South Point From Sutton Rodeo Retires After Legendary Career

The 19-year-old bucking horse from Sutton Rodeo took his last lap around the arena at Rodeo Rapid City on February 7th, marking the end of an illustrious career.

South Point bucking at the 2024 NFR | PRCA Photo by Roseanna Sales

The Sutton Family is the owner of some of the best-bred bucking horses in rodeo, but as they continue to set the bar for stock horses, one of their legendary geldings, South Point, now gets to enjoy retirement out of the arena. 

South Point's Historic Career

This horse has made waves since entering the PRCA arena in 2012. He’s been selected for the National Finals Rodeo many times over, and he went out on top last season as his 87.25-point ride with Statler Wright led the cowboy to becoming a world champion.

Kim Sutton told Rodeo On SI about the NFR performance,

“Statler Wright was second in the NFR round on him, on his way to winning the world championship. And if you cover him, if you don't get bucked off, you won money. And he really wasn't that type of horse where he was totally rideable.”

Statler Wright riding South Point in Round 8 of 2025 NFR | PRCA Photo by Click Thompso

That is the standard the Suttons set for their horses when they began breeding them 100 years ago, and South Point comes from a long line of legends like Big Bud and Chuckulator. At 19 years old, South Point has hit the highs of his career, and by 2025, his average ride score was 87 points with a stock score of around 42 points consistently. 

South Point took his last trip around the arena at Rodeo Rapid City on Saturday, February 7th. It’s hard to know when to take a horse out of the arena, especially one as talented as South Point.

“If you rode him, you were going to win a check. You know, it was going to be first, it was going to be second, whatever it was, but you were going to win money. And so the decision to retire him, Steve told me at the NFR, he bucked with Statler that night,” Sutton told Rodeo On SI. “He just had a phenomenal trip, just a great trip. Steve said, ‘You know, we've been thinking about retiring him and I want him to go out on top.’”

Once in a Lifetime Horse

When a horse like this comes around, it’s often only once in a lifetime. The Sutton family was reluctant to retire South Point, but as love for their horses goes, he is at the top of the pack.  He'll get to spend the rest of his days enjoying the river bluffs of the Sutton Ranch.

“I was sad because I like watching him buck, like watching him perform, and he's just the coolest horse. So I'm sad not to see that, but I am proud that he's going out on top and going to live his best life,” she said. “Other than, I'm going to be sad for him when the trailer leaves and he's not on it. He's probably going to wonder what the deal is.”

As far as bucking horses go, South Point set a gold standard for those stepping into the arena after him, but Rodeo On SI will keep a close watch on what legendary horse comes out of Sutton Rodeo next.

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