Every rider wants to make it to the finals, be it state finals, or the ultimate goal, the national finals, commonly referred to as the NFR or National Finals Rodeo.
Making the finals requires persistence, practice, and patience. How you will qualify depends on the event. For everything other than bronco riding and bull riding, the most important thing you will need is a good horse and good tack. A good rodeo horse will be calm, level headed and completely sound. A good age range is 7 to 15 years of age. The most popular breeds are quarter horse and paint, but other breeds may suffice.
If you have a horse that you believe can make the finals, the next thing that you will need is a way to get him to the rodeos. You will have to travel to many different rodeos within your state before you can make state finals. Usually how qualifying for state finals works is that you have to be one of the top 15 money earners for your state. In order to do this you must travel to many rodeos in your state and win or place.
If you are trying to make the national finals, however, it will be a little bit tougher. Men must be members of the PRCA (Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association) and women must be members of the WPRA (Women’s Professional Rodeo Association). The only rodeo event in which women can participate in the NFR is the barrel racing.
Qualifying for the finals, regardless of event, requires that you be one of the top 15 money earners. This includes not only America, but Canada as well. In order to do this you typically must earn between $50,000 and $100,000 by the end of the rodeo year. To accomplish this, however, you will need to travel all over the United States and Canada entering every rodeo that offers a large paycheck.
This kind of traveling requires the use of a trailer with living quarters, which can be very expensive to purchase. Other expenses include gas, feed for your horse, and entry fees. In order to enter a rodeo you must pay a fee, that fee is not refundable, so if you do not win, then you are losing money. Therefore, making the National Finals is difficult and expensive. The best way to combat the expense is to have a sponsor, but in order to get a sponsor you have to prove that you can win.