Adios Pantalones: Social Media's Favorite Stallion Taking Rodeo World by Storm

With $585,000 in lifetime earnings, the palomino superstar of social media has taken on a new role. From futurity standout to professional rodeo winner, Adios Pantalones continues to show what a one-in-a-billion horse he is. Owner, trainer, and jockey, Tricia Aldridge, has shifted her focus from the aged events to the rodeos, just for the outstanding stallion.

"I definitely have no idea what I'm doing, but I'm super thankful, because I have a couple friends helping me that have qualified for the National Finals and they know where to go and are a giant help. It's really cool and it is a lot different," Aldridge explained of the transition.

While many of the winter's big building rodeos had qualifying events, a lot of these conflicted with Adios' responsibilites at the futurities. Aldridge had big goals for the stallion's futurity year and the duo had only one chance to make those happen, so they were priority in 2024. Now, they have shifted gears.

"I want to give myself two years to make the finals (NFR) and I hope that he is the first stallion to win $1 million, because that's the horse that he is. We'll do some derbies this year too, but our main focus is going to be rodeo. Big changes for us this year, but I'm super excited to chase that goal," she told Rodeo on SI.

The duo broke out in Denver, Colo., at the National Western Stock Show and Rodeo, where they made it to the performances through the qualifier, held in January. They qualified after the first round and went home, when Aldridge realized Adios had never been in a coliseum environment for a rodeo performance.

Aldridge recounted, "We went down to Northside a couple times and it went pretty good. Then we went back to Denver and did pretty good in the first round, then we had a rider malfunction the second round. He is handling it amazing and I think I'm a lot more worried about him than he is!"

While the arenas at most aged events are designed to be as advantageous to the horse as possible, professional rodeos are held in a variety of setups. From long alleyways, to offset gates, to blind first barrels, and everything in between, no two runs are the same.

"We had a little bit of timing to work on, but I feel like we're kinda getting in a groove now. I think he understands now that it's gonna be a 10 mile alleyway and the barrel is going to be right there. He was used to coming in so strong and it being up the pen, but he's adjusted really well. I was really proud of him in Jackson, becuase he didn't make a perfect run and could've been faster. For him to hang on through all those really tough girls was really exciting," Aldridge explained.

After second place finishes at Starksville, Miss. and Jackson, Miss., the duo notched their first rodeo win this past weekend in Los Fresnos, Texas.

Aldridge explained, "We literally just came from 12 and 14-second patterns to that monster 17-second patterns in a wide open outdoor pen and we didn't get in the arena at all. As a trainer I was concerned, but he did not care at all. He's just a unicorn."

Adios' responsibilities at the breeding farm have also begun for the season and when they are home, he gets collected Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. There are so many dynamics for a stallion with dual careers, and Aldridge emphasized navigating those.

"It's hard because the public wants them at the breeding farm, but they want him to run. We only do frozen (semen) and will send a deep horn cooled dose if we're home and someone wants to gamble on that, so we can do both (run and breed). It's a lot on those studs to handle it all, because it is two full-time jobs."

Tricia shared some of the traits that make Adios so special, "I've had a lot of other stallions and he has always been super soft and super trainable. He is a team player. He never holds a grudge and he is very expressive, so you always know where he stands on something. He just has a good time. He is that one-in-a-billion stallion. I get crap on social media about him playing, but he is by far the easiest stallion I've ever hauled. He is all business when it's time."

For Aldridge, the transition to rodeo has already been rewarding. The changing environments seem to have piqued Adios' interest. Seeing her golden boy having fun is fun for Aldridge, who views Adios as more of a best friend than a horse.

"You eat an elephant one bite at a time. I know we have tough competition, but I also believe in him. I think we're going to see some big things this year. Gotta ride the wave," Aldridge shared.

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