To honor the contributions that ranch horses have made to the heritage of the American Quarter Horse, AQHA and AQHA Corporate Partner Zoetis have named the Matador Ranch of Matador, Texas, the recipient of the 2013 Best Remuda Award.

Owned by the Matador Cattle Co., a division of Koch Agriculture Company, the 130,000-acre Matador Ranch spans parts of Motley, Dickens, Floyd, Cottle and Crosby counties in Texas.

Ranch records show involvement with AQHA as early as the 1940s, which continued when the current ownership began in 1952. Today’s Matador Ranch includes acreage that was originally part of the Matador Land and Cattle Co., which was created in the late 1800s by a group of Scottish investors. An AQHA Ranching Heritage Breeder, the Matador Ranch is an AQHA 35-year cumulative breeder and has competed in AQHA ranch horse competitions and AQHA Alliance Partner Ranch Horse Association of America events.

The horse-breeding focus of the ranch is to produce quality horses that are able to traverse rugged terrain safely with outstanding cow ability.

Horses are vital to successfully gathering cattle from many areas of the ranch that are inaccessible to a vehicle. Matador horses are trained using a variety of techniques so that the horses have the training and experience to excel in many disciplines. Providing quality horses for their cowboys to safely conduct business across the ranch is a major goal for the remuda.

Be sure to check out the special feature story on the Matador Ranch coming in the November 2013 issue of America’s Horse magazine.

Matador Ranch is also one of the ranches hosting the Legends of the American Quarter Horse Trail Ride to benefit the American Quarter Horse Foundation. For more details about the ride, stay tuned to www.aqha.com.

Continue reading to learn more about Matador Ranch and the Zoetis-AQHA Best Remuda Award.