The Fast Track: Work Ethic and Determination Bring Zac Dallas to His First NFR

I love a good, inspirational story and rookie saddle bronc rider, Zac Dallas, has an incredible one behind his first NFR qualification

Zac Dallas captured the Turquoise Circuit Finals title in 2024 / Fernando Sam-Sin/@fsamsin

In my opinion, one of the best things about sports is a good underdog story. I heard one this week that I thought everyone else needed to hear, too. If you need a good dose of inspiration or a reminder that it’s never too late in life to start something new, here it is.

The 2024 Professional Cowboys Rodeo Association Rookie of the Year in the Saddle Bronc Riding is Zachary “Zac” Dallas. The Las Cruces, New Mexico, cowboy is just 22 years old and made his first National Finals Rodeo in his rookie season. 

Dallas, who grew up hunting and fishing, wanted to learn how to pack and outfit in the backcountry. In 2020, he spent the summer in Jackson, Wyoming. While in Jackson, Dallas learned of the Jackson Night Rodeo. It was there that he met Jason Wheeldon, one of the pickup men for the seasonal rodeo that occurs 2-3 days per week, and got on his first saddle broncs. 

He returned home after that season and continued to start colts, cowboy, and day work. Dallas still had the itch to ride broncs, though, so he would hit a ranch bronc riding when he could. Through 2021, he kept this pattern, until he heard that Bryce Baggerly at New Mexico State University would have some practice horses available for the college rodeo team. Essentially, he was a walk-on for the rodeo team that fall, due to his lack of experience. 

It was then that Dallas decided that he really wanted to commit himself to the venture. He was getting on about ten broncs a week at this point and in short, outworked everyone around him. In 2023, he made the College National Finals Rodeo, riding all the way to the short round.

Dallas decided to hit the professional circuit and never backed off the gas. Throughout the 2024 season, he won the Silver Spurs Rodeo in Kissimee, Fla., the Casey Tibbs Match of Champions Xtreme Broncs in Fort Pierre, S.D., and the Elgin (Ore.) Stampede, en route to qualifying for his first National Finals Rodeo. 

How often do we hear of someone starting something new and qualifying for the biggest event at a professional level less than five years later? I cannot think of many cases and that was why I loved this story. It is never too late to start, if you are willing to work hard. It is never the wrong time to chase your dreams.

"I'm grateful to be here, but also planned on being here," Dallas remarked in his incredible feature on Western Sports Roundup on the Cowboy Channel on December 5, 2024. I highly recommend you give it a watch, because the visual progression of Dallas' riding over a four year period will remind you that anything is possible, if we put our minds to it.

Congratulations, Zac Dallas, on an incredible and well-deserved past few years and we cannot wait to see what the future holds in your incredibly bright young career.