History
The organization was founded in 2001. Though in its first several years it was composed of a few annual stand-alone events, it was eventually formed into a formal sporting league. 12 bareback bronc riders, 12 bull riders, and 12 saddle bronc riders were included in each event. They each paid an entry fee to compete. All competitors competed in the first round. The top four riders in each category then moved on to the championship round to determine the event champions with the two highest scores.
When the regular season ended, the top 12 riders in each event based on points would qualify for the PRS World Finals. The top riders based on overall points for the year were crowned the PRS World Champions. The first world finals event took place in 2012 in Salina, Kansas. The second world finals took place in Rapid City, South Dakota. The third world finals also took place in Rapid City, only this time in conjunction with the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA) sanctioned Black Hills Stock Show & Rodeo. The 2015 PRS regular season ended two-thirds of the way in without its planned world finals event, which was scheduled to take place in Amarillo, Texas.
In October 2015, the Professional Roughstock Series announced on its website that it was suspending operations. It was due to the loss of financial backing and the inexperience of leadership that was its ultimate demise.
From 2013 to 2015, PRS events were televised on RFD-TV.
Rodeo is a competitive equestrian sport that arose out of the working practices of cattle herding in Spain and Mexico, expanding throughout the Americas and to other nations. It was originally based on the skills required of the working vaqueros and later, cowboys, in what today is the western United States, western Canada, and northern Mexico. Today, it is a sporting event that involves horses and other livestock, designed to test the skill and speed of the cowboys and cowgirls. American-style professional rodeos generally comprise the following events: tie-down roping, team roping, steer wrestling, saddle bronc riding, bareback bronc riding, bull riding and barrel racing. The events are divided into two basic categories: the rough stock events and the timed events. Depending on sanctioning organization and region, other events such as breakaway roping, goat tying, and pole bending may also be a part of some rodeos. The "world's first public cowboy contest" was held on July 4, 1883, in Pecos, Texas, between cattle driver Trav Windham and roper Morg Livingston.
Bronc riding, either bareback bronc or saddle bronc competition, is a rodeo event that involves a rodeo participant riding a bucking horse that attempts to throw or buck off the rider. Originally based on the necessary buck breaking skills of a working cowboy, the event is now a highly stylized competition that utilizes horses that often are specially bred for strength, agility, and bucking ability. It is recognized by the main rodeo organizations such as the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA) and the International Professional Rodeo Association (IPRA).
Rodeos have long been a popular competitor and spectator sport in Australia, but were not run on an organised basis until the 1880s.
The National Finals Rodeo (NFR) is the premier rodeo event by the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA). The NFR showcases the talents of the PRCA's top 15 money-winners in the season for each event.
The Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA) is the largest rodeo organization in the world. It sanctions events in the United States, Canada, and Mexico, with members from said countries, as well as others. Its championship event is the National Finals Rodeo (NFR). The PRCA is headquartered in Colorado Springs, Colorado, United States.
Cheyenne Frontier Days is an outdoor rodeo and western celebration in the United States, held annually since 1897 in Cheyenne, Wyoming. It bills itself as the "World's Largest Outdoor Rodeo and Western Celebration." The event, claimed to be one of the largest of its kind in the world, draws nearly 200,000 annually. Lodging fills up quickly during the peak tourist season throughout southern and eastern Wyoming, into northern Colorado and western Nebraska. The celebration is held during the ten days centered about the last full week of July. In 2008, Cheyenne Frontier Days was inducted into the ProRodeo Hall of Fame.
Ty Monroe Murray, is an American nine-time World Champion professional rodeo cowboy. He was one of the top rodeo contestants in the world from the late 1980s to early 2000s. He is an inductee of the ProRodeo Hall of Fame in Colorado Springs, Colorado, in the all-around category. He is one of the co-founders and a board adviser of the Professional Bull Riders (PBR). From 2005 to 2020, he was also a regular color commentator for several televised PBR events.
Billy Etbauer is an American former professional rodeo cowboy who specialized in saddle bronc riding. He competed on the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA) circuit along with his two brothers, Robert and Dan. He won the PRCA saddle bronc riding world championship five times.
Toughest Cowboy was an American rodeo competition-based reality television program that followed twelve professional cowboys as they competed in the three professional roughstock rodeo events — bareback bronc riding, saddle bronc riding and bull riding in effort to win the Toughest Cowboy championship and the grand prize of a ranch in the American West. Originally created by Jac Sperling and Tommy Joe Lucia, Toughest Cowboy was a combination of athletic competition and personal retrospectives creating a new genre of television, known as “sports drama.” The first broadcast aired April 8, 2007 on the Fox Sports Network (FSN). In 2009, Mark Burnett signed on to produce the series for Spike TV. Whiskey Falls composed the theme song.
Cord Jarret McCoy is an American professional rodeo stock contractor and producer and former professional rodeo cowboy who specialized in saddle bronc riding and bull riding. He is best known as the 2nd-place finisher on The Amazing Race 16. Jet and Cord returned to compete in the eighteenth season of The Amazing Race, finishing in 6th Place. Jet and Cord returned for The Amazing Race 24 also known as "The Amazing Race All-Stars" finishing in 5th place.
A stock contractor is an individual or business that provides animals for rodeo competition. Stock contractors supply roughstock - horses for saddle bronc and bareback bronc riding and bulls for the bull riding event, plus steers for steer wrestling and team roping, plus calves for calf roping events. Use of stock contractors who specialize in providing these animals has produced a more uniform range of bucking stock which are also quieter to handle.
Shane Proctor is an American professional rodeo cowboy. He is the 2011 Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA) world champion bull rider.
The Heart of the North Rodeo is located in Spooner, Wisconsin. The Rodeo takes place the first full weekend in July every year since 1954, except 2020. Spooner Rodeo fans will always see a different act every night, as each rodeo is never the same. Fans from all over come to watch the professional cowboys and cowgirls compete in the 7 main events of rodeo, and even some up and coming little cowboys and cowgirls.
Cole Elshere is an American professional rodeo cowboy who specializes in saddle bronc riding. He qualified for the 2012, 2013, ,2014 and 2020 National Finals Rodeo.
A bucking horse is any breed or either gender of horse with a propensity to buck. They have been, and still are, referred to by various names, including bronco, broncho, and roughstock.
Kaycee Feild is an American professional rodeo cowboy who specializes in bareback bronc riding and competes in the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA). He is a son of PRCA World Champion all-around cowboy Lewis Feild. He has won six bareback riding world championships, the most of any PRCA bareback riders. He won them from 2011 to 2014, and again from 2020 to 2021. He is the first cowboy to win three consecutive bareback riding average titles at the National Finals Rodeo (NFR).
Phil Lyne is an American former professional rodeo cowboy who competed in the Rodeo Cowboys Association (RCA)/Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA). Lyne was the RCA Rookie of the Year in 1969. Two seasons later at the National Finals Rodeo (NFR), in 1971, he won the all-around cowboy world championship and the tie-down roping world championship. At the NFR in 1972, he repeated as the all-around world champion cowboy and added a second tie-down roping world championship. Lyne won his first and only steer roping world championship at the National Finals Steer Roping (NFSR) in 1990. He was inducted into the ProRodeo Hall of Fame in 1979.
The International Professional Rodeo Association (IPRA) is the second-largest American rodeo organization in the world. It sanctions rodeos in the United States and Canada, with members from said countries, as well as others. Its championship event is the International Finals Rodeo (IFR), held every January. The IPRA is headquartered in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
The Canadian Professional Rodeo Association (CPRA) is the governing body of professional rodeo in Canada. Its championship event is the Canadian Finals Rodeo (CFR) held every November.
Virgil F13 is a rodeo bucking horse. He is specialized mainly in bareback bronc riding, but is sometimes used in saddle bronc riding. Although born in North Dakota, United States, he has lived most of his life in Alberta, Canada. Virgil is a two-time Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA) Bareback Horse of the Year, as well as a two-time Canadian Professional Rodeo Association (CPRA) Bareback Bucking Horse of the Year. He won the award in both organizations in the same years; 2017 and 2018. He was also awarded the Bareback Horse of the Canadian Finals Rodeo (CFR) four times from 2015 to 2018, as well as the Bareback Horse of the National Finals Rodeo (NFR) in 2017. He is also the horse that was ridden for the highest-scored bareback ride in PRCA history, which occurred in 2022.
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