Hali Williams had winning go-rounds on her mind when she entered night one of the 2025 NFBR, and with three round wins and $18,588 earned, it was mission accomplished.
Riding standout gelding “Red Light,” Williams knew there was no mathematical way to earn a World Championship in 2025.
“It’s just go-rounds for me,” Williams said. “So yeah—just go blast.”
Williams topped Round 1 with a 2.1-second run for $6,196, then followed it up with two 1.9-second runs to win Rounds 3 and 4, bringing her total to nearly $19,000.
What rope does Hali Williams use? Find out in our Top 15 ropes article here.
The fast pace inside Cowtown played directly into both Williams’ and Red Light’s strengths.
“I knew the calves were going to be really fast, and that’s kind of mine and Red Light’s specialty,” Williams said. “I don’t really love the slow dairy-cross calves. I can rope them, but when it’s fast like this, that’s where he shines.”
Red Light’s sharpness didn’t happen by accident. Williams credited her parents—particularly her dad Speed Williams—for helping keep the veteran horse mentally fresh and freed up even while she battled a bug she got in Scottsdale.
“My dad knows how to push the right buttons and make Red Light kind of reset and get excited again,” Williams said. “Being able to have my parents take the horses and go reset them, especially when I was sick, was huge. It showed tonight.”
The dominant NFBR opener continues a December hot streak for Williams, who just finished as a co-champion High Money Earner at the Kimes Ranch Million Dollar Breakaway in Scottsdale. That momentum carried seamlessly into Fort Worth, where Williams looked comfortable attacking the short setup and fast cattle from the first run on.
Despite missing the money out of the Round 2 and Round 5 wins, Williams finished Night 1 as the most impactful competitor in the building—and she’s not backing off.
“I could climb [the World Standings] if I won four rounds and placed in the other,” Williams said of night two. “But mainly, it’s just stay in the top five for an American Rodeo qualification and keep going.”
The National Finals Breakaway Roping continues Tuesday night with five more go-rounds, where Williams will once again be swinging with nothing to lose—and plenty still to gain.
