Rheagan Cotton was the only cowgirl to catch all four calves at the Texas Circuit Finals in Waco, Oct. 13-16, roping them in 11.2 seconds to win the breakaway average, $5,413 and a berth at the NFR Open.
The average paid $4,640 on top of checks in Rounds 1 and 3. Not bad for a 25-year-old Fairfield, Texas, cowgirl who got into the 12-woman field last.
“I actually squeaked in the 12th position by just two, $300,” Cotton said.
She opened 2026 at the Texas circuit rodeos before heading north for the summer. With the Texas Circuit season winding down, she flew home for Wichita Falls, Mesquite and Denton to chase the last spot.
“I was sitting 13th or 14th and I kind of needed to win close to three, $4,000 to try to qualify for the circuit finals,” Cotton said. “And I ended up jump riding another horse that I had down here and he helped me place really good at those rodeos and I was able to squeak into the circuit finals.”
Cotton was first out in Round 1, on calves that had only been run through about twice.
“Being in a smaller building with the lights and the sounds and everything, I didn’t really know what those cattle were going to do,” she said. “So you just have to watch your calf and if he wants to leave hard, then you need to be on go.”
Her 2.4 placed fourth for $580. She caught a strong calf in 3.3 in Round 2, then went 2.7 on another strong one in Round 3 to split fourth through sixth with Jackie Crawford and Delani Beatty.
Four cowgirls carried three head into Round 4: Amy Ohrt led the average at 6.8, followed by Cotton at 8.4, Beatty at 9.0 and Jordi Edens-Mitchell at 16.2.
“My mindset was to just go rope your calves,” Cotton said. “You have nothing to lose, but everything to gain.”
Ohrt, Beatty and Edens-Mitchell all came up empty. Cotton went 2.8 to close it out. Ohrt still finished No. 2 in the average and led the week in money with $7,249, and Tibba Smith placed third in the average with 7.0 on three. Jaci Hammons won Round 4 in 1.9.
For Cotton, the win ended a run of near-misses.
“Just trying to circuit rodeos and stuff the past few years, I’ve never been able to make it,” she said. “And I’ve tried really hard and it’s just never really worked out. … Everything works out for a reason and I still honestly don’t understand why it worked out the way it did, but sometimes you got to take those little wins when you can get them.”
Capone
Cotton made all four runs on Caught A Whiskey, known as “Capone,” the gelding she’s had for three years as of this past summer. The 2016 red roan is by Whiskeys Sun and out of Lookin At A Listo, by Caught A Wink, and was bred by Craig Reesor.
“He has been nothing short of a blessing and he’s not for everyone, he’s not everyone’s cup of tea, but he backs in the corner, he scores good and he breaks to the pin and he makes my job really easy and enjoyable,” she said.
The not-for-everyone part shows up when he gets a few days off.
“He is a handful to say the least. If you leave him off for three or four days, he likes to buck,” Cotton said.
Capone can handle a short setup or run one down when he has to, but Cotton likes him best on the long starts.
Cotton grew up in a rodeo family back in Fairfield, where her dad team roped at amateur rodeos, her mom ran barrels and the family backgrounds cattle. She rodeoed in college for Southwest Texas Junior College in Uvalde.
Now she has a trip to Colorado Springs on the calendar.
“I’ve always wanted to go there, and so I’m just excited to go just to attend and mark it off my bucket list,” she said.
Her 2027 plan looks familiar, with one tweak: head north for the summer again, with the Texas Circuit work done early enough “to where I don’t have to fly back home again.”
