The Women's Professional Rodeo Association

01/21/2025

The thrill of winning her first team roping heeling world title will always be special to Lorraine Moreno. But the second one comes awfully close in specialness. Perhaps this time around, Moreno knows even more how difficult the feat is and everything it took to get there.

“You work so hard every year to try and win a title,” she said. “So really, this is just as good as the first. You put hard work in so that feels great.”

Moreno was quick to note that she couldn’t have achieved her dream for a second time without the help of fantastic team roping partners, or without her parents and God for support. She roped most of the year with Cassidy Boggs, Kayelen Helton, Kenna Francis and Beverly Robbins.

Read full story: https://wpra.com/second-world-title-for-moreno-just-as-sweet/

01/20/2025

For the rest of her career, Kenzie Kelton will be recognized as a WPRA world champion.

She’s not even 21 years old, but it’s the culmination of a life spent horseback and with a rope in her hand. She took advantage of the all-girl roping last April at the Bob Feist Invitational, which is co-sanctioned by the WPRA, then secured her first championship during the WPRA World Finals this past November in Waco, Texas.

“I got to ride Peaches, our good, yellow head horse, and that made it a lot of fun,” said Kelton, 20, the eldest child of Tammy and Chance Kelton, the later of whom competed as a header at three National Finals Rodeos and qualified for the National Finals Steer Roping five times.

Read full story here: https://wpra.com/kenzie-kelton-top-team-roping-header-in-wpra/

01/14/2025

The WPRA sends their condolences to the family of Donna Krening who recently passed away on January 10.

Donna who called Eaton, Colorado home during her competition days, qualified for the National Finals Rodeo four times, winning the average title in back-to-back years in 1980 and 1981. In 1980, at her first NFR, she tied with Sharon Camarillo turning in the fastest time recorded at that year’s event with a 16.25 second run. In 1982, she finished the year as reserve world champion.

The horse that carried Donna to the NFR was named Satch and he won the WPRA Horse With the Most Heart not once but twice in 1981 and again in 1983.

May She Rest in Peace🙏

01/10/2025

The WPRA sends their condolences to the family of Lydia Moore who passed away on January 9, 2025, at the age of 91 after a brief illness.

Lydia Moore was born in St. Charles, Illinois, to a rodeo/circus family. She received trick-roping lessons from Billy Buschbaum at age 10 and performed at area rodeos. She and her sister, Percyna, were instrumental in establishing the Missouri Girls Rodeo Association. They also won events such as goat tying, barrel racing and pole bending. In 1967 the Moore family moved to Oklahoma and, shortly thereafter, Lydia Moore was hired by legendary rodeo announcer Clem McSpadden as the liaison between the NFR and barrel racers. Later, Moore helped run the NFR’s press room. She served as awards chairman for the Girls Rodeo Association (GRA), securing vehicles, trailers and other donations for barrel racing champions, and became a GRA director at large, bull riding director and Southern Region director. In 1973 she accepted the executive secretary position for the GRA/WPRA (Women’s Professional Rodeo Association), a position she held for 22 years. She was honored with the Coca-Cola Woman of the Year award in1991 and was inducted into the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum and Hall of fame in Oklahoma City in 2019.

May She Rest in Peace.🙏

01/07/2025

The WPRA sends their prayers and condolences to the family and friends of Fay Ann Horton Leach who passed away suddenly on January 6 at the age of 88, just a month shy of her 89th birthday which would have been on February 2.

Horton Leach was inducted into the ProRodeo Hall of Fame in 2023 in the notable category after her impact on the Association as a founding member, competitor and board member.

While Horton Leach never won a world title in barrel racing, she was always in the mix qualifying for nine consecutive NFRs (1959-1967). She would finish third in the world in 1962 behind Sherry (Combs) Johnson and Wanda Harper Bush.

Like many cowgirls during this era, they competed in many different events with calf roping being one of her favorites. In fact, she broke her mentor’s streak of six consecutive titles in calf roping when she beat Bush for the world title in 1957. She would add three more of those titles in 1959, 1963 and 1971. She won the all-around in 1960, the flag race world title in 1964 and one that might surprise everyone was her bull riding title in 1966.

In the mid-1960’s Horton Leach was elected to the GRA Board of Directors and served stints as both the barrel racing and calf roping director.

May She Rest in Peace🙏

01/07/2025

Good luck to all those competing.

Congratulations are in order for the Barrel Racers competing in Harrisburg, PA this weekend at the First Frontier Circuit Finals.

01/03/2025

Florence Youree - April 19, 1933 – Jan. 2, 2025
Our thoughts and prayers go out to the Youree Family on the passing of their matriarch Florence Youree, who passed away at her home in Oklahoma at the age of 91.

An integral part of the history of the Women’s Professional Rodeo Association, she was inducted into the ProRodeo Hall of Fame in 2019 in the notable category.

Florence (Price) Youree joined the Girls Rodeo Association (GRA) now the Women’s Professional Rodeo Association (WPRA) in 1951 and she hit the ground running both inside and outside the arena.

On the competitive side, Youree was among the top 15 a total of six times and won the WPRA all-around title in 1966 but it was her services to the GRA/WPRA in an administrative capacity that she really made her mark in the sport. Youree served the association as a director, then President from 1960-64 and then secretary-treasurer where she made the biggest impact. It was during that time that Youree worked to get the barrel racing included at the National Finals Rodeo as one of the main events. With the help of 1990 ProRodeo Hall of Fame inductee Clem McSpadden and Oklahoma Chamber of Commerce manager Stanley Draper the barrel racing became a featured event at the NFR in 1967.

Youree was fortunate to have competed at the NFR in 1967 and her legacy has been passed down to her family with daughter Renee Youree-Ward making the NFR in 1985, granddaughter Janae Ward-Massey in 2001-2003, winning the WPRA World title in 2003, and another granddaughter Kylie Ward Weast qualified in 2018.

Youree also influenced her younger sister Sherry Price (Combs) Johnson to become a barrel racer who won a GRA world title in 1962 aboard Star Plaudit, a ProRodeo Hall of Fame horse. Johnson joined Youree as a ProRodeo Hall of Fame inductee in 2023 and passed away a few weeks following that honor.

Youree and husband, Dale, produced GRA All Girl rodeos, was the first to host barrel racing camps, training many future WPRA World Champions and they started the Oklahoma Youth Rodeo Association. They also started the Barrel Futurities of America (BFA) that changed the barrel racing landscape and Youree served as their president for 18 years. Dale passed away in 2022 at the age of 93.

May She Rest In Peace🙏

01/02/2025

The WPRA would like to send their condolences to the family of Pat Hutter, who passed away last night. Pat, of Springdale, Arkansas, was the long time Barrel Futurities of America (BFA) Secretary and also was the secretary of the WPRA World Finals when they were held in Tulsa, Oklahoma. In addition she served on the board of the Rodeo of the Ozarks in Springdale, Arkansas where the rodeo stadium was named Parson Stadium in honor of her family who donated the land where it was built. The Parsons family was recognized in 2015 with the WPRA Lifetime Family Heritage Award (Pat (far right) photographed with WPRA President Carolynn Vietor and Joe Beaver at the 2015 Top 15 luncheon). May she Rest In Peace.

https://www.memorialfhspringdale.com/obituary/patricia-hutter

Photos courtesy Kenneth Springer

01/02/2025

01/01/2025

01/01/2025

As we close out 2024 we would like to once again congratulate all the WPRA World Champions:
Barrel Racing - Kassie Mowry
Breakaway Roping: Kelsie Domer
All-Around - Haiden Thompson
Team Roping Header -
Team Roping Heeler - Lorraine Moreno
Tie-Down Roper -
Futurity 1D - Heidi Gunderson and Lucky Blaze
(tie) Futurity 2D - Bailey Webb-Olson (Cudas Fury) and Kalie Anderson (Vite)
Derby - Becca Gilley and WPH Buzzed Up Latte
Junior - Makayla Maddie

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL! - WPRA - Built By Women For Women

01/01/2025

12/31/2024

12/26/2024

We are saddened to read this morning that 1965 World Champion Barrel Racer and 2019 ProRodeo Hall of Fame Inductee Sammy Thurman Brackenbury has passed away. She recently celebrated her 91st birthday on Dec. 11. She lived life to the fullest from chasing mustangs on the deserts of Arizona and Nevada, to a WPRA Barrel Racing World Championship, to roping and falling off horses in the movies Sammy Thurman Brackenbury did it all.

Brackenbury qualified for the National Finals Rodeo 11 consecutive times, winning the world title in 1965. The only daughter of PRCA cowboy Sam Fancher, Brackenbury became one of the first women to rope in an RCA rodeo when her father entered the team roping at the Santa Maria Rodeo and his partner failed to show.

Read more at: https://wpra.com/sammy-thurman-brackenbury-to-be-enshrined-in-prorodeo-hall-of-fame/

12/25/2024

A huge congratulations to Hailey Kinsel and her incredible horse, "𝗦𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿" (𝗗𝗠 𝗦𝗶𝘀𝘀𝘆 𝗛𝗮𝘆𝗱𝗮𝘆), for winning the 𝗔𝗤𝗛𝗔 𝗙𝗮𝗻 𝗙𝗮𝘃𝗼𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗲 award at the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo! With a lineage rich in rodeo excellence—her sire, PC Frenchmans Hayday ("Dinero"), is a legendary pro rodeo hall of famer and the brother of the celebrated French Flash Hawk—Sister truly embodies outstanding equine talent. Having already been recognized as the AQHA-PRCA Barrel Horse of the Year in 2018 and was the 2024 Nutrena Reserve Horse of the Year, Sister's achievements are a testament to the extraordinary bond between horse and rider.
📸 Hailey Rae Photography