He is the top National Snaffle Bit Association (NSBA) Open Western Pleasure money earner with over $1.3 million in lifetime earnings. So when Rusty Green selects, trains and shows a young contender, people pay attention.

The industry pays attention.

That’s exactly the case with the young Western Pleasure sire Top Gunn (Cruz), a 2020 bay stallion, now standing his second season at stud.

The story about how Cruz came into Rusty’s life is a fortunate stroke of serendipity. Rusty and his wife, Katie, were on a trip to Texas late in 2020 to visit family when they met up with friends, Todd and Lisa Neilberger. That same night the Neilberger/Green Partnership was formed. The very next day, they saw Top Gunn for the first time.

“Rusty’s mom, Mary Green, previously owned Cruz’s dam, Ima Potential, so it was somewhat a full-circle family thing,” Katie Green said.

Rusty and Katie knew Cruz would be something special and made arrangements for the youngster to return with them to their training facility in Ocala, Florida.

Then again, Top Gunn was bred for this. His sire, Machine Made has been the American Quarter Horse Association’s leading sire of Western Pleasure contenders since 2019, with offspring earning over $4 million and 8,500 AQHA points. In 2024 Top Gunn was his top money earner with $50,256. Top Gunn’s dam, Ima Potential, who has produced offspring with NSBA earnings in excess of $203,000 and more than 2,000 AQHA points (including Congress Champion and AQHA and NSBA World Champion No Doubting Me).

Rusty says Cruz has always been a very balanced horse.

“He never went through that awkward stage so many do growing up,” he said.

Between his outstanding conformation and great mind, the training process was a smooth one. But Green took his time nonetheless, allowing the youngster to show him what he was ready to do.

In 2023 Cruz made his show debut, with Rusty in the saddle, by winning the 3-Year-Old and Over Limited Horse Western Pleasure slot class, at the March To The Arch in Fort Worth, Texas, taking home a prize check of $23,000. They followed that up with a third place in the 3-Year-Old & Over Limited Horse Western Pleasure at the Virginia Maiden, earning an additional $1,625. And, Rusty’s daughter, Deanna Willis teamed with Top Gunn to earn a Reserve Championship in the 3-Year-Old Non-Pro Western Pleasure in Virginia, earning $812.50. After that it was off to the Southern Ohio Quarter Horse Association’s Madness Circuit for Cruz where he and Rusty were Reserve Champions in the 3-Year-Old & Over Novice Horse Western Pleasure, collecting another $7,500. Top Gunn ended 2023 with a bang when he and Deanna were named Quarter Horse Congress Champions in the 3-Year-Old Limited Non-Pro Western Pleasure and placed third in the Open Division of that same class, earning a total of $10,536.16.

“Top Gunn is the very definition of a show horse,” Deanna said. “He brightens up when you trot in the gate. He puts his ears up and does his thing.”

Deanna thinks he has all the right qualities to qualify him as a “natural.”

“He’s forward, deep hocked, has great expression and a very strong topline,” she explained. “That’s just him. It’s the most natural thing the way he presents himself.”

But as every seasoned exhibitor knows, all the talent in the world means nothing if a contender does not have a great mind. A stallion winning a 3-year-old non-pro class at the Congress is proof of just how great minded Top Gunn really is. Deanna says it’s just important to keep him happy.

“Outside of the show pen Cruz is very food motivated,” Deanna admitted. “We keep his hay bag full at all times. He takes meal time very seriously.”

But that was just the beginning of Top Gunn’s show career. At last year’s Congress, Cruz and Rusty returned to place sixth in a very tough Junior Western Pleasure Class.

Top Gunn stood his first season in 2024 at Mike and Jan Hay’s Pilot Knob Stud in Reddick, Florida and his first foals are just starting to hit the ground.

“He is so great across his back and so far his babies look to be the same,” Rusty said. “In today’s industry I believe we have pivoted away from a horse with a natural balance and swing behind. I believe Cruz can pass those traits down to his offspring.”

Top Gunn returns to Pilot Knob this year and his 2025 stud fee is $1,500. Shipped semen is available. Cruz is enrolled in the NSBA Stallion Incentive Program as well as the NSBA Breeders Championship Futurity and Color Division; the Super Sires and Premier Sires; as well as the Michigan and Iowa Breeders programs.

“We are really excited to see what the future holds for Cruz as a sire,” Katie said. “It’s been a great partnership with Mike and Jan (Hay) and we could not as for him to be in better hands.”

After the conclusion of the 2025 breeding season the focus will return to Top Gunn’s show career. He will compete in Junior Western Pleasure and Amateur Western Pleasure.

For information on breeding to Top Gunn, contact Mike or Jan Hay at Pilot Knob Stud in Reddick, Florida. You can call (336) 462-2527 or email pilotknobqh@gmail.com. You can also gather more information on Top Gunn’s Facebook page.