Age: 23
Hometown: Mount Pleasant, Texas
Career Earnings: $895,480
NFR Qualifications: 4 (2022-2025)
Major Rodeos: Governor’s Cup, Abilene, Kennewick, Cinch Chute-Out, Greeley, Heber City, Bay City, Red Lodge, Estes Park, Lethbridge, Lufkin, Redding, Gooding.
Star Horsepower: Duals Crescent Boon (Mario), CD Adrenaline Rush (CD), OCD On Cows (Captain)
Before he was a four-time NFR qualifier, Kincade Henry was the kid who took his rope to the baseball park, dreaming of playing for LSU.
At 23, the Mount Pleasant, Texas, cowboy has traded those college baseball dreams for gold-buckle goals and already stacked up four straight National Finals Rodeo qualifications in the tie-down roping. He’ll back into the box at the 2025 NFR with $196,718 won on the year and $895,480 in career earnings.
Henry’s 2025 Climb
Henry will arrive in Las Vegas off one of the biggest wins of his career.
He closed out the 2025 regular season by banking $34,978 at the Governor’s Cup in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, placing fourth in the first round with an 8.7 then firing a 7.4 in the finals for $32,000 and the title that pushed him to No. 3 in the world standings.
“It feels good to finish off the season like that,” Henry said after his 2025 Sioux Falls win. “I just wanted to capitalize these last two weeks and finish the year how I started.”
The Sioux Falls win capped a campaign that also included ProRodeo wins at the West Texas Fair & Rodeo in Abilene, the Horse Haven Roundup in Kennewick, the San Angelo Cinch Chute-Out and the Matagorda County Fair & Rodeo in Bay City.
Early Foundation
Henry’s story started like a lot of Texas kids, just with more miles between the baseball field and the arena.
“Whenever I was younger, all I wanted to do was rope,” Henry said on The Tie-Down Breakdown in 2024. “I was the kid at the baseball park that always had a rope in my hand and that’s all I ever wanted to do.”
His family stepped away from rodeo for a few years after his sister was injured, but the Josie Ranch schools kept a spark lit.
“If it wouldn’t have been for the Josie schools in between there, I probably would not be roping right now,” Henry said on The Tie-Down Breakdown in 2024. “Those schools were a huge blessing to my whole family.”
Baseball took center stage for a time while he chased state championships and built a batting cage at home, but by his mid-teens roping had moved back to the top of the list.
“I started taking the roping pretty serious and I quit all sports,” Henry said on The Tie-Down Breakdown. “No matter what you do in life, if you’re going to do it you have to believe in yourself and you have to put in the work.”
Rookie Lessons
Henry bought his PRCA card in 2020, determined to learn in the deep end instead of staying on his permit. He finished that first season 31st in the world with $27,787 after wins at Lake Charles and Magnolia.
“It was straight laying the foundation,” Henry said on The Tie-Down Breakdown in 2024. “What I learned that year, to me was more valuable than to win the rookie.”
In 2021 he jumped to 19th in the world with $69,967 and wins in Lufkin, Redding and Gooding, but a late season miss kept him from his first NFR.
“I remember roping at Ellensburg and I was in the top 15,” Henry said. “Then I ended up, I missed the Finals that year. It was heartbreaking, but if you can learn something from your failure it’s not as hard to take.”
The turning point came that fall when he bought the horse that would change his career.
“I came home from that 2021 season and bought my horse Mario right before Hanchey’s roping,” Henry said. “He’s been the biggest blessing of my career.”
Breaking Through in Vegas
With Mario underneath him, Henry surged. In 2022 he finished ninth in the world with $217,108, qualified for his first NFR and won $115,162 in Las Vegas after placing in five rounds and splitting two go-round wins.
“I came in the 15th hole and I was first out the first round of my first NFR,” Henry said. “I didn’t have anything to lose. It was straight just having fun roping at your first NFR.”
He added another Finals qualification in 2023, finishing the year eighth in the world with $211,028 and earning $83,547 at the NFR after placing in four rounds and finishing fourth in the average. That season also included wins or co-championships at Red Lodge, Estes Park and Lethbridge.
By 2024 Henry had made three straight NFRs and finished 14th in the world with $174,322, winning Greeley and Heber City along the way. The learning curve stayed steep.
“I feel like I learned way more from last year’s Finals than I did in 22,” Henry said on The Tie-Down Breakdown in 2024. “You have to be in the average if you want to win a world championship, but against these guys you’re not just going to go cast down and win anything. You have to be going at it every night.”
The Mental Game
Henry has become as known for his mental approach as his horsepower.
“The main thing is just always being where your feet are, staying in the present, not looking too far ahead of yourself and just staying neutral,” Henry said. “Positivity is an awesome thing, everybody knows negativity kills, but don’t be so positive that you’re hyping yourself up for nothing.”
Mario: The Horse of a Lifetime
For all the mental work and miles, Henry still points back to one horse, Mario.
“Everything I own, everything I have, is because of that horse,” Henry said after his 2025 Sioux Falls win. “Whenever I bought him, I was a broke college kid trying to rope calves for a living. Everything I’ve won is because of him. Every calf I get to run on him is a blessing.”
The bond started years before the purchase when Henry watched Tanner Green ride the bay roan in Florida.
“I told Tanner right then, ‘If you ever want to sell that horse, let me know,’” Henry said.
Mario eventually changed hands to Wyatt Imus and Henry finally got a chance to ride him when he was on the bubble of making the Finals in 2021.
“I rode Mario a couple places and I placed on him,” Henry said. “Wyatt mentioned selling him, and I said I’d vet check him when I got home.”
The vet check turned up some issues, but Henry’s mind changed mid-call.
“I told my dad before the call to Wyatt I wasn’t going to buy him,” Henry laughed. “Then I called back after and said, ‘Well, I own him now.’ I don’t even know what changed my mind, but I’m glad I ended up with him.”
Mario carried Henry to a college national championship and a College Rodeo Horse of the Year title in 2022, plus three NFRs and major ProRodeo wins from Houston to Cheyenne.
“I’ve never clicked with a horse like this before,” Henry said. “People were asking what I was doing to make him work so good, and I hadn’t changed anything. I was just roping. It was like it was meant to be.”
The A String
Mario is still the anchor, but Henry’s string has grown to match his goals.
“I have two sorrels, CD and Captain,” Henry said after his 2025 Sioux Falls win. “Everyone but me won on CD at Pendleton. He’s a trooper and wherever I need to ride him, I know I can get on him and win. I bought Captain last fall before the NFR, and he’s been awesome.”
With Mario rested through the summer and Captain coming on strong, Henry is confident in his NFR horsepower.
“It’s looking like I’m going to take Mario and Captain with me to the Finals, unless something changes,” Henry said after his 2025 Sioux Falls win. “Mario’s the man on that setup, and that’s why we gave him the summer off.”