Family, Horses, And Hard Work: Tayla Moeykens’ Road To The 2026 NFR

For professional barrel racer Tayla Moeykens, success in rodeo has never been a solo journey. From winning a national championship in college to succeeding on the professional level, she credits much of her success to great horses and a support system that has helped her every step of the way.

During her collegiate career, Moeykens built an impressive resume that includes one national championship in barrel racing, two reserve national championships, and three Big Sky Region championships. She also made the CNFR short go every year she qualified.

The ProRodeo lifestyle can be demanding. Last year, Moeykens estimated she spent only about two months at home, yet she embraces the challenges and continues learning with every season.

“People don't understand how much it can be and how much of a commitment you have to make to it. With your runs, it's not always just sunshine and rainbows all the time. You have to get through the ups and downs,” she says. “We do what we can to make sure the horses are happy and not run down or too tired. We’ve learned a lot. The more we learn, the more we realize we have so much more to learn. Each year we just try to make better educated decisions and learn from those mistakes.”

That learning process extends to the horses that travel with her. Leading her string of horses are Yeti and Lizard, who both have impressive resumes of their own. Yeti carried Moeykens to two reserve championships at the CNFR, and Lizard has been in her family since he was six months old.

“My mom actually did all the training on Lizard. He is home raised, home trained, everything,” Moeykens says. “He won Pendleton last year, so that was super cool all in itself. Pendleton's probably my favorite rodeo. That probably sounds cliché, but Lizard loves to run, so he's really excited when he gets to go there because he finally gets to do what he wants to do.”

Sitting comfortably inside the Top 10 in the world, she’s planning her summer run and Cowboy Christmas very strategically to give her the best shot at qualifying for her second NFR.

“We try to go to the rodeos we know our horses like. They really like the North Dakota, Montana, Wyoming, and South Dakota rodeos, and there's a really nice little path through there,” she explains. “We try to make the best path we can with the least amount of miles. We do what we can and make the best runs we can at those rodeos and see how it falls.”

As she continues chasing another NFR qualification, Moeykens remains grounded in the people and horses that helped build her career.

“My mom travels with me and my dad is usually at home taking care of the horses. He’s also my shoer, my horse massage therapist, exerciser, and my driver when he gets to come with. Thank you to my friends, family, and sponsors that help us get down the road.”