JD McGuire and Hunter Koch’s X Performance Horses has set the pace in the rope horse game through the first stretch of 2026, with $230,928 earned as of late April across the futurities, jackpots and rodeos.

That start is coming off a deep group of 10 4-year-olds, led by Rebel X and Hide N Go Seek.

After Rebel X won the Old West Futurities 4-&-Under Heeling title in early April, the group showed up again in Ardmore, Oklahoma, at the Oil Can Classic. Rebel X stayed on the gas with another strong showing bringing his total lifetime earnings to $74,594, while Hide N Go Seek picked up the 6-&-Under Futurity title. Hes A Rowdy Rebel, shown by Kollin VonAhn, continues to look like another key piece of that same class. Plus, they’ve got a stacked lineup with two-time World Champion Paul Eaves too. Trainer Colton McCarley—who put time on Rebel X as a 3-year-old—is also showing X Performance Horse’s Fly Mister—picked up $3,470 for X at the Old West in Guthrie, too. McGuire—who works a day job in Midland, Texas—is taking the reps on the aged-out horses at the jackpots and making runs on the show horses in the practice pen, too.

The blood behind them

Rebel X is by $17-million sire Metallic Rebel and out of Flash About—a mare who won over $246,087 in the cutting and has already produced over $500,000—tying together some of the most proven cutting bloodlines in the industry.

Hide N Go Seek brings a different kind of depth. She’s by Bamacat and out of Attractive Courage, stacking High Brow Cat and Captain Courage on the same page.

Hesa Rowdy Rebel fits right alongside them. He’s another Metallic Rebel son, out of Duals Play Kit, who won $263,029 in the NCHA, and carries a lot of the same traits—rate, feel and the kind of mind that lets them keep making runs.

A different kind of pipeline

Rebel X’s rise doesn’t feel accidental if you’ve been around him from the start.

McGuire bought him as a yearling at the Solo Select sale.

“There was just something about him,” McGuire said. “The way he went around—he had a presence. He was my favorite horse in the whole sale.”

He was started by T.J. Good and Kameron Buchanan, and early on there was real thought about keeping him in the cutting pen. Good told Koch and McGuire that the horse was his best prospect for the lucrative Western Bloodstock Sale at the NCHA Futurity, but McGuire had a different plan.

“He was a handful to be honest,” Buchanan, who now manages the 2-year-old training for Theorem Ranch, said. “I think he could have been a cow horse or a cutter. He had the tools. He was exceptional from the get-go. T.J. told me to just treat him like he was going to be one of the rest of our 2-year-olds to go to the cutting. I started doing the reining stuff on him in the middle of the summer, but toward the end of the summer that 2-year-old year, they decided because he was so cool, they wanted to rope on him. So I went to swinging the rope on him.”

“I wanted to dally on him,” McGuire laughed. “So we pulled him and just started tracking cattle. We wanted him to understand the rope.”

By the time Koch got on him in the early part of his 3-year-old year, the ability was obvious—but the mindset is what stuck.

“He’s like a big kid at home,” Koch, who’s roped at four NFRs and is rodeoing with Luke Brown in 2026, said. “But you back him in the box and he’s all business. You don’t find many that really love it, but he does. You can run 30 on him and he’s the same every time.”

At one point early in that 3-year-old year, the horse’s antics became so frustrating that the team had to pivot their approach.

“He was being such a turd,” Koch laughed, recalling a period where he actually started heading on the stallion just to keep him in line.

The horse had a move that famously “popped” Koch right out of the seat while the cameras were rolling in the practice pen—sparking a viral TikTok. It took until the summer of that year for the light bulb to finally switch on, transforming a horse that used to crow hop down the arena into a “business-only” competitor the moment he enters the show pen.

Pressure on purpose

One thing that separates this program is how they use their horses. They’re not afraid to run them, even at 4, and they’ll enter multiple divisions when it fits when most programs choose either the 4-&-Under or the 6-&-Under to enter.

That comes from how they train at home.

“We put enough on them here at home that the shows don’t feel any different,” Koch said. “We might run five or six, then come back and do it again later. They’re expected to be the same horse every time.”

That approach has helped them shorten the learning curve. Their horses aren’t figuring out pressure at the show—they’re showing up ready.

Proven before this year

What’s happening in 2026 didn’t come out of nowhere.

Koch rode Canteburys Cherrey to the 2024 NFR, a horse that proved he could hold up at the highest level of the sport, having earned $344,203 at just 8 years old—including a Riata title with McGuire. That kind of consistency at the top end is what they’re trying to build across the board.

Then there’s Rockk Star, who put together a dominant run in the spring of 2024, winning four rounds across two divisions on the way to a Gold Buckle Futurities title and more than $20,000 that weekend alone, with $121,555 in LTE through the first part of his 6-year-old year. The horse is now in Koch’s ProRodeo rotation, even though the son of Peptoboonsmal is still futurity eligible.

Add into the X program 7-year-old gelding Copperton, by Spots Hot out of Copperish, that has already cemented his place as a powerhouse in the industry, boasting a decorated QData record with total earnings of $293,954 and an AQHA Performance ROM in heeling.

After a storied career that included major victories such as the 2024 ARHFA Old West Futurity—where he banked $102,000—JD McGuire recognized that the “freak of nature” athlete needed a mental reset before tackling the pressure of a full rodeo season with Koch. To facilitate that transition, McGuire spent the better part of 8 months taking Copperton to local jackpots and Tuesday night ropings—environments where the results didn’t carry the “life or death” weight of a major title.

“We felt like if I started riding him right away and it was how I made my living, it could be too much too early,” Koch explained.

That period of low-pressure “fun” roping allowed Copperton to take a deep breath and settle into a new rhythm. Now, as the 2026 summer run approaches, the heat is back on, with Koch planning to integrate the seasoned veteran into his primary rodeo string alongside his other rodeo mounts.

Built to last

The results right now are strong, but the bigger picture is what they’re building toward.

With ten 4-year-olds in the pipeline, they’re continuing to invest in their own breeding program—buying mares and trying to control more of the process.

“We want to be known for having the best heel horses,” Koch said. “That’s the goal.”

As the year moves toward summer, they’re not chasing standings as much as they are staying on the same track.

“We’re betting on the horses,” McGuire said. “Everybody at the top is trying to have the best stock. The whole deal has gotten better.”