Million Dollar Man: Emily Beisel’s Chongo Breaks Seven Figures in LTE

Few people can say a horse truly changed their life, but for Emily Beisel, Namgis D 33 ("Chongo") set her on a trajectory that forever altered her path.

The now 16-year-old gray gelding has played a key role in her eight consecutive National Finals Rodeo (NFR) qualifications and become a fan favorite along the way.

After a recent win at the Shawnee Classic in Shawnee, Okla., where the duo banked over $2,200 on the single run, Chongo achieved a milestone few horses have managed.

Largely comprised of professional rodeo earnings, Chongo now boasts $1,000,731 in officially recorded earnings, per QData.

The Path to $1 Million

The horse and rider turn a barrel — Beisel and Chongo at the 2024 NFR | Fernando Sam-Sin

The duo race to the finish line — Beisel and Chongo | Fernando Sam-Sin

Beisel and Chongo are an electric team to watch, not only because of their winning ways together, but for the way they match one another's intensity. Beisel rides to win, and Chongo gives his all in every run.

In a wide variety of arena setups and ground conditions, this team is always a threat to the leaderboard when they enter the alleyway. From wide-open muddy outdoor pens to small indoors, Chongo shuts off the clock.

The duo has been particularly dominant inside the yellow walls of the Thomas & Mack Arena in Las Vegas, where Chongo has earned over half of his lifetime earnings, per QData. Throughout their seven career trips so far, Beisel and Chongo have banked over $515,000 in NFR earnings.

While the lion's share of his earnings has come "the hard way" at professional rodeos (with countless grueling miles on the road to prove it), Chongo has also proved he can hang with the best at open barrel races across the country.

Beisel had a standout week recently at the Pink Buckle in Guthrie, Okla., with Chongo and his paternal brother, "Pipewrench." Those earnings in Guthrie brought Chongo a few steps closer to officially crossing the million-dollar mark.

A few more open barrel racing checks later, and Chongo was no longer knocking on the door, but knocking it down. Only 16 horses have been officially recorded as crossing the $1 million threshold, and Chongo is now in elite company alongside horses like Force The Goodbye, Famous Lil Jet, and MP Meter My Hay.

Chongo has sparked internet debate more than once with his unconventional breeding for barrel racing — sired by foundation-bred Bucks Hancock Dude (Watch Me Dude To x San Tip Hancock x Leon Jp Hancock).

Bred by Stan Sigman of Hondo, Texas (Namgis Quarter Horses), Chongo is out of a race-winning mare named Track Goddess, by Eyesa Special and out of a Streakin Six daughter. Sigman's theory of crossing Bucks Hancock Dude back on race-bred mares has proven successful more than once, including two more of Beisel's standouts, Namgis D 35 and Namgis D 56.

Trained by NFR qualifier Kylie Weast, Chongo made his debut as a four-year-old futurity horse in 2014 and earned roughly $30,000 in officially recorded earnings before the reins passed to Beisel in 2018.

Chongo has gone on to earn titles at many of the biggest professional rodeos in the country and has racked up an impressive seven NFR round wins. The pair will be headed back to Las Vegas in less than a month and we cannot wait to see what the standout gray gelding accomplishes there this year.

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