Performance

Gunners Special Nite built an exceptional performance career in Reining, earning approximately US$219,000 in NRHA competition and succeeding from his three-year-old futurity season through international championship competition. His career began at the highest level in 2007, when he was NRHA Level 4 Open Futurity Reserve Champion and Level 3 Intermediate Open Futurity Champion, establishing him among the leading horses of his generation. He remained a consistent major-event competitor throughout his derby and aged-event years, recording multiple finals and placings at the NRHA Derby, National Reining Breeders Classic, High Roller Reining Classic and Cactus Reining Classic. His record also extended into AQHA competition, where he placed sixth in Junior Reining at the 2008 AQHA World Championship Show. His performance career reached its defining point in 2010 with Tom McCutcheon at the FEI World Equestrian Games in Lexington, Kentucky. Representing the United States, Gunners Special Nite helped secure the Team Gold Medal with a score of 224 before returning for the Individual Final, where a score of 228 earned the pair the Individual Gold Medal. Following his distinguished show career, Gunners Special Nite has established an equally significant legacy as a sire. An NRHA $8 Million Sire, he has produced hundreds of NRHA money-earners, with his progeny succeeding at the highest levels of the sport in North America and internationally. His leading performers include Modern Gun, Guns And Dynamite, All Nite Partier, CS Especially Moody, Baileys Not Painted and Lenas Shining Gun, demonstrating sustained producing ability across multiple generations. The combination of an NRHA Open Futurity Reserve Championship, two World Equestrian Games gold medals and an $8 million-plus sire record gives Gunners Special Nite a rare distinction: elite performance in his own right followed by enduring influence as a breeding stallion. His record places him among the significant performance sires of modern Reining.