2023 World Champion Bareback Rider Keenan Hayes is on a Hot Winning Streak

In 2023, bareback rider Keenan Hayes set the world on fire winning his first World Championship at his very first Wrangler National Finals Rodeo. The Hayden, Colorado cowboy showed up in a big way and secured the gold buckle after a dominant year. 

Keenan then qualified to the NFR again in 2024, but injuries were lingering and longevity was questionable. After missing the top 15 in 2025, and spending a lot of time healing and recovering, Hayes is back and better then ever before this year. Not only is he in the top 15, but he is climbing the standings and has another big gold buckle opportunity in 2026. 

After Cowboy Christmas, Keenan is unofficially sitting 6th in the PRCA World Standings. This big move in the standings came after back to back to back wins for the talented 23 year old. He started off this big money stretch at the Greeley Stampede. The home state cowboy took home the average win with 175 points on two head. 

Then he took off for the rest of the Fourth of July run, and continued to dominate. He has not slowed down since. 89.5 points aboard Hello Jackson was enough for the win at the Black Hills Roundup in Belle Fourche. Then another 89 points on Little Big Man won the Livingston Roundup Rodeo for Hayes too. He got a check at the Cody Stampede and finished second at the Home of Champions Rodeo in Red Lodge Montana too. 89.5 points in Killdeer North Dakota was good enough for fourth. 

These big wins pushed Hayes over the $100,000 mark on the season and up several spots in those World Standings. 

Now, Keenan is chasing some circuit rodeos around Wyoming and Colorado this week. This is one of the biggest weeks of the Mountain States Circuit. Right now, Hayes sits atop the Central Wyoming Fair and PRCA leaderboard with 85.5 points. He is highly likely to return to Casper to the short go after hitting several other big rodeos this week. 

If this year continues to go his way, Keenan Hayes is going to be a contender in the race for the gold buckle. The race is far from over, and the standings have been everchanging. Recently, Bradlee Miller moved into the number 1 spot in the world. Close behind him is Jacob Lees.

The third and fourth place positions right now belong to reining World Champion Rocker Steiner and all around cowboy Wacey Schalla respectivey. However, both Steiner and Schalla are out due to injury for a good chunk of this year now. Three time NFR Average winner Jess Pope sits in fifth, with Keenan Hayes very close behind. 

Leighton Berry and R.C. Landingham fill the seventh and eigth positions right now. Those top 8 cowboys have all earned over $100,000 already this season.  

As we continue to watch all of these big payday rodeos play out over the next several weeks, and all the way until October 1st, eyes will be on Hayes to see if he can pull off one of the best comeback stories of the year.