The Best of the Best ProRodeo Stock of the Year Awards Announced by PRCA

The athletes get the most credit, but they surely could not be as successful without the incredible stock. The best bucking horses and bulls have been recognized.

Tokyo Bubbles from the Calgary Stampede / Calgary Stampede Facebook

The cream of the crop and the cowboy's favorites have been recognized by the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association. Pendleton Whisky sponsors the awards aptly named the Let 'er Buck Bucking Stock of the Year.

Bareback Riding Horse of the Year

In the bareback riding event, Pickett Pro Rodeo based in Fairfield, Texas received the honor of owning the horse of the year. Boot Barn's Night Crawler won top honors. Night Crawler has been to the Wrangler National Finals five different times with 2024 making it the horse's sixth trip. This is the second consecutive year Night Crawler has been the awarded with the top honor.

The reserve champion was C5 Rodeo Company's famous Virgil. At times, the beautiful big grey bucking has been called the greatest bucking horse of all time. He is certainly an athlete and he knows it. Virgil has been the PRCA Bareback Bucking Horse of the Year twice while also earning the Canadian Bucking Horse of the Year title once. He holds the record for the highest mark at the Wrangler National Finals.

In third place for 2024 was Calgary Stampede's Agent Lynx. This horse just walked away with the Canadian Bareback Horse of the Year at the Canadian Professional Rodeo Association Finals.

Saddle Bronc Riding Horse of the Year

Andrews Rodeo is celebrating owning the horse of the year in the saddle bronc. Sammy Andrews was recently inducted into the ProRodeo Hall of Fame due to having such incredible stock for so many years. In 2023 the horse All of Nothin took home the third place finish but this year, he was picked to be the best of the best. The sorrel horse is a hard bucker and high scorer every time.

The reserve champion is The Black Tie from Sankey Pro Rodeo & Phenom Genetics. Every time this bay horse leaves the chute, he bogs his head and bucks hard. He's a show stopper when he comes out. He finished second last year and came back in 2024 to hold his position amongst the greats.

Calgary Stampede shows up again with the third place finisher in the saddle bronc category. Tokyo Bubbles has earned several 90 point rides and maybe the most memorable one for the season is Kade Bruno's 92 point successful ride at the Calgary Stampede that propelled him to the ride off for the championship.

Bull of the Year

Universal Pro Rodeo's Big Bank took the top spot for this year's bulls. Making his third trip to the Wrangler National Finals, this incredible yellow bull has been making waves in the bull riding pen. He's not just a winner in the PRCA, he also has accolades in the PBR where he has earned three trips to the PBR World Finals and marked an incredible 95 point ride with John Crimber.

Runner-up Champion is Pegasus from Pete Carr Pro Rodeo. The stand-out four legged athlete also won the runner-up in the Texas Pro Rodeo Circuit for bull of the year. In 2023, round 8 of the NFR, Tristan Hutchings rode Pegasus to 89.5 points. This powerhouse of a bull comes out and spins hard to the left giving his all every time.

Wrapping up the awards in the bull divsion is Ricky Vaughn from Powder River Rodeo. This power packed bucker has had four attempts in 2024 and all four cowboys have bucked off. Roscow Jarboe and Hayden Harris gave the bull a go at the Greeley Stampede and then Wesley Cooper and Tyler Kippes tried their best at Caldwell, Idaho only to buck off. Ricky Vaughn has an average stock score of 46.25 for the season.

All of these incredible athletes will find their way to Las Vegas come December for 10 rounds of competition with the best cowboys in the world.

Congratulations to all of the winners and their owners.

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