UNREGISTERED

While the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association awards its Horse of the Year honors to American Quarter Horse Association registered equine elite every year, great horses that carry their cowboys to world titles and millions of dollars in earnings are overlooked because of their lack of registration papers. In the last 20 years, a few of those mounts have left their mark on the team roping industry in undeniable ways without ever getting a nod from the sports sanctioning body.

• MARTY

Ridden by Clay Smith

There’s no doubt about it—Clay Smith’s gray bomber Marty is “the great one” of this generation. The horse has carried Smith to five-straight National Finals Rodeo appearances and back-to-back world titles in 2018 and 2019. In just eight years of PRCA competition, Smith has accumulated $1.2 million in earnings, with the lion’s share of that coming aboard Marty.

“That horse is so smart,” Smith said. “He knows what I’m going to do before I do it. That horse has been amazing. I’m hoping I have something else that will take his spot when he [retires.] I’ve got several other horses coming up that I hope will be as good, but in all reality, I don’t know that there will ever be