Plourde Sparkles Her Way to $5,000 Jerry Ann Taylor Best Dressed Award Win

The reality of rodeo is often better than any fiction that could be written. When Julie Plourde finished the 2025 professional rodeo season in the dreaded No. 16 position in the barrel racing, the defeat and frustration were heartbreaking.

Despite an injury to her main horse (KF Epic Ta Fame) in Salinas, Calif., early in the summer, Plourde's backup horse (Wateverock RC) stepped up to keep her in the fight. Unfortunately, Plourde narrowly missed making the final round of the Governor's Cup in Sioux Falls, S.D., and fell a few thousand dollars short of qualifying for her first National Finals Rodeo (NFR).

Plourde told Rodeo On SI, "After I ended up 16th, I went to Quebec for almost 5 weeks hunting with my husband."

Knowing she would have some downtime until the winter building rodeos began in January, Plourde opted to proceed with surgery to remove a chip in her main mount, "Epic's," ankle after the regular season.

Just three weeks before the first round of the 2025 NFR, No. 8 qualifier Anita Ellis was involved in a terrible accident. A single day after returning home to Texas, Plourde received the call that Ellis may not be able to compete at the NFR.

"My horse was not ready. I was home to relax, before starting over in January. The plan was to start at Odessa. I got the call and started riding my horse, then the EHV outbreak happened," Plourde explained.

With uncertainty about the situation in her mind and nowhere to make practice runs before the finals, Plourde prepared the best she could to come back from over a month-long hiatus. With Epic out of NFR consideration due to surgery, Plourde knew she would be riding her backup horse, "Rocky," in Las Vegas.

"Rocky is my big, outdoor horse. This is one of his first indoor rodeos. We went to Sioux Falls (S.D.) and Omaha (Neb.), but those are his only indoor rodeos. His last rodeo was Sioux Falls and now we are here," Plourde chuckled.

The whirlwind of events may have fallen together quickly and not at all as planned, but it all worked out flawlessly for Plourde. One of Plourde's good friends, Tiany Schuster, was not about to let Plourde run down the alley of the Thomas & Mack without considering her outfits.

Schuster knows a thing or two about running at the NFR, a three-time qualifier in the barrel racing herself. In 2024, she and Bañuelas partnered up to win the Jerry Ann Taylor Best Dressed Award.

Although Plourde received confirmation she would be competing at the NFR less than one week prior to the first round, Schuster called her as soon as it was official. "Let's get you dressed up!" she said, and the work began.

Plourde told us, "Fallon Taylor sent me some colored jeans from Ranch Dressn, we were tearing Tiany's closet apart the night before I left, it was crazy!"

Plourde laughed as she described how her family searched the shops in Las Vegas, she went to Cowboy Christmas for new cowboy hats, and makers overnighted her shirts. Karla Bañuelas and Riverside Rodeo made Plourde's stunning shirts.

The last-minute efforts paid off, with Plourde winning the 2025 Jerry Ann Taylor Best Dressed Award.

The events that transpired for Plourde to compete at the 2025 NFR are not lost on her.

"I was heartbroken for Anita, because I know what it takes to get here. This season, I laughed as much as I cried. It’s hard to get here, so I was really heartbroken for her."

Plourde credited Schuster and Latricia Duke for their support and friendship throughout her journey.

"Tiany calls me every morning and asks me what I’m going to wear. We’ve known each other for almost 20 years and we live next to each other. Latricia Duke is a good friend, she helped me a lot. She is always a phone call away."

Just a few hours after finding out she had won the Jerry Ann Taylor Award, Plourde won the NFR Average for over $94,000. The victory will undoubtedly go down in history as one of the most memorable moments in barrel racing.

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