The Score from The Team Roping Journal

At just 5 years old, A Relentless Buzz is already the kind of head horse Trevor Brazile can back into the box on without much to manage—and that maturity helped carry the gray to the 6-&-Under Heading win at the Texas Best Futurity in Decatur, Texas.

On this episode of The Short Score, Brazile breaks down what makes A Relentless Buzz so solid, from the box and plenty of run to the smooth way the big horse handles himself. The gelding has become one Brazile takes to the jackpots, too, because there simply is not much about him that is easy to fault.

Brazile also talks through why the lighter cattle and setup at the Texas Best Futurity offered a valuable test ahead of the bigger fall shows. For young horses, he said, every trip to town is another chance to add pressure, see where anxiety may show up and make sure they are ready for the rest of the year.

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Growing up in Red Bluff, California, Chelsey Bushnell pictured her rope taking her to the biggest stages in rodeo.

She roped calves and team roped, won back-to-back California high school state titles and carried that with her into college, once dreaming of becoming the first woman to rope at the NFR. Flash forward and her career did end up revolving around a rope—it just took a route she never expected.

On this episode of The Score, Bushnell chats with host Calli Montague about moving from college rodeo into the marketing world, working with brands including Cactus Ropes and turning a trick-roping talent she learned as a kid into the recognizable Chelsey Trick Ropes social presence. What began with hours spent roping the dummy eventually grew into brand collaborations, her own trick rope and another way to make a living in the industry she grew up loving.

Bushnell also explains why the trick roping has always been about more than entertaining people. At its core, she wants it to help ropers—especially kids—learn to handle a rope better and become more capable when a run does not go perfectly. As she puts it, the better somebody can handle a rope, the better they can rope in general.

As part of Women in Rodeo Month, Bushnell also reflects on the opportunities available to women today, the importance of faith, character and integrity, and her desire to use her platform to help and encourage the people around her. She may not have followed the exact path she imagined as a girl, but the rope has remained at the center of nearly every chapter.

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James Arviso and Levi Lord didn’t head into the 2026 season knowing exactly what their new partnership would look like. Now, with the regular season winding down, both are sitting Top 6 in the PRCA World Standings and headed toward the Finals.

Fresh off splitting the Cinch Playoffs title in Puyallup, Washington, with Kaleb Driggers and Junior Nogueira, Arviso and Lord join The Score to break down the runs that earned them $14,858 apiece, including the 4.1-second run that tied for the Finals win.

Arviso and Lord also talk about why the Puyallup win mattered after a slower stretch late in the summer, how they’ve learned to manage rodeo formats without forcing fast runs, why their styles fit so well together and how their partnership clicked so quickly after coming together earlier this summer.

Plus, Arviso reflects on how much has changed since his rookie season, while Lord talks about handling partner changes, the amount of money still available late in the ProRodeo season and the mindset that has helped him find success behind different headers throughout his career.

Solo Select founder Melanie Smith joins The Score 30 days out from the second Solo Select Rope Horse Futurity, Sept. 30–Oct. 1 at Circle T Arena in Hamilton, Texas, where a minimum $620,000 in added money is on the line for 4-year-olds in heading, heeling, breakaway and tie-down.

Smith explains where the added money comes from (a cut of every 2026 breeding fee), what makes a horse eligible (one paid contract to a nominated stallion equals one entry, any sire), and how the 40/60 payout works: every entry runs for the 40 percent contract pot, offspring of Solo Select stallions that make the short round draw the 60 percent sire pot, and unclaimed sire-pot money rolls back to contract holders. She also makes the case for the clean-slate finals, the $50,000-added Intermediate on each end, and the long-term goal of the whole program: making yearlings, 2-year-olds and 3-year-olds worth more money.

The second half gets into managing junior stallions — setting Third Edge's fee, why hype doesn't matter if the babies don't win, and why Solo Select breeds its own mares to its young horses — plus the cutting, cow horse and $100,000 recipient mare incentives.

Entries close Sept. 28. Enter through ARHFA. Breeding questions: Solo Select stallion office, (903) 436-6615.

The final month of the 2026 PRCA regular season is officially here, and there is still plenty left to decide in the team roping world standings.

On this episode of The Short Score, Calli Montague breaks down where the NFR bubble stands entering September, with Ketch Kelton holding the No. 15 spot among headers and Wyatt Cox sitting 15th among heelers. The episode also looks at which teams have invites to the remaining big-money opportunities—and which will have to fight to Las Vegas the long way.

The Cinch Playoffs field for Puyallup, Washington, is set for Sept. 10-13, but the Playoff Series race is not over. Puyallup’s top four will advance directly to the Governor’s Cup in Sioux Falls, while eight more teams will qualify through the Playoff Series points standings before the Sept. 21 cutoff. Outside of the Playoffs, there are numerous key stops on the ProRodeo trail for teams to have chances to make up ground, hold their spot in line, or extend their lead over the teams behind them.

And the season could literally come down to the final steer on the final day. On Sept. 30, 377 Arena in Stephenville, Texas, will host a standalone PRCA-approved four-header with $75,000 added. There is potentially for a team that wins enough throughout the day to have a chance at money that could punch their ticket to the Finals.

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Steve Friskup has spent decades with a front-row seat to the horse business, from selling everyday team roping horses to standing behind the microphone as some of the industry’s highest-priced horses went through the ring.

On this episode of The Score, Friskup breaks down what he is seeing in today’s market following the latest Levelland sale, where the top 25 horses averaged $33,500. He talks about the depth of good horses available today, what buyers are willing to spend and why futurity eligibility and incentive programs are becoming increasingly important in determining a horse’s value.

But the conversation goes well beyond horse prices. Friskup digs into the bigger question of how team roping continues to grow—from rebuilding the local jackpot and creating affordable entry points to educating ropers about incentives and making the sport more welcoming for newcomers and young ropers. Friskup believes team roping has plenty of momentum, but keeping it requires giving new people a place to start.

Friskup also talks about the evolution of the rope horse itself, the rise of the futurity market and the responsibility producers, sellers and longtime ropers have to keep promoting the sport that has supported so many of them. What began as a conversation about what horses are bringing this fall turns into a wide-ranging look at where team roping has been—and where it needs to go next.

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This episode is brought to you by SmartEquine and ColiCare—an innovative approach to hindgut health and colic prevention. Designed with research-backed ingredients and a unique support program, when your horse is counting on you, you can count on ColiCare.

ColiCare combines targeted digestive support with a program designed to help you stay ahead of potential issues—not just react to them. It’s built on research, formulated to support a healthy gut environment, and backed by a unique benefit: eligible horses enrolled in the program may receive up to $15,000 in colic surgery reimbursement.

Whether you’re hauling, training hard, or just managing day-to-day stressors, your horse’s digestive system is constantly under pressure. ColiCare is designed to help you manage those risks with confidence.

Visit SmartEquine.com to learn more about how ColiCare can support your horse’s long-term health.

For 14 years, the Philipp Ranch Production Horse Sale has given buyers a chance to take home horses that have been raised, trained and used within the Philipp Ranch program. This year, John and Shane Philipp say they may have their most diverse—and deepest—set yet.

On this episode of The Score, John and Shane preview the 44 horses selling Sept. 11 at the Brazos County Expo in Bryan, Texas. The offering stretches from 2- and 3-year-old prospects and broodmares to seasoned rope horses ready to leave the sale and go win. They also explain how changing incentives and a more educated rope horse market have influenced what they raise and offer, while their emphasis remains on producing big, strong head horses with the foundation to last.

The brothers also take listeners through the Philipp Ranch process—from starting colts and putting outside miles on them to introducing them to cattle without skipping steps. For John and Shane, the goal isn’t simply getting a horse ready for sale day—it’s making sure the horse is ready for the person who buys him.

They highlight several horses they’re especially excited to see sell, including Rockstar, the Metallic Cat stallion who has already won in the heeling and could offer a buyer both a jackpot horse and a breeding prospect, and Sparky, Shane’s proven head horse who he believes can leave Bryan and go straight to the rodeos.

Above all, the Philipps explain why they’re willing to put horses like Sparky in the sale in the first place: They don’t want customers wondering what good ones are hidden at home. If a horse is ready to go succeed for somebody else, they want buyers to have the opportunity to own him.

Cole Eiguren has a legacy in front of him of family who tend to win buckles at the Cheyenne Frontier Days.

All before he backed in the box at The Daddy of 'Em All, the 25-year-old Fruitland, Idaho man had years of the men in his family winning in Cheyenne, giving him the perfect opportunity to uphold the tradition between the two events he entered. Between the calf roping and the team roping, Eiugren won just over $11,000, placing in the calf roping and coming out of the Wildcard round to the semifinals in the team roping.

All of this led to him being named the 2026 Cheyenne Frontier Days All-Around Cowboy, a dream that couldn't have came true at a better time.

In this episode, Eiguren breaks down how he and Dylin Ahlstrom came to rope together at Cheyenne, their trip through the wildcard and how it helped him get the buckle that now hangs on his belt. Eiguren also talks about horsepower, how special the win was for he and his young family, and how a not-so-great ending in the team roping led to a victory lap he'll never forget.

Some of the biggest money to be won in the 2026 season was captured during the month of July, including the NFR Openand the California Rodeo Salinas.

Jake Smith and Nicky Northcott took home the NFR Open win in Colorado Springs after a 4.3 in the sudden-death finals, pocketing $16,000 a man. While not partners throughout the year, Northcott edged out Smith's partner in the race for the Wilderness Circuit year-end title in 2025, pairing them up for the NFR Open.

Rodeo action moved quickly from the Rocky Mountains to the West Coast with the California Rodeo Salinas where Canadians Dawson and Dillon Graham conquered five head in 44.1 seconds for the win and $14,528 apiece. Between the five head, chute draw and the longest score in rodeo of 35 feet, Salinas is a far cry from the hockey rinks in Canada.

Jake Smith and Dawson Graham join this episode of The Short Score to talk through their wins.

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This episode is brought to you by SmartEquine and ColiCare—an innovative approach to hindgut health and colic prevention. Designed with research-backed ingredients and a unique support program, when your horse is counting on you, you can count on ColiCare.

ColiCare combines targeted digestive support with a program designed to help you stay ahead of potential issues—not just react to them. It’s built on research, formulated to support a healthy gut environment, and backed by a unique benefit: eligible horses enrolled in the program may receive up to $15,000 in colic surgery reimbursement.

Whether you’re hauling, training hard, or just managing day-to-day stressors, your horse’s digestive system is constantly under pressure. ColiCare is designed to help you manage those risks with confidence.

Visit SmartEquine.com to learn more about how ColiCare can support your horse’s long-term.

Bryan Beaver did not start roping until he was 50, but he has spent the years since learning from some of the best horsemen and riding some of the best horses in the business.

On this episode of The Score, Beaver talks about the friendship he has built with Trevor Brazile and Miles Baker and the confidence he has in their Relentless Remuda program. After owning horses including Captain, Dagger and Clubhouse, Beaver returned to Heber City, Utah, with one goal: He and his wife, Nancy, were going home with the best horse in the sale.

They left with Relentless Empire, the $900,000 high seller. The mare is by Show Me The Buckles and out of Relentless Glory, a horse Beaver had watched throughout her time in the Relentless program. Once he saw the cross, he knew she was the one he wanted.

Beaver also talks about the success he has had on Relentless-trained horses, the criticism that can come with spending big money and why his relationship with Brazile, Baker and their families means far more than simply buying horses.

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