One Last Trip: Virgil Closed His Career on the Biggest Stage

If the measure of greatness is reliability on the worlds biggest stages, Virgil’s career stands among the finest the sport of rodeo has ever seen.

The iconic big grey gelding, owned by C5 Rodeo Company, had spent nearly a decade setting the standard for what greatness looks like in bucking stock—across disciplines, across venues, and across generations of riders.

Round 10 would be the last time he did it.

Virgil entered the 2025 NFR as the Saddle Bronc Horse of the Year, adding another chapter to a career that includes multiple Horse of the Year titles in both bareback and saddle bronc riding across the United States and Canada.

Now 15 years old, Virgil has combined longevity with top performance in a way rarely seen in bucking horses. He made his NFR debut in 2017, immediately leaving his mark. He never relinquished his place among the sport’s most trusted and sought after horses.

His ability to excel in both bareback and saddle bronc riding separated him as well. While crossover success isn’t unheard of, Virgil’s consistency at the very top level is what made him different. Power, athleticism, and durability came together in a way that consistently rewarded the guys who drew him if they could match his timing and intensity.

The announcement of Virgil’s retirement came earlier in the week following his recognition as Saddle Bronc Horse of the Year, marking a deliberate close to a career that has spanned nearly a decade at the highest level of the sport.

Virgil’s legacy is inseparable from the champions who have drawn him.

At the Calgary Stampede, one of rodeo’s most demanding stages, Virgil carried riders to victory three consecutive years. In 2023, Kade Sonnier won the Stampede aboard him with a 92-point ride. In 2024, R.C. Landingham followed with a 94-point winning score. In 2025, Zeke Thurston capped the streak with a 92.5-point ride, earning his fourth Calgary title and Virgil’s third.

Landingham also set a 92.5-point record at Red Bluff aboard Virgil, while in 2022, then-rookie Rocker Steiner matched with him for a world-record 95-point ride at the Riggin’ Rally in Darby, Montana.

Those moments were not outliers, they were a well-known pattern for Virgil. 

Virgil’s assignment at the 2025 NFR reflected the trust he earned over years of delivering under pressure. He was placed in the TV pen, reserved for horses expected to perform consistently with the sport’s brightest spotlight overhead.

He matched with Brody Cress in Round 5. In Round 10, it was Damien Brennan who nodded his head aboard Virgil for the horse’s final trip out of the chutes. Both guys had great rides scoring over 85 points. 

Great horses often fade quietly, their final outs coming long after their best days have passed. Virgil did not.

He left rodeo as Horse of the Year, still trusted in the TV pen, still matched with the best of the best , and still capable of producing rides that could change a leaderboard.

Round 10 ended and champions were crowned. Virgil’s place in rodeo history had already been secured—built on nearly a decade of dominance and sealed by a final trip that looked exactly like the many that came before it.

The gate closed, and one of the greatest bucking horses the sport has ever seen walked away on his own terms, and as the greatest to ever buck. 

Congratulations Virgil, on an impressive career and the lasting legacy you have in the arena.