Growth Continues for Barrel Racer Tayla Moeykens in 2026 Regular Season Big Finish

Recent success as the veteran barrel racer inside the top 10 of the WPRA World Standings with an eye on bigger prizes.

Tayla Moeykens' win at Cheyenne Frontier Days helped her rise to No. 7 in the latest WPRA Barrel Racing World Standings. | CFD photo by Click Thompson

CHEYENNE, Wyo. – Officials at the Cheyenne Frontier Days Rodeo were ready to crown Tayla Moeykens as the 2026 champion and began directing her where to go. 

The Three Forks, Mont., cowgirl wasn’t about to celebrate. Not with Lisa Lockhart still to run. 

Last year, Moeykens thought she had the buckle clinched at the Daddy of ’Em All, only to watch Lockhart become a two-time champion of the historic rodeo thanks to a blazing finish during one of the final runs. This time around, she waited to be sure. 

“They’re telling me what to do and where to go and stuff and I’m like, ‘Hold on. It’s not over yet. I know she can upset the whole apple cart. So let’s just hold on a second,” Moeykens joked. 

Her championship round time of 17.41 seconds withstood that final push, giving Moeykens a bit of redemption after that runner-up finish last year. The result at CFD was another on a growing list of positive momentum builders Moeykens has been collecting as ProRodeo’s regular season draws to a close. 

The July 31 Women’s Professional Rodeo Association World Standings has Moeykens with slightly more than $102,600 earned for the season, placing her seventh overall. She added more than $2,200 to her ledger this past weekend, including a victory at the West Yellowstone (Mont.) Wildhorse Stampede. It’s a circuit win that should keep Moeykens atop those standings once totals for the week are tabulated. 

For Moeykens, 2026 has been a bit of a redemption arc after a difficult conclusion last season. After finishing one spot away from making the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo in 2024, she got the job done in 2025, ending up 10th in the regular season.

What happened next is every barrel racer’s nightmare as the EHV-1 outbreak forced her to leave all of her horses at home for NFR. Katelyn Scott loaned her a backup horse, Kian, to ride at NFR and while she got the chance to compete it wasn’t the same. 

This year, Moeykens has been focused on bouncing back from that disappointment. She’s learned a lot in the last 12 months, lessons that have better prepared each time she makes a run. And while there's a long way to go before the end of the regular season on September 30, Moeykens is ready to navigate whatever comes next.

“Every run is important, every dollar you earn is important. I’m having probably one of the best years I’ve ever had, but that doesn’t mean we’re going to let the foot off the gas at all,” Moeykens said. “It’s tough out here. There’s a lot of girls out here with really nice horses and they have just the same capabilities. They can do it at any time. You just have to go out and do the best you can. I’m going to stick with our game plan and take it one run at a time and see where we end up.”