Age: 28
Hometown: Miles City, Montana
Career Earnings: $2,040,462
Major Rodeos: RAM National Circuit Finals, Puyallup, Deadwood, San Angelo Roping Fiesta, Fort Smith, St. Paul, Greeley, Redding, Walla Walla, Nampa, Caldwell, Tremonton, Calgary, Canby, Williams Lake, Ponoka, Bremerton, Kennewick, Strathmore, Salt Lake City, NFR Open.
NFR Qualifications: 7 (2019–2025)
World Titles: 1 (2019)
NFR Average Titles: 2 (2019, 2023)
2026 Standings: No. 3 in the world ($133,162)
Star Horsepower: Seven S Tomahawk (Smoke), For Goodness Shakes (Lil Punch)
Haven Meged has done just about everything a tie-down roper can do.
The Miles City, Montana, cowboy won a world title as a rookie in 2019, owns the fastest run in NFR history at 6.4 seconds, and has now made seven straight trips to Las Vegas. But the 28-year-old’s 2025 ProRodeo season was less about records than survival—and the way he gutted it out says as much about him as any gold buckle.
For the first time in his career, Meged’s NFR qualification wasn’t settled until the final week of the 2025 regular season. A bulging disc knocked him out of the summer run and dropped him outside the top 20, forcing a decision on whether to keep going at all.
“I had an L5, S1 bulging disc and I feel like it’d get better and then I’d try to rope and then I’d be pinched and locked up and couldn’t move again,” Meged said. “We went 33,000 miles in seven weeks. It was insane rodeoing and I rode Smoke all but four calves. It was some of the stupidest stuff I’ve ever done.”
The grind paid off. Meged won Walla Walla, Dillon, Kalispell, Evanston, the Strathmore Stampede and more across the Northwest and Canada, and finished seventh in the world standings with $279,930—punching his seventh consecutive ticket to the Thomas & Mack.
“It was probably the most stressful summer I’ve ever had,” Meged said.
A Round Win at the 2025 NFR
In Las Vegas, Meged again showed his staying power. He placed in three rounds, finished third in the average with 90.0 seconds on 10 head and earned $146,125, capped by a 7.0-second Round 9 win worth $36,668—the seventh go-round win of his NFR career.
“It feels amazing, honestly,” Meged said after his Round 9 win. “It feels like it’s been a grind just to get back here… It’s a marathon, not a sprint.”
He rode Seven S Tomahawk, “Smoke,” all week with longtime standout Lil Punch sidelined by injury.
“I can’t even fault Smoke—he’s been amazing,” Meged said. “He jumps, really sucks back, and hits that ground the second my rope’s out of my hand.”
The Making of a World Champion
Meged grew up on a ranch and around the sale barn in Miles City, where roping came second to chores and 4-H. He spent two years on his permit, then stormed through 2019 as a rookie in name only, sweeping the Resistol Rookie of the Year title, the NFR average and the PRCA World Championship to become the first Montanan ever to win a tie-down roping gold buckle.
“Obviously everybody has high hopes to win a gold buckle,” Meged said. “At that time I probably didn’t really understand all of that stuff… in 2019, I was just young, dumb and was just roping having fun.”
He has since built one of the most consistent résumés in the sport, finishing second in the world in 2021 and third in 2024.
The Fastest Run in NFR History
Meged’s signature moment came in 2023, when he stopped the clock at 6.4 seconds inside the Thomas & Mack—the fastest tie-down run ever at the NFR. He rode Lil Punch, the little sorrel his wife trained as a breakaway horse, and claimed his second NFR average title with a record 77.4 seconds on 10 head.
“Being able to tie one in 6.4, faster than anybody has ever tied one at the National Finals, it is crazy,” Meged said. “I was on cloud nine… I don’t know if the record will last very long, but it’s cool to say that you broke it for a little while.”
Horsepower
Meged is quick to credit his horses. Casanovas Cowgirl, “Beyonce,” carried him to the 2019 world title.
“She changed my life,” Meged said. “Everything I have is because of that mare.”
Seven S Tomahawk, “Smoke,” shouldered the 2025 comeback, and For Goodness Shakes, “Lil Punch,” set the 6.4 record before injuries slowed him in 2025.
That horsepower is no accident. Meged and Shelby, herself a world champion breakaway roper, run an impressive calf-horse training program.
“Honestly, I think I like riding horses more than I like rodeoing,” Meged said. “We’ve got probably one of the best strings right now that we’ve ever had.”
What’s Next for Haven Meged
Healthy again and back on his best horses, Haven Meged opened 2026 sitting No. 3 in the tie-down roping world standings with $133,162 won—a far cry from the injury that nearly ended his 2025 before it started, and proof the Montana cowboy is once again chasing a second gold buckle.