Dreams of NFR glory evolving for Jordon Briggs

For Jordon Briggs, it’s a running joke with a hint of underlying truth. The Tolar, Texas, cowgirl often tells people that no one has run barrels at the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo more than she has — although most of her runs took place away from the limelight of the Thomas &Mack Center.

“Mine was on a stick horse in the parking lot,” Briggs says with a laugh.

When your mother is four-time world champion barrel racer Kristie Peterson, December trips to Las Vegas for rodeo’s culminating event are a regular occurrence. As a kid, Briggs galloped around on a make-believe horse and dreamed of the day when she might saddle up and prepare for her own shot at gold buckle glory.

Now, she is on the cusp of something greater.

After finishing the 2022 regular season as the top earner in the Women’s Professional Rodeo Association standings, Briggs is in pursuit of something that has seldom occurred — winning world titles and the NFR average in back-to-back years.

Only three other women have ever captured both honors in consecutive years, with Peterson being the last to do so when she did it three straight times from 1996-1998. Previously, Jane Mayo (1959-1960) and Charmayne James (1986-87, 1989-90) were the only other women to win both the world title and NFR average in back-to-back seasons.

Last season, Briggs reached rodeo’s pinnacle the hard way.

After years of success in futurity competitions, Briggs made the decision just before the 2020 season began to start hitting the professional rodeo circuit in pursuit of something bigger, with her 7-year old sorrel gelding, Rollo. Unfortunately, COVID-19 altered those ambitions, as many rodeos canceled or limited participation.

Over the 2021 season, she worked her way up the standings with solid performances over the course of a long and grueling schedule. Briggs ended up competing at 56 rodeos in 2021, earning enough money to reach the NFR for the first time in her career.

She did all of that despite an injury that could have ended her 2021 efforts prematurely. For more than two months in the winter, Briggs was sidelined after tearing the tendons away from her ankle bone when her foot hit a barrel at full speed.

After qualifying for the 2021 NFR, the rest was history. She won the average and world titles by resetting the NFR record for total time on 10 runs. Previously, the mark was held by Nellie Miller in 2017 at 137.32 seconds. Briggs finished her 10 runs in a total time of 136.83 seconds.

“My advice to her at the NFR, I just told her it’s nobody else but you and Rollo. That’s it. That’s all you’ve got to think about,” Peterson said. “You’re a team, you’re bonded. He knows you, and you know him. You don’t have to think about anything else.”

Because of her 2021 success, the 2022 campaign has been a bit different for Briggs and Rollo.

By winning the NFR, she qualified for some of the bigger winter rodeos that have helped put her atop the season standings. A win at RodeoHouston, with money-securing runs at Fort Worth and San Antonio, allowed Briggs to focus on quality over quantity for much of the summer and fall events.

This year, Briggs only needed 31 rodeos to capture almost $178,000 in the regular season, $50,000 more than the next closest competitor.

A year ago, she was chasing everyone else. That is no longer the case.

“I definitely feel more pressure on myself now. Last year, I had an amazing season, but I had no expectations going into the NFR. I was just so thrilled that I made the top 15,” Briggs said. “I definitely prefer no expectations and just kind of ‘go do your thing.’ I do think kind of being No. 1, you feel a little more pressure other than just showing up to see how you’re going to do and not having to worry about the gold buckle necessarily, even though it’s anybody’s game at NFR.”

To be fair, this situation has always been where Briggs wanted to be, dating to those imaginary runs on her stick horse.

Back then, she told her mom that her make-believe horse was named Scamper, a tribute to James’ legendary horse, which she rode to 10 of her 11 world titles. Briggs told Peterson that she wanted to grow up and beat James’ records for most world championships.

While she still has a long way to go, another world title and NFR average crown would certainly go a long way in cementing her as one of barrel racing’s top competitors. But right now, Briggs is continuing to follow her mom’s advice, while focusing on the next run and nothing else.

“The second you get caught up in how other people are doing and thinking that makes a difference, you kind of beat yourself,” Briggs said. “Just stay in the mindset of it’s just you and your horse running against the clock. That’s all the control you have over the situation.”