Three years after Stylish Bugsy, “Bugsy,” first earned the honor and two years after a suspensory injury cost him nearly all of 2024, Shane Hanchey’s 14-year-old gelding has been named the 2026 AQHA/PRCA Tie-Down Horse of the Year, voted on by the top 25 tie-down ropers in the PRCA world standings, giving the Sulphur, Louisiana, cowboy the third Horse of the Year title of his career.
Bugsy, who also won the award in 2023, topped a field that included Haven Meged’s For Goodness Shakes, “Lil Punch,” and Trevor Hale’s CDS Spots Move, “Titus.”
“I kind of wasn’t even expecting it, the timeframe or whatever,” Hanchey said. “I just happened to be roping and got done roping and had my phone and the PRCA was calling. When I saw them calling, I had a good feeling. They usually don’t call you if you win second or third. It was pretty cool.”
The timing made it even better. When the PRCA’s Tracy Renck called, Hanchey was standing alone in his tack shed, looking straight at the horse.
“It’s crazy that when Tracy called me with PRCA, I was standing in my tack shed and there was nobody around really at all, but the only horse I could see was him. I was staring right at him and I thought, that’s crazy that just the timing and everything of the call and all that. And I told him, ‘Hey, you got you another one, buddy, and you deserved it.’ And he didn’t really care much, but just to say that to him meant everything. I also had and a lot of help along the way this summer and had a great driver that helped and took care of him.”
How Shane Hanchey Found Bugsy
Stylish Bugsy is by A Dera Dual Lena, a son of Smart Little Lena, and out of A Stylish Junebug, a mare by Docs Stylish Oak. He was bred by Louis and Karen Smith of Newkirk, Oklahoma.
Six-time NFR qualifier Adam Gray seasoned him at the rodeos. Hanchey watched him all through the 2022 Northwest run before he finally made his move that fall.
“I thought he was a great horse and Adam had done a great job of starting him and bringing him to the rodeos and getting him seasoned,” Hanchey said. “And I remember that year in the Northwest in 2022, I just had my eye on him. I actually asked to ride him maybe at Ellensburg short round, which Adam was coming back pretty high and he was like, ‘Man, I can’t take that chance.’ And so kind of turned me down or whatever. And then yeah, that fall I was just tired of not having a horse pretty much and told myself I need to go make a purchase and I needed to be the right one and it was him.”
The partnership didn’t click overnight. Hanchey’s first real rodeo on Bugsy was the 2022 National Finals Rodeo.
“There was a lot of growing pains,” Hanchey said. “I mean, I rode him at the finals in 2022 and probably had one of my worst NFRs ever. And I’ve told people that probably wasn’t very fair to him or to me for it to be our first rodeo to be the NFR pretty much. I mean, I rode him at Northside one time before that and then inside the Thomas & Mack. And then 2023 was a great year from start to finish, a lot like this year and we were able to win the horse of the year that year on him.”
Back From a Suspensory Injury
That 2023 season ended early for Bugsy. He strained a suspensory branch in his left hind leg during the 2023 NFR, and Hanchey hopped off of him after Round 2. The injury kept him out of most of 2024.
Hanchey spent that summer on green horses and still made the NFR. It gave him a new appreciation for what Bugsy brings to the arena.
“I spent all of 2024 on green horses,” Hanchey said. “River was five, Jewels was six when I left for that summer and was able to make the finals. So I know exactly what it feels like to have a horse that you’re riding that you’re not completely confident it’s going to work every time. When I was able to get back on Bugsy after the injury, that’s just something that, like Shad said, you can just back in there on him and just worry about doing your job because you know he is going to work. And that’s a big deal.”
Hanchey brought Bugsy back at RodeoHouston in 2025, and the gelding carried him to a second American Rodeo title that spring with a 6.73-second run worth $100,000. Hanchey credits the comeback to the team at home, including his wife, Taylor, an NFR qualifying barrel racer and breakaway roper.
“As far as the injury and coming off of it, I have a great vet and my wife being a barrel racer and breakaway roper, we seem to pride ourselves on taking care of our horses and making sure they’re fit and making sure they’re ready to go. Dr. Tanner has been great with making sure that everything is what it seems to be injury-wise and then recovery wise. So it’s a team effort. Everybody says it, but it really does take a team.”
Any Setup, Any Rider
When CalfRoping.com asked Shad Mayfield, Haven Meged and Riley Webb who should win this year, Bugsy came up again and again. Shad Mayfield, who has won money on the horse in 2026, put it simply: “To win Horse of the Year, it needs to be a horse that works all year long, no matter the setup.”
Hanchey wasn’t the only one backing Bugsy into the box this year. Kincade Henry, Beau Cooper, Shad Mayfield, Hunter Herrin and Trevor Hale all rode him in 2026. For Hanchey, that’s the whole test of a great horse.
“I think that’s the main reason he won the horse of the year this year is the guys that rode him obviously were all in the top 25 and they won on him,” Hanchey said. “Kincade rode him at Dodge City, never swung a leg over him and made the short round and won good and the average on him. And then Beau Cooper has always ridden him, just because he’s like a little brother to me. All of those guys that rode him do a great job riding.”
The biggest factor in a good horse for Hanchey is their ability to win.
“My number one quality or trait that I look for in a horse is, is he a winner? Does he let guys win? And if he does, chances are he is a great horse,” Hanchey said. “But the big thing about the Horse of the Year for me is you’ve got to ride him all year. It’s a horse of the year. It’s not a horse of the summer, a horse of the winter. And other guys got to ride them to me, and other guys got to win on him. That’s the epitome of a great horse is their ability to allow guys with different styles, different heights, different weights to win. And I think Bugsy fit the bill this year for sure.”
Aside from the other guys who rode him and won on him, Hanchey rode him all season himself.
“I rode him from Fort Worth to San Antonio, to Tucson, to Houston all the way through the year,” Hanchey said. “So he dang sure didn’t take any days off. And he’s tough too. That’s one thing that’s really nice about him is it seems like he gets better the more tired he gets. As the summer drags on, he seems to be better and better, it seems like.”
Not a People Horse
Bugsy is all business outside the arena too. Hanchey says that makes him the odd one out in his barn.
“Man, I’ll be honest with you. And Taylor will tell you all my horses that I get, they’re just pets,” Hanchey laughed. “They lead slow, they take forever. They’re all up in your business. But he is so far from that. I’ve said from the get-go, he’s just not friendly. He don’t want you to pet on him and really doesn’t want you to be around. He wants to do his job in the arena and be done. He’s not a people’s person. Anytime I go in there to catch him, whether he is in a pen or a stall, you can’t catch him for a minute. And you can be in a 12 by 12 stall, go to reach your hand over with your halter and he’ll turn around and run the other way. He’s just like that.”
He’s no outlaw, though.
“He doesn’t set back or don’t… Well, he sets back a little bit if you spray him in the face, but he’s not wanting to hurt you,” Hanchey laughed. “He’s just all business. He’d rather you just let him do his job, put him up, let him eat, and go about his business. He’s just not the friendliest horse I’ve ever owned.”
Shane Hanchey’s Horse of the Year Legacy
Bugsy joins “Si,” Simon Cow, on Hanchey’s list of Horse of the Year winners. Both stand in the shadow of Smokin Reata, “Reata,” the gelding who carried Hanchey from junior rodeos to the 2013 world title and died in May 2025 at 26.
Hanchey says Reata changed his whole approach to the sport.
“When they gave me Reata, I told myself, ‘Hey, you got to capitalize on this. This potentially could be a once in a lifetime horse, and you’ve got to set everything aside and start focusing on how you can make a living with a rope while you got this horse,'” Hanchey said. “I’m a little guy, I’m 5’10”, 150, so I knew very early on if I wanted to make the NFR, and I never dreamed it would be 17 in a row, but if I wanted to make the NFR just with my body alone, I probably wasn’t going to be able to do it. So I had to make sure that I was a good enough horseman to keep these horses working.”
Reata finished second in the Horse of the Year voting twice. Hanchey still thinks the old horse earned one.
“I really wish I wouldn’t say this, but if I could trade one in for three, I mean, Reata probably deserved it more than any of them I’ve ever rode just because of longevity,” Hanchey said. “From junior rodeos to roping on him in the ribbon roping at the Pineywoods Youth Rodeos to the high school finals, college finals, national finals and a world title, that’s pretty remarkable. He helped me and molded me into the roper I am today and the horseman. It’s hard for me to not think that any of these horse of the year trophies I got wouldn’t be possible without him.”
Si is still on the place, now carrying the next generation.
“Si, he’s still in our pasture,” Hanchey said. “Stran (Hanchey’s son) rides him all the time. He’s the best kid horse in the world. We’ve got two Horse of the Year trophies upstairs in our living room and we’ll be happy to add a third one and can’t wait to get over there to Vegas and pick it up.”