The arduous journey to Rookie of the Year started in February, when Braylee Shepherd’s horse, Dollar, succumbed to cancer. Shepherd had hoped Dollar, who was first diagnosed in late 2021, would be able to make it through the season. “I had to shift my goals and everything so much,” she admits. “I had to because everything just kept coming at me. I couldn’t keep looking far into the future - I just had to look at the next thing and do my job.”

“I feel like I'm in a good position, but there are quite a few rodeos and a lot of money to be won these last few weeks,” Joey Williams says. “I would obviously like to do well - just finish out the year on a good note and try to get a little bit more money rounded up going into the finals. It helps to get into Puyallup. I still have a bit of work to do to try to get into the Governor's Cup. So hopefully I have a little luck these last couple weeks and can go to Sioux Falls as well.

Tanner Tomlinson and Patrick Smith are on a hot streak this July. The pair just came away with a big win at the Silver State Stampede, one of the rodeos included in the Playoff Series, by clocking 3.8 second winning run and setting an arena record.

Last year, York had also led all qualifiers heading into the state finals - until things didn’t go her way.
“I just had a very bad finals,” she says. “I ended up fourth in state, so I knew I had to improve a lot over last year.”
And improve she did. Although she admits her first run “wasn't too great,” her second and third rounds were solid, helping her to finish third in the average and landing her a state title. 

Lone Star Ropes get it done. Just ask any of our Pro Team members, who credit legendary rope maker Guy Alford for creating ropes perfectly designed to fit their needs. Lone Star has four pro teamers competing in the National Finals Rodeo this week, each of them using a different LSR rope. They recently got together to discuss why they trust the brand to take them to the ultimate pay window in Vegas.

Thanks to legendary rope maker Guy Alford’s attention to detail and keen understanding of what these athletes need to succeed on the rodeo world’s grandest stage, Lone Star is proud of how well our ropes hold up to the competition year in and year out.