Their programs typically involve dozens of horses at various stages of development, year-round conditioning, and the constant refinement of each horse's individual strengths toward competition readiness.