Kassie Mowry Proves the Constant Is the Cowgirl, Not Just the Horse

Kassie Mowry made one of the most discussed decisions of the 2025 season before the National Finals Rodeo ever began. She left Jarvis at home. 

The gelding that carried her to the 2024 WPRA World Championship never entered the Thomas & Mack Center this year. Jarvis was healthy, but with outbreak concerns circulating throughout the industry, Mowry chose caution. The decision removed the horse most closely associated with her recent success. 

Ten rounds later, the outcome spoke for itself. 

Mowry left Las Vegas as the 2025 WPRA World Champion, securing her second consecutive gold buckle and reinforcing a reputation built on horsemanship rather than reliance on a single horse, no matter how great he is. 

Mowry’s 2025 NFR unfolded across two different horses, Will and Cornbread. Will had been there before with Mowry and Cornbread was a horse she had never competed on prior to the NFR. The adjustment did not alter her approach or her expectations. She still planned to and was prepared to walk away the champ. 

In Round 10, Mowry hit the third barrel, a costly mistake in an event where the difference between first and last can be hundredths of a second. In her post-run interview, Mowry acknowledged she believed the mistake might have cost her the gold buckle. 

Instead, the cushion she built throughout the season, and across the first nine rounds of the finals held. 

Though the down barrel dropped her out of contention for the average title, Mowry still finished fourth in the average and remained No. 1 in the world. 

Mowry entered the 2025 NFR ranked No. 1 in the world after competing at just 28 regular-season rodeos. This was a strikingly efficient path to the NFR at the highest level. This is uncommon as most everyone else had double, or even triple the rodeo count. 

Now a six-time NFR qualifier, Mowry’s résumé continues to separate her from her peers. Her reported $8 million in lifetime earnings, achieved largely aboard horses she trained herself, reflect a career defined by adaptability and true raw talent. 

The decision to leave Jarvis at home did not change her goals or her belief in her preparation. It simply required her to execute those principles in a different way, one she is fully capable of. 

While Mowry claimed the world championship, the barrel racing at the 2025 NFR featured several standout performances.

Julie Plourde, who entered the finals as the first alternate after Anita Ellis was unable to compete, won the NFR average. Plourde was one of just two competitors who did not hit a barrel throughout the ten rounds, a consistency that carried her to the largest payout of the week. Though she placed in only one round, the clean slate proved to be worth it all. 

Brittany Pozzi Tonozzi also avoided knocking over a barrel but suffered a significant slip in one round that affected her overall time, placing her just behind Plourde in the average standings.

Carlee Otero delivered the most dominant go-round performance of the finals, winning four rounds, including Round 10, and recording the two fastest times of the entire NFR with runs of 13.20 and 13.28.

Mowry has long been regarded as the best. The 2025 season added another layer to that reputation.

Winning back-to-back world titles is rare. Winning the second without the horse most closely tied to the first is even more so. 

Jarvis remained healthy at home. The gold buckle still came back with Mowry. The horse is only as great as the jockey on their back. 

In an NFR that highlighted a lot of challenges, and required rising to the occasion, Mowry’s gold buckle really reinforced the truth. The constant in greatness is not the horse, but the rider capable of winning on any of them underneath her.