Matt
Gaines

Third Generation Cutting — The Gaines Family Legacy

Matt Gaines is an American cutting horse trainer and competitor widely recognized as one of the most accomplished riders in the history of the National Cutting Horse Association (NCHA). Based in Weatherford, Texas.

Gaines was raised in a family deeply connected to the cutting horse industry. His father, Dick Gaines, was a respected cutting horse trainer, former NCHA president, and one of the few individuals inducted into the NCHA Members Hall of Fame, Riders Hall of Fame, and Non-Pro Hall of Fame. Growing up in that environment exposed Matt Gaines to cattle work, horse training, and cutting horse competition from an early age.

Despite his family's background in professional horse training, Gaines initially pursued education and business outside full-time training. He attended Tarleton State University and earned a degree in agricultural business. After college, he worked for tack manufacturer Dennis Moreland before deciding to pursue horse training professionally. Gaines later stated publicly that he eventually realized his strongest interest remained in cutting horses and competition.

World Champion, Futurity Champion, and Two NCHA Horses of the Year

Before becoming an open rider, Gaines competed successfully as a non-pro. After transitioning into open competition, his first major open victory at Will Rogers Coliseum came in 2001 when he rode Sunettes Dually to a 231 score in the NCHA Super Stakes Derby. That same year, he won the NCHA Summer Spectacular Derby riding Nu I Wood.

Throughout the following decades, Gaines became associated with some of the most successful and influential cutting horses of the modern era. One of the defining periods of his career came when he rode Smooth As A Cat and Little Pepto Gal to NCHA Horse of the Year honors — becoming one of only three riders to show two separate NCHA Horse of the Year winners.

In 2005, he won the NCHA Super Stakes Derby aboard One Time Pepto, a stallion that later became one of the leading sires in cutting horse breeding. In 2015, Gaines won the NCHA Open World Championship aboard Special Nu Baby. Among his career highlights is a 234 — tying for the highest score ever marked in NCHA history — at the El Rancho Futurity in the NCHA Mercuria/World Series of Cutting. His 2016 NCHA Open Futurity Championship riding Second Spot added the sport's most prestigious futurity title to his career record.

• 2001 NCHA Super Stakes Derby — Sunettes Dually (231 score at Will Rogers Coliseum)
• 2001 NCHA Summer Spectacular Derby — Nu I Wood
• 2003 NCHA Super Stakes Classic — Nu I Wood
• NCHA Riders Hall of Fame inductee
• 2005 NCHA Super Stakes Derby — One Time Pepto
• 2002 NCHA Open Horse of the Year — Little Pepto Gal
• 2005 NCHA Open Horse of the Year — Smooth As A Cat
• 2015 NCHA Open World Champion — Special Nu Baby
• 2016 NCHA Open Futurity Champion — Second Spot
• 234 — tied for the highest score in NCHA history (El Rancho Futurity, Mercuria World Series)