August Pro Rodeo Recap 

August was full of fast runs, big payouts and changes to the WPRA World Standings leaderboard. 

Arena records were broken and the world standings shifted with barrel racers like Carlee Otero moving above the bubble and Shelley Morgan now taking the 15th spot, while Leslie Smalygo continues her almost $28,000 lead as number 1.

Tiany Schuster and Show Mance take home the win and $3,797 in Baker, Montana as well as $6,819 to win in Tremonton, Utah. 

Now 7th in the WPRA World Standings, Schuster and her trailer full of talent are nearing a third NFR after winning the Fallon County Fair and Rodeo in Baker, Montana and the Golden Spike Rodeo in Tremonton, Utah. Schuster has spent most of the summer going between Canada and the Northwest rodeos, where she also qualified for the Candian Finals Rodeo in October.  

The 2010 gelding by First Smart Money is well known as Schuster’s sidekick, with well over $450,000 in EquiStat recorded lifetime earnings.

Kassie Mowry continues an incredible summer, keeping her 3rd place spot in the world standings with only 24 rodeos.  

Winning the first round of the Caldwell Night Rodeo, second in the finals and third in the average to take home more than $7,000, Mowry also won the Gooding Pro Rodeo in mid-August worth $6,847 and the Canby Rodeo adding an additional $3,815 to her earnings. 

Her main mount, Force The Goodbye has run an impressive amount of 16’s on WPRA standard patterns. The 6-year-old gelding by The Goodbye Lane has now won more that $1 million in EquiStat reported lifetime earnings.

Wrapping up August, Mowry had a $9,316 win in Kennewick, Washington after winning the first round, the finals and the average.  She added $6,039 to her winnings in Bremerton, Washington, winning the rodeo with the only 16-second run.

Andrea Busby and Jets Top Gun win big to be 11th in the world standings. 

Hoping for her first NFR, Busby and Jets Top Gun have won more than $32,000 in the month of August, moving from 17^th to 11^th in WPRA World Standings. After setting an arena record in Logan, Utah at the Cache County Fair and Rodeo, they went on to win Hermiston, Oregon’s Farm-City Pro Rodeo. Busby and “Benny” were also reserve champions at the Caldwell Night Rodeo.

WPRA World Standings (from www.WPRA.com as of 8/26/2024):

1	Leslie Smalygo	Skiatook, OK	$181,980.21	59
2	Hailey Kinsel	Cotulla, TX	$154,211.65	56
3	Kassie Mowry	Dublin, TX	$151,282.84	24
4	Emily Beisel	Weatherford, OK	$136,275.26	62
5	Ashley Castleberry	Montgomery, TX	$124,839.83	65
6	Wenda Johnson	Pawhuska, OK	$117,969.63	54
7	Tiany Schuster	Krum, TX	$115,230.20	79
8	Lisa Lockhart (G)	Oelrichs, SD	$111,492.66	42
9	Abby Phillips	Marshall, TX	$105,351.67	69
10	Dona Kay Rule	Minco, OK	$105,042.45	53
11	Andrea Busby	Millsap, TX	$102,274.10	76
12	Carlee Otero	Lipan, TX	$95,637.56	62
13	Halyn Lide	China Spring, TX	$95,116.37	71
14	Paige Jones	Wayne, OK	$93,312.56	39
15	Shelley Morgan	Eustace, TX	$90,226.54	65
16	LaTricia Duke	Zephyr, TX	$83,579.00	71
17	Jordon Briggs	Tolar, TX	$79,916.00	33
18	Tayla Moeykens	Three Forks, MT	$77,978.53	50
19	Sara Winkelman	Big Lake, MN	$76,322.33	77
20	Brittany Pozzi Tonozzi	Lampasas, TX	$75,352.90	63

The top 23 in playoff standings qualify for the $583,000-added CINCH Playoffs at the Washington State Fair in Puyallup, Washington Sept. 5-8, as well as the 2024 NFR Open Champion, Jessica Routier. The top 4 from Puyallup as well as the top 8 in playoff standings after the playoff rodeos have concluded mid-September qualify for the $1,133,330-added CINCH Playoff’s Governor’s Cup in Sioux Fallas, South Dakota Sept. 26-28.

The PRCA and WPRA regular season closes September 30, meaning the massive payouts in Sioux Falls will have an impact on who makes the NFR.

CINCH Playoff Standings (from www.WPRA.com, these standings include all rodeos that have taken place through rodeos ending on 8/24/2024):

*Rodeo Count listed below reflects Playoff Series rodeos only.

Placing	Name	Points	Rodeo Count
1	Hailey Kinsel	1,168.13	26
2	Kassie Mowry	1,105.25	22
3	Ashley Castleberry	1,060.01	34
4	Wenda Johnson	1,035.38	29
5	Emily Beisel	945.88	33
6	Andrea Busby	859.34	40
7	Paige Jones	847.76	26
8	Shelley Morgan	837.38	31
9	Jordon Briggs	775.75	27
10	Dona Kay Rule	770.25	23
11	LaTricia Duke	721.63	31
12	Carlee Otero	715.38	37
13	Halyn Lide	682.50	36
14	Megan McLeod-Sprague	632.63	33
15	Leslie Smalygo	632.26	26
16	Lisa Lockhart	617.51	18
17	Abby Phillips	564.88	31
18	Sara Winkelman	491.64	37
19	Michelle Alley	455.00	23
20	Sissy Winn	429.01	24
21	Chelsea A Moore	421.76	35
22	Stevi Hillman	416.50	36
23	Jordan Driver	411.51	25