Behind the Top 15: Rylee George

No. 3  | $122,207.98

Rylee George won 21 saddles in California high school rodeo before she ever narrowed down to one event.

The Oakdale, California, native—she calls Stephenville, Texas, home now—came up in five events, pole bending, goat tying, breakaway, team roping and barrel racing, and by her senior year of high school she had a state all-around title and a state championship in the team roping heading. Four years into her Women’s Professional Rodeo Association career she has two National Finals Breakaway Roping qualifications, the NFBR average record and a fourth-place world finish.

The All-Around Years

George started rodeoing at 5 and never specialized on the way up. She won the breakaway at the California junior high state finals in eighth grade, and in 2018—as a junior at Oakdale High School—she was the California High School Rodeo Association all-around cowgirl, the state champion header and her district’s all-around cowgirl in the same season. She was heading steers for Karson Mebane and running poles and barrels all in the same weekends.

The specialization came later, and the all-around years show up in the way she rides. Salinas, California, is the longest score in the sport, and most of the field spends the week fighting it. George doesn’t.

“I actually like the longer starts where you really have to go run one down,” she said after winning it in 2025.

Four Trips to the CNFR

George roped for East Texas A&M—Texas A&M Commerce when she got there—and qualified for the College National Finals Rodeo four times in the breakaway. In 2025 she won it, tying Kate Eiland of Pearl River Community College for the national championship on a 2.3-second final round and 10 seconds flat on four head. It was the fifth individual national title in the program’s history and the fourth straight year a Lion won one.

She was working toward a master’s in ag science at the time. The horse that carried her through it, Wright Style—“Royce” in the barn—was named the 2025 CNFR breakaway roping horse of the year.

The Horses

“Fantaz Popularresort,” the sorrel gelding she calls “Deputy,” was campaigned in the tie-down by 26-time PRCA world champion Trevor Brazile before she got him. He is 22 now and she still hauls him, because he stands in the box like furniture.

“I got on Deputy for Round 5 because he stands there like a rock,” she said at the 2024 NFBR, after a calf fought the chute on her.

She won Salinas in 2025 on “Walkin The Dog”—“Louie”—a horse owned by Liz Hirdes, whose husband Blake has roped with George’s uncle Mike since he was 18.

“Rylee—she’s like family,” Hirdes said. “When she wants to ride him, it’s a yes—no questions asked.”

And the horse that carried her to the NFBR average record was borrowed and she had only run two practice calves on him.

Ten for Ten

George went into the 2025 NFBR with Royce being sore coming out of The Million Dollar Breakaway in Arizona, so Jill Tanner handed her a black gelding named “Bob.” She had roped two calves on him.

“It means the world to me,” she said. “I’m blessed to be here. Thank you to Jill Tanner for letting me ride that great black horse of hers.”

Her slowest run of the week was a 4.2. Her fastest was a 2.2, in the 10th round, with the average on the line. She caught all 10 and stopped the clock at 29.0 seconds on 10 head, breaking the record of 31.9 that Cadee Williams set in 2022—and she was the only roper in the 15-woman field with 10 qualified runs. The average check was $16,914, part of $27,246 she took out of the Finals, and she closed the season fourth in the world with $135,078 won.

She had arrived that December aiming at the average buckle rather than the gold one, which she called the second-best thing.

Copper

In mid-January 2026, George bought a gray gelding named “Corona Colours” off Rickie Engesser. He is a 2008 model and he goes by “Copper.”

Four months later she backed him into the box at Cowtown Coliseum in Fort Worth for the championship round of the Premier Women’s Rodeo and roped a calf in 1.93 seconds. The round paid $60,000. Her week there was worth $62,607.14.

“That’s my biggest payout in one place,” she said. “So this is a really exciting week.”

The Winter That Set the Table

The PWR check landed on top of a Texas winter that had already put her in position. George won $7,700 at Fort Worth across her bracket, the wild card and the semifinals; $11,650 at San Antonio, advancing out of Bracket 5 and then winning the first semifinal; and $26,875 at Houston, where she was third in the shootout round. By the first week of June, she had $53,348.94 on the season in 12 rodeos.

“Pressure is a privilege,” she said heading into the summer run. “Being in this position is something I’ve worked toward for a long time, and I’m grateful for every opportunity that comes with it.”

“My goal this summer is to stay consistent and trust my preparation,” she said. “My horses are working great, and I’m excited for a busy summer.”

She has done exactly that. In the second week of August, she cashed at three rodeos in three states, including a share of the average win at Lovington, New Mexico, at 5.2 seconds on two head.

What’s Next for Rylee George

George is No. 3 in the world at $122,207.98. That is $13,021.79 behind Hali Williams and $10,253.52 ahead of Taylor Munsell in fourth—close enough to both that one good weekend moves her either direction. A third straight National Finals qualification is not the question anymore; the question is how high she gets before the regular season closes.

The nearer deadline is the Cinch Playoffs. George sits No. 4 in Cinch Playoff Series points at 720.59, inside the top eight that earn automatic berths to the Governor’s Cup in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, Sept. 25–27, and 46.46 points clear of ninth. The points period closes Aug. 24. Four more spots go to winners at Puyallup, Washington, Sept. 10–13 — the rodeo George won in 2025, when a $20,000 week there rocketed her into the top 10.

The National Finals Breakaway Roping runs Dec. 18–19 at Will Rogers Coliseum in Fort Worth, where the record she set is still hers to defend.

Read next: Behind the Top 15: Hali Williams and Behind the Top 15: Cheyanne McCartney.