Sandhills Stock Show and Rodeo: Preview, Format, and How to Watch

The dust has settled on the New Year’s Eve events and it is time for the winter run to get underway. It will kick off with the Sandhills Stock Show and Rodeo in Odessa, Texas, which is in its first year as a PRCA Playoff Series Rodeo.

FORMAT

This is a one-header for all roughstock events along with tie-down Roping and barrel racing. Your steer wrestlers and team ropers will have two-head Average to determine the champion. The Texas rodeo has a total of six performances, spanning two weekends between Jan. 4-13, with a payout of about $250,000.

WHAT TO WATCH FOR

Bareback Riding

Texas native Will Lowe is looking for a third Sandhills Championship. An 85.5-point ride was all it took in 2021.

Fresh off a hot National Finals Rodeo are Jayco Roper and Jacob Lees. The traveling partners are up in the Third Performance and both finished in the Top 11 in the final PRCA World Standings in 2023.

Steer Wrestling

Bridger Anderson picked up a Round 2 win in Odessa in 2021 with a 3.8-second run. Fresh off of his second NFR, he is looking to find early momentum in the season.

Team Roping

You will see reigning Sandhills Champions Clay Smith and Jake Long but not with each other. Smith is roping with Coleby Payne, while Long is continuing to rope with his NFR partner Clint Summers. The latter pair won three rounds together in Las Vegas last month.

Saddle Bronc Riding

Seven-time NFR qualifier Brody Cress is looking to extend his early season lead in the PRCA World Standings with a second consecutive Sandhills title. He is out in the First Performance.

Tie-Down Roping

While Bryson Sechrist looks to repeat success in Odessa, while Cash Enderli is coming off second place finish as a rookie in Odessa in 2023. He was just two tenths off of the leader last year and the second-year cowboy is out in in the Fourth Performance.

Barrel Racing

The Sixth Performance is full of NFR qualifiers in the barrel racing like Shelley Morgan, Ilyssa Riley, and Kassie Mowry. Mowry finish one hundreth of a second outside of the money in 2023 and Riley will be hunting for redemption in the small pen.

Bull Riding

Taylor Toves has matched up with Record Rack’s Overpass, the bull that Shawn Bennett claimed the 2023 win on. Bennett made one of two qualified rides on the bull last season.

Breakaway Roping

In the fastest event in rodeo, you can watch for some of the best. Lari Dee Guy and Hope Thompson will rope in the Fifth Performance while the newest World Champion, Shelby Boisjoli-Medged is up in slack on Jan. 8.

BROADCAST SCHEDULE

You can watch every performance LIVE The Cowboy Channel+ App 8:30 PM ET/7:30 PM CT. Five of the six performances will also be live on The Cowboy Channel or The Cowgirl Channel. You can see the full schedule for the Sandhills Stock Show and Rodeo below and The Cowboy Channel’s entire broadcast schedule here.