A fixture in the reined cow horse arena, Magicality earned $197,807 during a career that showcased both his versatility and athleticism. The 16-year-old stallion, known as “Ringo,” was humanely euthanized in late May 2026 following a catastrophic stall accident.
Owned by the Home Ranch in Clark, Colorado, Magicality found success in multiple performance horse disciplines throughout his career. Shown by Anne Reynolds and later Gusti Buerger, he earned money in the National Reined Cow Horse Association (NRCHA), National Reining Horse Association (NRHA) and National Cutting Horse Association (NCHA).
Bred by Reynolds’ mother, Joyce Pearson, Magicality was the product of a maternal line that had been carefully cultivated for decades.
Generations of Magic
Pearson, of King Hill, Idaho, purchased the 1963 mare Poco Belle 9 with a vision of raising exceptional reined cow horses. She first crossed Poco Belle 9 with Early Tink, producing the mare Swayback Magic. But it was the next cross that changed everything.
The resulting foal, Magical Lena, became the kind of mare every breeder hopes for but few ever produce. She earned her place in the NRCHA record books while establishing a maternal line that would ultimately produce Magicality when she was crossed with Reynolds’ stallion Very Smart Remedy.
Both Magical Lena and Very Smart Remedy are enshrined in the NRCHA Hall of Fame for their influence on reined cow horse bloodlines; Magical Lena surpassing the $500,000 as a dam and Very Smart Remedy reaching $2 million sire status.
Reynolds recalled Magical Lena’s intrinsic talents in the show pen—talents that had people running to the fence to watch her when they stepped foot in the pen.
“There aren’t a lot of successful reined cow horse sires that are reined cow horses themselves,” Reynolds said. “And the same is true on the dam side. So we bred a very successful reined cow horse mare to a very successful reined cow horse stud—and we got a very successful reined cow horse in Magicality.”
The Making of Magicality
Nick Dowers started Magicality under saddle, riding him for roughly four months before Reynolds took over the reins. When it came time to sharpen his reining, Reynolds brought in Nick Brunelli—a trainer from Italy whose expertise helped take Magicality’s reining game to another level entirely.
According to Reynolds, Magicality’s intelligence was one trait that set him apart. Put a snaffle on and he knew the cow work was coming. He’d carry his head high, look around, wait for his moment. Put a bridle on him, and he’d transform.
“He just framed up and is ready to do the reining,” Reynolds said. “He already knew.”
That intelligence was apparent in his futurity year, when he and Reynolds placed fourth in the NRCHA Open Snaffle Bit Futurity, and a few weeks later, showed at the NRHA Non-Pro Futurity, where he was No. 2 in level 4 and won the level 3.
It was the beginning of something that would define his career: the ability to compete across all three Western performance disciplines—reined cow horse, reining, and cutting—at a high level. He was heralded as the all-industry leading horse for nearly a decade.
Photographer Carolyn Simancik was just picking up a camera for the first time when she first encountered Magicality. Robbie Boyce had him and was preparing him for the steer-stopping portion of the horse’s first World’s Greatest Horseman competition.
“Ringo was the sweetest thing, and I loved watching him get ready,” Simancik recalled. “Robbie would let me come over and practice taking pictures of their horses all the time. And that’s when I first met him.”
Simancik, now a well-known name in Western performance horse photography, said she would have been too intimidated to photograph him if she’d known then who she was photographing.
“I would have been too worried that I wouldn’t do him justice,” Simancik said.
When Magicality Took on the World’s Greatest Horseman
By 2021, the 11-year-old stallion had built a reputation, and Reynolds was preparing to compete in the NRCHA’s World’s Greatest Horseman on him when she developed pneumonia. The dust of training and competition arenas wasn’t conducive to healing, so Reynolds called former employee and NRCHA professional Gusti Buerger.
Buerger’s response? “Well, I don’t rope very well.”
Reynolds quickly cracked off that she didn’t either, but that wouldn’t have stopped her.
So Magicality and Buerger began practicing roping—only roping.
“She practiced the reining on two different nights before the reining go-round,” Reynolds said. “And then she won the reining on him with a 226. We have to credit him for being so smart—he had not reined for the entire year.”
Gusti went on to win the World’s Greatest prelims earning the high score in the cow work, too. In the finals, Reynolds believes a missed catch in the roping was the only thing that stood between Magicality and the championship.
Magicality Goes Home
It wasn’t long after that World’s Greatest that Home Ranch Performance Horses made an offer on the stallion and Reynolds accepted.
Years of promoting Very Smart Remedy had taken a toll on Reynolds, and with many of her broodmares related to Magicality, she believed he deserved the next chapter.
At the Home Ranch, Magicality was reunited with Buerger. She took care of him every day. He went on a breeding hiatus until 2026, when he competed in the World’s Greatest Horseman and NRCHA Stallion Stakes.
“He would just get better and better because he loved it so much,” Simancik said. “He had this insane natural ability and it was incredible.”
Reynolds described his character simply:
“His motto was always, ‘Never let them see you sweat.’ He almost never got out of breath. He was strictly business. He knew what was going to happen, and he was going to be ready for it and do it—and you didn’t have to ask him twice.”