High-paying professional rodeos continued to offer up lucrative payouts for pro rodeo athletes vying for WPRA world standings earnings.
Women’s Professional Rodeo Association athletes took hold of early season opportunities to secure prime positions in the world standings early in the year. Over the course of the winter months and into spring, pro rodeo barrel racers hit the rodeo road taking advantage of the high paying “building” rodeos before moving out West for the California area run of rodeos.
The WPRA world standings race can change in one weekend with events’ payouts reaching up to $1 million or more in the early part of the season, and they did just that this year. There’s still a lot of rodeo left in the season but WPRA athletes are making the most of their opportunities. As of May 1, reigning world champion Kassie Mowry was leading the field, much due to her early season success at the Texas stock show rodeos. The top four in the world all earned significant money from stock show rodeo wins, while the fifth through 10th places having steadily picked up paychecks through stock show season and into the California rodeos. The California-run especially helped No. 5 Tricia Aldridge boost her position in the standings having collected $22,000 in a few weekends out West.
As athletes head into the summer months there’s plenty of money left to cash in on. Just in the Fourth of July string of rodeos there’s events like: Reno Rodeo, Greeley Stampede, Ponoka Stampede, Cody, Wyoming, St. Paul, Oregon, Cheyenne Frontier Days, Black Hills Roundup and more.
Kassie Mowry Leads WPRA World Standings
Reigning WPRA world champion Kassie Mowry and her world champion mount Force The Goodbye have continued their winning ways since the 2024 National Finals Rodeo. They kicked off the 2025 season earning big checks in the Texas stock show rodeos, most significant being the Rodeo Houston championship, worth a total of $73,000.
Rodeo Houston, held March 6-23, is the richest rodeo of the winter run. The limited entry rodeo is limited to 40 entries with the majority coming from the top 30 in the 2024 WPRA world standings. They also include the top two finishers from the Cardholder’s Race at the WPRA World Finals that haven’t already qualified as well as the winners of two other local events. The field of 40 is split into five Super Series brackets of eight contestants. Each Super Series has three rounds with the top four highest money earners in each series advancing to one of two Semifinals. The top four in each Semifinals then advances to the Championship Round.
The remaining semifinalists who did not qualify move to one of two Wildcard rounds. The winner of each Wildcard then advances to the Championship Round making a total of 10 qualifiers. From there, the top four from the Championship Round make a final run in the clean-slate Shootout for the chance to claim the $50,000 Rodeo Houston title.
Mowry and “Jarvis” started their Rodeo Houston in Super Series Three. They finished second in the first round of their series with a 14.78, for second place and $2,000. They were out of a money-earning position in the second round, but came back in the third round of the series to top the field with a 14.69, worth $3,000. These wins made them the second highest earner in their series behind Emily Beisel, and thus qualified them for the Semifinals. They were back in the winner’s circle in the second Semifinal round again taking first place with a 14.65, worth $3,000 and an advancement to the Championship round. In the Championship round Mowry and Jarvis turned in a 14.70 to finish fourth and advance to the Championship Shootout round. They turned in their best time of the rodeo a 14.50 to ultimately win the Shootout round and claim the $65,000 Rodeo Houston title.
With the Rodeo Houston win on her resume, it boosted Mowry to No. 1 in the WPRA World Standings race, with more than $100,000 to her name at the conclusion of March, and the reigning world champ wasn’t done winning.
From Houston, Mowry went to Rodeo Austin, held March 15-19. Since the rodeo is held at the same time as Houston, she opted to run CP He Will Be Epic in the opening round of Rodeo Austin. They ultimately finished fifth in the first round with a 15.26, worth $4,095.
From Austin, Mowry went on to win the San Angelo Stock Show Rodeo with “Will” from April 4-18. Mowry and Will topped the second round with a 1401 for $6,252 and won the Finals round as well with a 14.02 for another $4,631. This ultimately gave Mowry the San Angelo average championship with a 44.11 on three, worth $9,379.
Then on April 11-12, Mowry and Jarvis impressed the world of barrel racing winning Mowry’s career-first The American Rodeo championship, worth $100,000. While The American earnings do not count toward WPRA or NFR earnings it did boost the all-time leading rider’s earnings. As of May 1, Mowry has more than $8,044,863 in career EquiStat earnings — and this number still excludes several high paying rodeos and will rise as events submit their results to EquiStat.
While fans of barrel racing have known of Mowry’s prowess on a barrel horse for years, rodeo fans have been following her career in the last several years. She qualified for the 2017 NFR — the first in 12 years since her inaugural NFR qualification in 2005 — and then again in 2022-2024. With her steady presence in the rodeo world she’s gathered fans across ages, disciplines and industries. She captured even more hearts after fans watched one of the best showings of horsemanship between herself and four-time WPRA world champion Hailey Kinsel in 2024. The race for the 2024 world title came down to the wire and when Mowry and Jarvis earned the win they solidified themselves as not only as leaders in futurity competition, but as incomparable rodeo athletes as well.
Jarvis is a 2018 gelding by The Goodbye Lane and out of VF Forcit First, who’s by Burrs First Down. He was bred by Janelle Blubaugh and owned by Mowry’s late fiancé Michael Boone. He garnered $373,427 in futurity earnings and was the EquiStat No. 3 Futurity Horse of 2022. Jarvis made his rodeo debut in Round Six of the 2022 NFR, and won his first rodeo paychecks at the 2023 NFR. Last year was the first year he helped Mowry qualify for the NFR earnings $135,288 at 16 rodeos in 2024. By the end of the 2024 season, Jarvis had not only led Mowry to her first WPRA world title, but helped her tie with former WPRA President Jimmie Munroe’s 1984 record of five consecutive NFR round wins. Then, breaking the single year NFR earnings record with a total of $295,526.02, which beat Kinsel’s record of $270,615 set in 2020.
Through her many successes Mowry is always quick to give credit to her horses first. After a fairytale 2024 season she extended all her gratitude to Jarvis and his talent. Now, it seems he’s trying to beat his own records.
“It’s the ones that when the pressure is on they rise up,” Mowry said of what makes a great horse, adding that she could recognize that winning quality in Jarvis from the beginning. “You don’t know until they hear their name called. I always say that I don’t know. I’ve had some I trained that just didn’t live up to what I thought they would do when the pressure came on and the announcer and everything, and then I had some that just surprised the heck out of me. I know if they’ve got the talent, but it’s that heart that’s in [Jarvis] and that try that you only find out when you ask him for it.”
Mowry is known for qualifying for the NFR on the minimum rodeo count, and this year she’s only entered 9 rodeos as of May 1 and earned $131,644. She’s already earned more than the 15th cowgirl in the 2024 WPRA world standings earned. In 2024, it took $111,189 to qualify for the NFR. It’s a safe bet that we’ll see Mowry back in the Thomas and Mack Center Arena this year.
Hot On Their Heels: Brittany Tonozzi No. 2 in the World
Brittany Pozzi Tonnozzi, has been hitting the rodeo road in full steam from the kickoff of the season. She’s entered 16 rodeos as of May 1 and has garnered $89,260 in WPRA season earnings putting her in the No. 2 position behind Mowry. She earned the lion’s share of her earnings thus far in the season at two major winter rodeos.
The 2025 pro rodeo season officially started October 1, 2024. Already in the first few months of the season Tonozzi had already put herself on the top 20 in the world standings. By the time the National Western Stock Show Rodeo in Denver, Colorado, had concluded in at the end of January Tonozzi was in the No. 9 position with a little more than $13,000 earned. Jump ahead to the conclusion of the Fort Worth and San Antonio stock show rodeos and the three-time WPRA world champion was sitting No. 5 with $27,700.
Then, she hit the road for one of the most important rodeos of the season — Rodeo Houston. In Houston, Tonozzi got on Tamara Walker’s Australian Quarter Horse Association bred Cashen In The Fame. They started strong winning the first two rounds of Super Series Two with a 14.37 and 14.46, respectively which qualified them to the Semifinals.
Cashen In The Fame is by Seconds Ta Fame and out of Savas Miss Kayotoe, who’s by Sava Dee. The 2013 gelding ran at Rodeo Houston in 2024 with Lakken Bice. “Bobby” was originally trained and imported from Australia by Montana O’Donoghue-Kent, and bred by Calla Matthews.
In the Semifinals, Tonozzi and Bobby finished second with a 14.67 in the second section of semifinals competition, again earning an advancement. They finished third in the Championship round with a 14.68, plus a qualification to the Shootout. Ultimately, Tonozzi and Bobby finished third in the Shootout with a 14.59, worth $20,000. All totaled in Houston the duo picked up $28,250.
From there, the Lampases, Texas, cowgirl headed to Rodeo Austin. This time aboard Sir Epic, a 2018 gray gelding by JL Sirocco, and out of So Very Epic, who’s by Epic Leader. “Sir” is owned by Pete Carr and Morgan Bagnell and as bred by Karma Loftin. Sir has more than $432,981 to his name across futurity, derby, open and rodeo earnings. He started his career with Mowry earning more than $187,978. Bagnell rode him to success at a hand full of open races, and NFR qualifier Tiany Schuster stepped on him for a few wins at rodeos before Tonozzi took over the reins in 2024.
In Austin, Tonozzi and Sir topped the first round with a 15.08 advancing to the semifinals where they finished second with a time of 15.22. They followed that with another winning run in the Rodeo Austin finals round with a time of 15.10, worth $11,280. All totaled Tonozzi earned $22,247 in Austin.
With the Rodeo Austin win it pushed Tonozzi, who has amassed more than $5.7 million in career EquiStat reported earnings, to No. 2 in the WPRA world standings, and as of May 1 she holds onto that position with $89,260 from 16 rodeos.
This article was originally published in the June 2025 issue of Barrel Horse News.
