Bella Hadid’s Former Boyfriend: Adan Banuelos’ Career and Romance

Bella Hadid’s relationship with professional equestrian Adan Banuelos brought together two people whose careers looked very different but whose love of horses gave them common ground. First publicly linked in October 2023, the model and the decorated horseman shared birthday tributes, competition appearances and glimpses of their life in Texas before reports of a breakup emerged in 2026.

For readers searching for Bella Hadid’s boyfriend, Banuelos remains an important part of her recent relationship history. However, affectionate photographs from their time together should be understood in context. His widely shared October birthday tribute was posted in 2025, before later reports about their separation.

Their romance attracted attention partly because it introduced fashion fans to a world Hadid already cared about deeply. Away from runway shows and beauty campaigns, she was spending more time around horses, training and enjoying a quieter daily routine.

Who Is Adan Banuelos, Bella Hadid’s Former Boyfriend?

Adan Banuelos is a Mexican-American professional horseman and trainer known for his achievements in cutting horse competitions. Although his relationship with Hadid introduced him to a much wider entertainment audience, he had already built a respected career within equestrian sport.

Cutting involves a horse and rider separating a cow from a herd and preventing it from returning. The discipline depends on timing, controlled movement and the horse’s ability to anticipate the animal in front of it. It takes years of training to make that partnership look effortless.

Banuelos earned recognition in the National Cutting Horse Association’s Riders Hall of Fame in 2017. That achievement came well before his romance with Hadid became public, making his professional reputation an established part of his story.

His connection to horses also runs through his family. His father, Ascencion Banuelos, is a respected horseman and a fellow Hall of Fame honoree. Growing up around that level of experience helped shape Adan’s own path into training and competition.

For Hadid, the attraction was connected to a lifestyle she already understood. Horses had been part of her life long before she met Banuelos, and her interest in riding was much more than a new hobby that arrived with a relationship.

In a May 2025 British Vogue interview, Hadid described meeting him at a horse show while she was spending time in Texas. She recalled being fitted for a cowboy hat when she noticed him entering the exhibition space.

She also explained that being in Texas had brought her closer to her mother, Yolanda Hadid, and her mother’s partner. Time outdoors, trail rides and being around animals formed part of that period in her life.

One detail Hadid found refreshing was that Banuelos did not initially understand the scale of her fame. For someone whose work involves constant public attention, meeting through a shared interest offered a different starting point.

Their relationship first drew wider attention in October 2023, when they were photographed together in Fort Worth, Texas. Hadid later shared photographs from her birthday celebrations that helped establish the early timeline of their romance.

By February 2024, her Valentine’s Day posts had made the relationship more visible. Rather than introducing it through a formal announcement, she allowed personal photographs to tell the story.

The couple continued to appear together at horse events, where their shared interest was especially clear. Banuelos publicly supported Hadid’s progress in competition, while she was regularly seen embracing the equestrian setting that shaped his working life.

They also made appearances in New York. During September 2024, the pair wore coordinated Western outfits for an outing connected with the city’s fashion week activities. Their clothing reflected the overlap between Hadid’s fashion career and their life around horses.

Earlier that year, they were photographed holding hands in coordinated black outfits during another New York outing. These appearances offered occasional glimpses of their romance without turning every part of it into a public event.

That balance became a familiar feature of their relationship. Fans saw enough to recognize the connection, while many details of their everyday life stayed private.

Their Birthday Tributes, Texas Life and Later Relationship Reports

One of Banuelos’ most affectionate public gestures came on October 28, 2025. He shared an Instagram carousel featuring photographs of himself and Hadid kissing, holding hands, cuddling and spending time on horseback.

The post appeared to celebrate both their relationship and Hadid’s October 9 birthday. She had turned 29 that month, a detail that helps distinguish the tribute from coverage of her later birthdays.

His message described October as an especially meaningful month and expressed gratitude for their relationship. Hadid responded warmly in the comments, thanking him and returning the affection.

What made the photographs appealing was their variety. Alongside romantic moments were images of riding and time outdoors, showing the setting that had become such a recognizable part of their story.

It was not his first birthday tribute to her. In October 2024, Banuelos had posted a photograph of them embracing to celebrate her 28th birthday. His accompanying message expressed love and the hope that they would share many more birthdays.

He also acknowledged her during a July 2025 post marking National Day of the Cowboy. The message celebrated cowgirls, giving fans another small glimpse of how he connected their relationship with the life they shared around horses.

Hadid returned that public support in her own way. She posted birthday photographs of Banuelos and occasionally spoke about him in interviews, usually offering personal details without giving a complete account of their relationship.

During her 2024 appearance on Chicken Shop Date, she playfully acknowledged enjoying kissing her boyfriend. The exchange showed a lighter side of her personality while keeping the discussion brief.

Her comments about Texas carried a different kind of significance. In a 2024 Allure interview, Hadid discussed stepping back from the pressures of modeling and finding more room for a life that felt comfortable to her.

The timing matters here. Although the supplied material describes that interview as taking place in 2023, the widely reported Allure discussion about her Texas move was published in 2024.

Her time in Texas was often presented through the lens of romance, but it also involved family, riding and her own decisions about work. Reducing the move to a boyfriend alone would leave out much of the context she shared.

Hadid continued to maintain a public career, including developing her fragrance brand, Orebella. Her life during that period included business commitments and fashion work alongside the equestrian activities that increasingly appeared on her social media.

In January 2026, entertainment outlets reported that Hadid and Banuelos had separated after more than two years together. PEOPLE reported that a source had confirmed the breakup, moving the public account beyond the affectionate October tribute.

Subsequent coverage complicated the timeline. Photographs of them together surfaced after the initial breakup reports, leading to questions about whether they had reconciled. By July 2026, further reporting again described Hadid as single.

Neither an old birthday post nor a later photograph can explain every private development between two people. Public appearances provide moments in a timeline, while relationship labels require clearer and more current confirmation.

The most accurate way to describe Banuelos in this story is as Hadid’s former boyfriend, while recognizing that reporting about their relationship changed during 2026. Their October 2025 photographs document a happy period together rather than establish her current dating status.

There is also no reason to treat the uncertainty as proof of a particular breakup cause. Without a clear statement from either person, claims about private disagreements, motives or future plans remain speculation.

Hadid and Banuelos’ relationship stood out because it grew around a real shared interest. Their photographs showed affection, but the horse shows, training sessions and mutual encouragement gave the romance its distinctive setting. Whatever their lives look like now, that chapter remains closely connected with Hadid’s return to riding and the time she spent building a life in Texas.