Winning a Wrangler National Finals Rodeo go-round is an accomplishment few horses and riders get the pleasure of earning. Round winners at the 2025 NFR shared their bit choices for their incredible mounts.
Mullen O-Ring
Kassie Mowry and 2015 gray gelding CP He Will Be Epic (Epic Leader x Percilla x Dash Ta Fame) won Round One.
“It’s literally like the diameter of a pencil. I have zero control. I don’t recommend putting it in any horse’s mouth, but that’s what he likes,” Mowry said. “He is really bendy and really soft for a big horse. He doesn’t feel strong through the pattern and so the less I could put on him, the better.”
Johnson Hackamore Combination
Hailey Kinsel and 2011 palomino mare DM Sissy Hayday (PC Frenchmans Hayday x Royal Sissy Irish x Royal Shake Em) won Round Two of the Wrangler NFR. The round win marked Kinsel and “Sister’s” 26th NFR round win, breaking the record she previously shared with Charmayne James and Sherry Cervi of 25.
“It’s a small chain link mouthpiece and it’s on a gag setting with a nose band. I do run her with a leather tie down as well. Back in her Futurity year, she was just pretty strong in the bridle and I wanted something that I didn’t have to pull quite as hard with, something that meant a little more,” Kinsel said. “Nice thing about a combo is sometimes you engage the nose band when you make a lateral pull. If you make a vertical pull, up and down, you’re engaging the bit. I feel like I can use both. I’m not coming down on like a Chinese finger trap. Just being able to be flexible with that has really helped. Honestly, it went well, I could probably change and I have changed bits before, but you don’t fix what isn’t broken, right?”
L&W Five-Inch Shank Dog Bone
Carlee Otero and AM Regina George (A Smooth Guy x ORO Rose x Man In The Money) had a standout NFR, winning Rounds Three, Five, Nine and 10. In Round Nine they clocked the fastest time of the entire rodeo with a 13.20. They finished strong with the second-fastest time of the NFR, a 13.28, in Round 10.
“I ride all my horses in the exact same bit. It fits my hands and that’s really why, just because it fits me and they’re nice enough, they let me ride what I want,” Carlee Otero said.
Adios O-Ring
Tricia Aldridge and 2020 palomino stallion Adios Pantalones (Tres Seis x French Bar Belle x Frenchmans Guy) won Rounds Four and Eight, claiming the Women’s Professional Rodeo Association Reserve World Championship.
“He’s in the Adios O-ring from L&W, and it’s just a twisted O-ring,” Tricia Aldridge said. “I like that it floats on the bridle, but my ring has a snap, so my rein snap doesn’t slide.”
Elliott Medium Shank Spur Up 03
Kassie Mowry and Mindy Holloway’s 2014 sorrel gelding Heavens Got Credit (JL Dash Ta Heaven x Credit Chicado x Cash Not Credit) won Round Six.
She ran him in the Elliott Medium Shank Spur Up 03, the same bit his owner Mindy Holloway runs him in.
Sherry Cervi Short Shank
Hayle Gibson-Stillwell and 2019 palomino mare Buncha Dinero (PC Frenchmans Haydya x Rambunckie (TB) x Bellamy Road (TB)) won Round Seven.
“I run her in a short shank with dog bone, it fits her mouth and my hands perfectly,” Gibson-Stillwell said.
