Riley Webb placed at seven rodeos between July 1 and July 5, won $46,698 and crossed $200,000 on the season.
The Cowboy Christmas run put Webb at $204,264 as of July 7—the biggest single-event total any athlete holds in the entire PRCA.
Webb won $16,047 at St. Paul. He was 7.5 seconds to win the first round, 7.9 to place fifth in the second and 15.4 on two head to split the average with Cory Solomon.
He was 7.0 to win Oakley for $7,783. He won Round 2 at Greeley with a 7.4 for $4,453. Won Eugene with a 8.1 for $2,749. Tied for ninth at Cody with an 8.6 for $2,969. Tied for 10th at Basin City with another 8.6 for $969.
At the Ponoka Stampede he placed in a round, the average, the Finals and the Showdown for $11,728.
The chase
Only four calf ropers had ever won three or more consecutive world titles before Webb. Toots Mansfield went three in a row from 1939 to 1941. Don McLaughlin ran off four straight from 1951 to 1954. Dean Oliver won five straight from 1960 to 1964. Roy Cooper won five in a row from 1980 to 1984.
Webb’s 2025 buckle made him the first roper to complete a three-peat since Cooper. A fourth this December would put him in a room with only three names—McLaughlin, Oliver and Cooper.
Justin Maass rodeoed part of his rookie year with Roy Cooper. He coaches young calf ropers in the practice pen at his place every summer and often hears himself saying Webbs name. When he tries to place Webb in the sport’s history, he reaches for Dean Oliver.
“Dean studied it and tried to figure out ways to be better all the time,” Maass said. “Even when he was the best, they said he was still trying to figure out a way to be better. That’s what Riley’s doing.”
The moves nobody else has
Maass has broken Webb’s roping down run by run. He pulls Webb videos up in the practice pen before his own guys rope and tells them to watch. He named two mechanical things Webb does that no one else does.
The first is the barrier.
“He reads the barrier probably as good as anybody I’ve ever seen,” Maass said. “It’s not go and throttle and hope I get out. He gauges it. He knows he’s going to hit the barrier. The amount of times he actually blows the barrier out compared to everybody else—if you broke the numbers down, it’s not even close.”
The second is a body-mechanics move at the calf.
“When he gets to the calf, he moves their head out of the way, and the ribcage of the calf comes toward his right knee. It gets his hand in the flank,” Maass said. “That makes the flank happen faster than anybody I’ve ever witnessed.”
Then there’s the speed.
“He’s full speed all the time,” Maass said. “The only other person I’ve ever seen rope like that was Caleb Smidt. Riley is maybe as good or better.”
But Maass didn’t see it coming.
“I was probably skeptical when Riley started,” Maass said. “I didn’t think he’d transfer to the next level and be as fast. I didn’t think he’d handle the calves like he has. I figured he’d probably get there. I didn’t think he’d get there as fast as he did.”
The alien
Trent Walls is a two-time NFR qualifier who owned two Tie-Down Horse of the Year honorees. He roped through the Cody Ohl-Fred Whitfield era of dominance. He doesn’t hedge on Webb.
“Riley’s a whole different alien,” Walls said. “He’s already the best guy and he’s never satisfied. That’s the key to greatness.”
Walls watched every roper who came close to catching Cooper. Webb, he said, isn’t close to that group. He’s past it.
“Roy Cooper was the last person we saw this out of,” Walls said. “Riley is really something amongst Roy Cooper and Dean Oliver. He learned it earlier, faster, quicker, better and stronger than anybody in history.”
Walls has a line he says he gave Shane Hanchey after the final round at Houston this year, when Webb’s 6.5 beat Hanchey’s 7.2 for the round win and arena record.
“I told Hanchey, ‘You beat all the humans at Houston. You beat every human that was there. The problem was there was one alien there,'” Walls said. “I don’t know if we’ve ever seen anybody that can do what Riley Webb has done and is doing.”
The horse and the shrug
Webb won three gold buckles on Rudy, the same horse who helped him average 8.7 seconds across 30 head inside the Thomas & Mack. But this year, Webb won a lot on money on Patron this spring, the sorrel he bought in February from Stetson Vest.
“When you win everything on one horse, your brain is centered around that being the reason,” Walls said. “Now that Riley is over that hump and has another great horse, he’s going to become the biggest gorilla ever.”
Maass has trained calf horses at every level. The horse, he said, isn’t the point.
“He rides those horses and he’s going so fast, but he doesn’t hinder the horse at all,” Maass said. “Usually when you see guys going super fast, it’s hard on the horse. Riley bends his knee, gets to the saddle horn, doesn’t pull the bridle reins much. He’s pretty easy on a horse considering how fast he’s leaving.”
Both men have also heard the shrug from ropers who can’t come up with anything else—Webb just draws better than everyone else.
“I saw a post yesterday about how he draws better than everybody else,” Maass said. “That sounds so much like when guys used to talk about Trevor Brazile and Cody Ohl. Funny how when you work harder and you’re more talented, you draw better.”
Walls said the cleanest way to describe what Webb actually is doesn’t come from the arena at all.
“I’d compare Riley’s work ethic and his attention to detail to a Navy SEAL,” Walls said. “When you watch what a Navy SEAL goes through to be a SEAL, you figure out right quick you don’t know anybody that can be a Navy SEAL. And that’s Riley.”
Where does it stop?
Maass, when asked about Webb’s ceiling, didn’t put one on it.
“I made a post last year after the Finals,” Maass said. “I think Riley could win 10. I think he could win 10 in a row. I really do.”
Then he named the one roper he thinks could get in the way.
“This freaking Wilhite kid is just as fast as Riley Webb,” Maass said. “He’s not as refined yet. But he’s just as fast. These kids are getting more and more fun to watch. It’s a hell of a time to watch calf roping.”