Copper, the gray gelding Rylee George spent two years trying to buy from Rickie Engesser, is the 2026 Nutrena Horse of the Year Presented by AQHA in breakaway roping, an award voted on by the top 25 Women’s Professional Rodeo Association (WPRA) breakaway ropers, and the two cowgirls who know him best both point to the box.
George, the Oakdale, California, native who now calls Stephenville, Texas, home, bought Oke Colours, “Copper,” a 10-year-old gray gelding by Corona Colours out of an Okies Leo Twist mare, from Engesser in January. Engesser had roped on him since he was 4 and has made the National Finals Breakaway Roping (NFBR) on him.
“Honestly, he’s just a winner,” Engesser said. “I mean, that horse does the same run every time. He’s strong, he scores good, he fires across the line. I mean, he’s just a very honest horse, no matter if it’s a long setup or a short setup.”
George credits the same thing.
“He just stands there and does not move and just, he’s so honest and just always on your team,” George said. “Whether it’s a slow calf, fast calf, whether it’s a fast setup, or a longer setup, you can ride him in, in all of them.”
He stands so still that trusting him to leave is the big thing, Engesser said. George broke a lot of barriers this summer, and Engesser’s crew gave her a hard time about it, reminding her that he’s the fastest one going.
“Give him at least five inches more if you need to,” Engesser said.
Same Horse, Bigger Spotlight
Copper had been in the conversation before. He finished third in the Horse of the Year voting one year with Engesser, who rode another horse alongside him. This year he was George’s No. 1 horse, at every kind of setup, and Engesser thinks that helped set him apart.
“I don’t feel like he’s changed a whole lot as a horse,” Engesser said. “She rides him good. They are just a really good fit.”
“They noticed him a couple years ago, but really seen him show up this year for her and she rode him at everything,” she said.
The sale put a spotlight on him, too. Four months after George bought him, she rode Copper to the Premier Women’s Rodeo breakaway title at Cowtown Coliseum in Fort Worth, Texas, roping her calf in 1.93 to win the $60,000 Championship Round and $62,607 for the week. Engesser agreed that when a good horse changes hands, people watch a little closer.
“I think it shows that the horse is a multipurpose horse,” Engesser said. “I mean you can do anything and everything on him.”
George thinks the timing was simply right.
“It was just kind of his time,” George said. “I think he just had a great year this year.”
Other cowgirls got a feel for him, too. George let a couple of them ride Copper this summer, and they loved him too. A few cowgirls we talked to before the results came out all had him on their lists. To George, what makes him special is how many people have been able to win on him.
“I was just hoping that everybody else would kind of just see how special he is,” George said.
Two Years of Asking
George had been after him long before anyone voted.
“I bugged her for probably two years and she never would,” George said. “I liked how good he wanted to score and just always honest, never wanted to take your shot away, just kind of always on your team.”
“At first I thought she was joking,” George said. “And then I said, well, if you’re serious, then I’ll try him, and I took him to a jackpot that week, and then I bought him that same week.”
She had ridden him exactly once before, at the 2025 Rough Rider Cup in Mandan, North Dakota, and broke the barrier because she didn’t think he would leave. At the jackpot that January week, he was outstanding.
“I never really had to get with him,” George said. “I was just kind of with him from the start.”
George calls him the most easygoing horse she owns, and he doesn’t ask for much maintenance. She doesn’t grain him, and keeps him going on a tube of Succeed and some Previcox. When her chiropractor checked him again this summer, he wasn’t even sore. His only demand is company.
“He likes to have a buddy,” George said. “If he doesn’t got a buddy, then he throws a temper tantrum, but that’s pretty much it.”
George plans to ride Copper at the NFBR this year.
“I really never thought I would have a horse that would win Horse of the Year,” George said, “and so to have him, that’s pretty special.”
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