Clint Summers' Mr Joes Shadow Bar and Coleby Payne's Cut Off My Spots are the 2025 Nutrena Head and Heel Horses of the Year, presented by AQHA.

This is Mr Joes Shadow Bar's second award and Cut Off My Spots first.

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This episode is presented by Fast Back Ropes. For close to thirty years Fast Back Ropes has been developing best selling ropes by listening to our customers. Fast Back offers a variety of ropes with a size, weight and style to fit every team roper.

Kaleb Driggers and Jade Corkill won The CoJo—worth $72,000, Bill Fick Fords and Bloomer Trailers on Saturday, October 11, 2025—capping off Driggers' biggest year ever and Corkill's comeback.

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In December 2025, Lightning Aguilera will back in the box for his second NFR, three years after his first qualification.

The Florida transplant finished the regular season No. 15 in the PRCA world standings with $114,735.75 won on the year after battling it out near the bubble the last month of the season. On this episode of The Score, Aguilera talks about his 2025 season, returning to the Thomas & Mack and how he's preparing for his second NFR.

• Lightning Aguilera: From South Florida to San Antonio
• Lightning Aguilera’s Jess A Moose is 2022’s Head Horse of the Year
• Within Reach: Aguilera’s Team Roping Roots and Aspirations

Brought to you by: The Hombre head rope from Fast Back Ropes—small, light, and built for performance. Available at fastbackropes.com or by calling (817) 279-1851.

• The Short Score: 2025 Riata Championships
• Finally: The Score's Head Horse of the Year Episode
• The $465K Added Solo Select Stallion Incentive Futurity
• Who Deserves the 2025 AQHA/PRCA Heel Horse of the Year Award?
• Ride Registered: Stressman and Canida of AQHA Talk Team Roping and Registered Horses on The Score

The Riata Championships paid out $5.5 million crowing its 2025 champions. From the Riata Pro Futurity featuring some of the best team ropers and 5-year-old rope horses, to the Cowgirl Steer Stopping, the stories that unfolded are worth listening to on The Short Score.

Logan Allen and Ketch Kelton paired up to win $149,500 in the 2025 Riata #14.5 Championship after roping four steers in 29.33 seconds Sept. 25. They also won the 6-&-Under Incentive for another $8,000 apiece. Iowa’s Allen was aboard I Got Dibs Doc, a 2020 stallion by Aint Seen Nothin Yet out of MS Docs Poco Leo Bar and owned by Lisa Johnson. On the heel side, the reigning and youngest Cinch Timed Event champion rode Shane Decker’s Pretty Poco Girl Fja, a 2021 mare by Cat Man Do out of Pretty Poco Boots.

Jacob Lewis and and Tripp Townsend both had previous Riata #10.5 Championship titles—Lewis in 2023 and Townsend in 2022. Lewis rode Hez Got Cowboy Cash, the 2016 Myers Ranch-bred head horse by Cowboys Cartel, again for the 2025 win, while Townsend was on the famous TRR Lucky Brazos, by Pepcid, the first Riata stallion to win a Riata championship.

• Finally: The Score's Head Horse of the Year Episode
• The $465K Added Solo Select Stallion Incentive Futurity
• Who Deserves the 2025 AQHA/PRCA Heel Horse of the Year Award?
• The Philipp Ranch Production Sale Preview
• The Short Score: Who's In, Who's Out and What's at Stake in Puyallup

This episode is presented by Cactus Ropes’ new Kool Kat CoreTX Rope. The Kool Kat is a 4-strand, poly-nylon blend rope that creates optimal weight and balance. This rope has a unique diameter to weight ratio, slightly on the medium to smaller side. The Kool Kat has had the best winning percentage since it has started being used by Cactus’ pro athletes of any rope the company has ever made. The Kool Kat, the newest rope using CoreTX™, is the most complete and balanced rope in the line. The smaller diameter but solid weight allows for ropers of all levels to feel their tip and have the confidence they need to win.

Who deserves the PRCA/AQHA Head Horse of the Year title? Clint Summers' Joe? Riley Minor's Bob? Tyler Wade's Spur? Or... someone else all together? We deep dive with Summers, Wade, Kaleb Driggers and Minor in this always-anticipated episode.

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This episode is brought to you by Equinety, the supplement that fuels most of the Horse of the Year contenders, year after year.

The rope horse world is about to get another financial boost.

In this episode, host Chelsea Shaffer is joined by Melanie Smith, founder of Solo Select, and Clay Logan, event producer, to unpack the brand-new Solo Select Stallion Incentive Futurity — launching with a jaw-dropping $465,000 payout in its inaugural year.

They cover everything you need to know before entries close on September 21:

• How to enter — with or without a breeding
• Why stallion owners stepped up in a big way
• What makes this event different from every other
• The judging format, cattle selection, and short-round clean-slate setup
• Why this isn’t just an elite event — it’s built to lift the whole industry

Whether you’re already entered or just roping curious, this episode breaks it all down before the gates open in Hamilton, Texas, October 1–2.

In one of the most anticipated episodes of The Score, host Chelsea Shaffer brings back the annual deep dive into the top heel horses of the year. This year’s conversations are full of insight, loyalty and a bit of friendly debate among elite ropers.

We’re hearing directly from the best in the business:

Coleby Payne – breaking down why his bay gelding may be the new frontrunner over the three-time Horse of the Year, Kadabra King.

Travis Graves, Jake Long, Levi Lord, and Wesley Thorp, offering their personal picks, stories, and what really makes a heel horse worthy of the title.

Whether it's Turbo, Coon, Sug, Boon, or Mabel — the opinions are strong, and the respect for great horses runs deep. From arena-tested consistency to raw speed and grit, these pro team ropers explain what separates the greats from the good ones.

f you’re a fan of team roping, horsepower, or just want a peek behind the curtain of what goes into choosing the PRCA/AQHA Heel Horse of the Year, this episode is for you.

Sponsored by Fast Back Ropes — Featuring the Ombre head and heel ropes. Shop now at FastBackRopes.com

🔊 Listen now to get the inside edge on this year’s hottest heel horses before the ballots go in.

In this episode of The Score, host Chelsea Shaffer sits down with Shane and John Philipp of Philipp Ranch to preview their 2025 Production Horse Sale, happening September 6 in Bryan, Texas. The brothers break down the pedigrees behind their standout rope horses, their unique approach to training and development, and what makes this year’s set of 39 head one of their deepest yet.

From proven head and heel horses to standout breakaway prospects and elite-bred prospects, this sale offers something for every roper — including the emotional Lot 39 filly, with proceeds going to the Ace Ashford Foundation.

Whether you're planning to bid online at CCI.live or attend in person at the Brazos County Expo Center, this episode gives you the full inside scoop on what to expect — and which horses to watch.

The field for the 2025 Cinch Playoff Series in Puyallup, Washington, is set after the Aug. 18 cutoff, and the lineup is packed with storylines that could reshape this year’s NFR race.

The top 23 in the Playoff Series standings—plus NFR Open winners—will head to Puyallup Sept. 4-7, with a shot at a $75,000 purse on each end, with as much as $20,420 per man up for grabs. That kind of payday, paired with a berth to the Governor’s Cup in Sioux Falls, makes Puyallup one of the most critical rodeos of the year.

On this episode of The Short Score, we break down who's in, who's out and what that means for their seasons.

• The Short Score: Old West Rope Horse Futurity 2025
• “Team Roping Is Going to Save the Day for Everybody” — Steve Friskup’s 2025 Horse Market Report
• The $1.7 Million Rope Horse: Meet the Man Who Bought Her
• The NEW U.S.-Mexico Cattle Border Closure
• Top 5 “The Score” Podcast Interviews of 2025 (So Far)
• The Short Score: Late Summer Check-In
• Ride Registered: Stressman and Canida of AQHA Talk Team Roping and Registered Horses on The Score

Karl Stressman and Tammy Canida of the American Quarter Horse Association are at the forefront of record keeping and pedigree information, and The Score caught up with them to talk about what role the AQHA can play in the team roping industry.

From the back of the box to the barrier, and from the break of the steer to the dally—roping demands a partner who knows the job and lives to do it. The ideal partner? An American Quarter Horse. For decades, AQHA has been the standard-bearer, preserving the bloodlines, honoring the legacy, and supporting the sport you love. We put the horse in Horsepower. Ride Registered. Join AQHA.