The Story Behind the Cancellation of the Breakaway Roping in Clovis, California

As the 2026 rodeo season heats up, the standings are changing almost daily. The Texas Swing is fully underway with big windfalls happening for contestants across the state. As the spring rodeos are taking shape, the industry took a blow with a recent press release from the Clovis, California rodeo.

No breakaway roping. After hosting the event for several years, the Clovis committee announced it would not host it. The rodeo is scheduled to take place April 23 through 26, so the notice was a shock, as many had assumed everything was proceeding as it had in the past.

Clovis Rodeo Announcing Decision About Breakaway Roping

On Monday, March 9, the Clovis committee issued its statement with the explanation that the decision was based on a difference of opinion.

“After lengthy negotiations, the Clovis Rodeo Board of Directors, has voted to not include breakaway roping at their 112th Annual Clovis Rodeo in 2026. The decision is based on a difference of opinion regarding prize money and the term of the agreement. Breakaway roping is not a required event of the sanctioning organization Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association.”

To give some history for the rodeo, Clovis first included the breakaway roping in 2022 with $12,500 added money. The following years they continued to have the event under these conditions:

Year	Added Money	Percentage
2022	$12,500	50%
2023	$12,500	44%
2024	$15,000	50%
2025	$15,000	50%
2026 Proposed	$17,500	58%

The percentage listed above is the percentage of the WPRA Barrel Racing added money. Ultimately, the 2026 proposal was pulled from the WPRA, and the event was cancelled.

In an interview on Western Sports Roundup on the Cowboy Channel, the Clovis committee representatives, Dan Rigsby and Vince Genco, when ask about the importance of having equal added money stated, “We’ve always told the girls that they would get equal added money but it was going to be on our schedule. You know, it’s one thing to ask for equal added money and it’s another to demand it.”

The committee went on to point out that they own their own rodeo grounds and that they had other considerations including things like the cost of the additional day of slack.

“We feel we are being fair to the girls. This is a difference of opinion between the Clovis committee and the WPRA Board of Directors,” Vince Genco said.

What the WPRA Says About the Situation

Taylor Munsell | Nathan Meyer Photography

The WPRA has welcomed the breakaway roping since the 1999 season into the professional rodeo scene. Breakaway roping has been a part of the WPRA for several years before that in the all girl section of the association. In fact, the first World Champion Breakaway Roper was crowned in 1974.

Bringing it to the stage of Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association-approved rodeos was a major step for the ladies of the breakaway. The ladies were included in the 2020 National Finals Rodeo that was held in Fort Worth, Texas, due to COVID.

In the following years, the event has had its National Finals Breakaway Roping in Las Vegas at two different venues. Given all of that progress, rodeo counts continued to increase that included breakaway as an event.

Guidelines had to be established in hopes of bringing the breakaway event to equal the added money of the rest of the rodeo events. In recognizing that the rodeos would need time to get to equal added money and in hopes of encouraging rodeos to include the event, the WPRA came up with a “ramp-up” strategy.

Given that breakaway had been a part of rodeos since 1999, the plan did not go into effect until 2024, and still allowed more time for rodeos. The ramp-up policy stated that by 2027, any rodeo having breakaway would have to have equal added money.

Here is an example of the ramp up:

Year	Added Money %	Added Money Minimum
2023		$500
2024	50%
2025	75%
2026	100%

The WPRA also put in an exemption for rodeos adding more than $5,000, recognizing that it is a significant amount of money and allowing them a little more time.

Here is the verbiage for that exemption:

“Rodeo that add $5,000 or more in added money will also be given a year of grace to meet the next added money requirement. For example, in 2024 the rodeo adds $5,000, but needs to be at $7,500 to be 50% of the barrel race, so it opts to exercise this exemption in 2024 and will not have to meet the 50% requirement until 2025. This is a one time exemption, and all rodeos must be at equal added money in the breakaway by 2027.”

So, in looking back at Clovis and the amount of added money, it used the exemption in 2025 in order to stay at 50% rather than advance to 75%. Given the ramp-up strategy of the WPRA, 2026 is the year Clovis would have had to add at least 75% of the added money.

The proposal submitted to the WPRA for the 2026 approval was 58%. The Clovis, California rodeo lists $30,000 added in the barrel racing event, and the proposed amount for the breakaway was $17,500.

WPRA President Heidi Schmidt admitted that ultimately, Clovis did offer to reach the 75% requirement, but it came with more conditions. In order for Clovis to add that amount of money, they wanted an extension of three more years to reach the 100% equal added money requirement.

Sheena Robbins, who serves as the California Circuit Director for the WPRA, has met with the committee multiple times regarding the added money.

“To be honest, I am really hurt over this situation. I invested so much time into this and trying to make it work. I actually got them a sponsor to get the money to 75% this year (2026), so that they didn’t have to come up with the extra,” Robbins said.

“This is a very personal issue for me because this is my hometown rodeo, and I was shocked by the decision. The WPRA started meeting with Clovis in 2024 regarding the timeline for the added money. So, I don’t feel like the requirements were a shock to the committee. I understand that this is a very prestigious rodeo and I fought for the committee to have an extension, but ultimately, even with some concessions, they cancelled the event.”

“I really didn’t want to lose this rodeo. It is a blow for the breakaway ropers, and I understand that,” Robbins said. “I feel like myself, as the WPRA Director, and the WPRA Board did everything we could. I exhausted every option and felt like Dan Rigsby (committee representative) and I came to some middle ground. Then five days later they cancelled the event.”

What This Means for Contestants

Of course, as soon as the information broke across social media, everyone had an opinion. Some stated that, “Some money is better than no money.” Others were critical of leadership stating, “The WPRA leaders need to stand up for the breakaway roping.” While others praised the WPRA.

The WPRA took the stand of moving toward equal money for its members. They held the line on the standards that they had laid out in the past, even after providing an exemption in 2025 for Clovis. That stand led Clovis to decide they did not want to host the breakaway roping.

There have been claims that the entire reason for the cancellation was the cost of cattle. This is certainly an issue in today’s economy in general. The price of cattle is high right now. Roping calves can cost anywhere from $800 - 1,750 each. That’s a pretty big hit, but it is not the reason behind the cancellation of the event. The cattle and the stock contractor were already in place and ready to go.

So, as of today, the breakaway ropers won’t be pulling into Clovis to compete. Certainly, it is understandable that the amount of added money is significant, but it is equally important to note that the association that represents the ladies has also stood its ground in advocating for equal added money, and the director worked with the committee to try to find a middle ground.

Time will tell how this relationship plays out and whether or not the Clovis committee will change course and add breakaway back to the lineup.