Legendary Lockhart Becomes First $4 Million Barrel Racer in WPRA

Records are made to be broken, and this cowgirl has been first, fast, and fearless for nearly two decades of her career.

Lisa Lockhart | Fernando Sam-Sin

When the doors closed on the 2025 professional rodeo season, Lisa Lockhart had amassed an incredible $3,985,000 in career earnings. The 19-time National Finals Rodeo (NFR) qualifier has been a fixture in the sport for nearly two decades and during that time, has continued to raise the bar of greatness.

She made history in 2025 (again), when she tied Sherry Cervi and Charmayne James with 19 NFR qualifications. Following a second-place finish in Tucson, Ariz., at La Fiesta de los Vaqueros, Lockhart has now become the first member of the Women's Professional Rodeo Association (WPRA) to cross the $4 million mark in career earnings.

If you like our content, choose Sports Illustrated as a preferred source on Google.

Lockhart's Consistent Domination

Lockhart and Rosa at the 2020 NFR | Fernando Sam-Sin

Lockhart, of Oelrichs, S.D., has been a fan favorite for years, with her genuine and kind nature and textbook style of humbly training and jockeying some of the best horses to ever run down the alley at the Thomas & Mack.

From her earliest qualifications on Fast An Gold ("Chisum") to her most recent win aboard Y Try Firewater ("Copper"), great horses have been a theme in Lockhart's career. Despite how the humble cowgirl may try to give her four-legged partners all the credit for her success, Lockhart's consistent riding and training have played a key role in creating so many solid equine teammates over multiple decades.

Lockhart purchased Copper as a yearling and brought him up through the ranks, like so many other great horses before him. After qualifying for the finals in Tucson aboard Rosa (Rosas Cantina CC), Lockhart stepped on Copper in the final round. With Tucson wrapping up on March 1 and Houston beginning on March 2, Rosa needed to make her way back to Texas for the duo's bracket of RODEOHOUSTON.

Copper stepped eagerly to the challenge, helping Lockhart finish third in the Finals and second in the Average, bringing her total in Tucson to $8,336. Although the young gelding has only run at a handful of circuit rodeos and winter building rodeos, he has risen to these bigger stages with the same honest, consistent runs Lockhart's horses are known for.

Lockhart's Legacy

Lisa Lockhart | Nathan Meyer Photography

With a lengthy list of accolades behind her name, Lockhart is one of the most decorated cowgirls in the sport. Throughout her 19 NFR qualifications, she has won the NFR Average three times.

Proving that tenacity is key to success, Lockhart crossed the $1 million mark in her career in 2012, the $2 million mark in 2016, the $3 million mark in 2022, and on March 1, 2026, she did what no one has ever done before and crossed the $4 million mark.

When she is not living on the rodeo road, Lockhart is content to be at home on the ranch with her husband, Grady. They have three children, Alyssa, Thane, and Cade.