It’s time.
Horse trailers are loaded, schedules are set, travel routes are mapped out and visions of major paydays are dancing through rodeo athletes’ heads.
It’s unofficially Cowboy Christmas season.
Dubbed one of the most lucrative stretches in professional rodeo, the Cowboy Christmas run promises electrifying opportunities and star-studded fields across the United States and Canada. With dozens of rodeos packed into just a few weeks, all eyes will be on the highly volatile PRCA World Standings races.
As many of the sport’s most historic and prestigious rodeos unfold between June 18 and July 5, storylines are sure to emerge in some of rodeo’s most iconic settings. From long-standing traditions to career-defining moments, the history and legacy of Cowboy Christmas rodeos will once again leave athletes and fans checking their lists twice.
Reno Rodeo
Since joining the PRCA in 1920, the Reno Rodeo has unofficially kicked off the beginning of the famed summer and Cowboy Christmas run. Set against the high desert backdrop of northern Nevada, the “Wildest, Richest Rodeo in the West” sets the tone for many athletes’ summer runs and potential National Finals Rodeo qualifications.
With more than $600,000 in added money and the famed silver spurs on the line, Reno consistently attracts rodeo’s top competitors. The event also draws more than 140,000 fans during its 10-day run and has earned multiple top PRCA honors throughout its history.
Generating more than $42 million in economic impact for the local community, the Reno Rodeo remains one of the richest and most celebrated stops of the summer run.
Ponoka Stampede
With nearly a century of history and a legacy of success, the Ponoka Stampede continues to make headlines as one of the Maple Leaf Circuit’s richest rodeos, bringing elite athletes and international attention to the Great White North.
Featuring nearly $500,000 in added money, the premier event counts toward both PRCA and Canadian Professional Rodeo Association standings, carrying major implications in the world title races on both sides of the border.
Known for its electric atmosphere and deep rodeo tradition, Ponoka remains one of Cowboy Christmas’ premier destinations.
St. Paul Rodeo
Settled in Oregon’s picturesque Willamette Valley, the St. Paul Rodeo boasts one of the most scenic traditions of the Cowboy Christmas run. Surrounded by the area’s famed Christmas tree farms, the rodeo has become one of the most beloved Fourth of July stops in professional rodeo.
Nestled in the small farming community of St. Paul, Oregon, population of just 434, the rodeo sits roughly 20 miles from Salem and 30 miles southwest of Portland. Despite its small-town roots, the event has grown into one of the premier rodeos in the country.
What began as a local Fourth of July tradition nearly 90 years ago started in St. Paul City Park with a baseball diamond surrounded by Scotch broom and scattered tin cans. Local volunteers cleaned the grounds, built a pole fence around a short eighth-mile track and added bucking and roping chutes before hosting the town’s first rodeo on July 4, 1936.
Today, the St. Paul Rodeo has evolved into one of rodeo’s most celebrated Independence Day traditions for athletes and fans alike.
Prescott Frontier Days
Claiming the title of the “World’s Oldest Rodeo,” Prescott Frontier Days in Prescott, Arizona, holds a special place in rodeo history.
The event dates back to July 4, 1888, when local merchants and businessmen organized one of the first formalized cowboy competitions and offered cash prizes. A cowboy named Juan Leivas captured rodeo’s first professional title, as documented in the Arizona Journal-Miner.
Those original “Cowboy Contests” laid the foundation for what would eventually become professional rodeo. More than a century later, Prescott Frontier Days remains one of the most historic and celebrated stops of the Cowboy Christmas run.
With dozens of rodeos taking place across North America during the famed Cowboy Christmas stretch, athletes will spend weeks crisscrossing state lines and international borders in pursuit of National Finals Rodeo dreams.
Fans and athletes alike can follow the action throughout the summer run across Cowboy+ digital and broadcast platforms.
