All eyes may be on the PRCA World Standings during Cowboy Christmas, but there are circuit cowboys like Hayden Ford taking advantage of the dozens of rodeos from June 28 to July 4.

Here are some of the circuit highlights.

Turquoise Circuit

Permit holder Hayden Ford dominated what is the biggest weekend for the Turquoise Circuit with rodeos in Prescott and Window Rock, Ariz. Ford won No. 3 and No. 2, respectively, to earn a whopping $7,270 and take over the circuit lead.

Ford just completed his sophomore season at Texas Tech where he rodeos for coach Jerrad Hofstetter, himself a Wrangler NFR qualifier. In fact, he has been borrowing Hofstetter’s son’s horse Boone.

“I’ve been riding him for most of the year because my good horse has been hurt,” Ford said. “I’ve done good on him, made some pretty big short rounds this year on him.”

In fact, Ford roped in the short go in Denver on his 20th birthday and also qualified to the last round in San Angelo.

Ford grew up in the east Texas town of Whitehouse and now resides in Lubbock while attending school. He had good reasons for choosing the Turquoise Circuit—comprised of Arizona and New Mexico—for his ProRodeo endeavors.

“I picked the Turquoise Circuit because it works best with my schedule,” Ford explained. “I’m able to pick which rodeos I want to go to and it doesn’t interfere with my school schedule.”

The ag business major has plans to be an entrepreneur after graduation, and that spirit is influencing his rodeo strategies, too.

“The circuit title was definitely the goal this year,” Ford said. “For the rest of the year, I’m going to try to get to every circuit rodeo to see if I can get my rodeo count and make a run at making the NFR Open next year.”

Ford orchestrated the standings assault despite never previously competing in Prescott or Window Rock.

“I have always watched Prescott since I was a little kid,” Ford noted. “It’s a prestigious rodeo but every time I back in the box, I try to have the same strategy . . . just don’t beat myself and have fun.”

The size of the checks available during the Fourth was shown in the impact in the standings: in addition to Ford, Joseph Parsons and Kalai Nobriga moved ahead of the pack to land No. 2 and No. 3. Parsons, a former NFR competitor, was the only other cowboy to place in both rodeos.

Great Lakes Circuit

Albia, Iowa, roper Cody Huber was on fire during the four rodeo Fourth of July sweep in the Great Lakes Circuit. Huber won better than $4,000 including a win in Manawa, Wisconsin. He hopped to the lead from No. 3, distancing Blake Ash by almost $2,000.

Missouri cowboy Jesse Hinkle also enjoyed a good weekend with a couple of checks including a round win in Manawa to move from No. 8 to No. 4.

Badlands Circuit

Ty Moser held his lead in the Dakotas with a little Fourth of July cash while the standings below him shifted. Trey Young closed to within a few hundred dollars thanks to a nice check at Mandan while Chase Lako picked up two checks worth nearly $3,000 to land third.

Meanwhile, Jason Schaffer went on a heater, taking second in Mandan and winning Mobridge right down the road to vault from No. 20 all the way to No. 5. He earned $5,991.

Mountain States

For cowboys in Wyoming and Colorado, the two major rodeos in Greeley and Cody bookended their Fourth of July with stops in Steamboat Springs and Brush, Colorado, a new PRCA stop, tucked in between.

Wrangler NFR cowboy Riley Pruitt of Nebraska’s resurgence in 2023 has included within his circuit and he held his lead in the standings throughout the holiday weekend.

Loveland, Colorado’s Tyler Boxleitner was the biggest winner, earning a huge check in Cody to leap from No. 14 to No. 2 after earning $4,202.

Wilderness Circuit

The Wilderness Circuit had two offerings for Cowboy Christmas in Oakley and West Jordan, two rodeos just 50 miles apart. Justin Brinkeroff pulled a small check at the latter to hold his lead in the circuit standings.

Britt Bedke closed the gap to $760 with a bigger West Jordan check. Elsewhere in the standings, Chance Thiessen cashed big in Oakley to the tune of $5,041 and leapt from No. 21 to No. 5.

Columbia River Circuit

There were five rodeos with some big cash up for grabs for ropers in the Columbia River Circuit. Texan Ty Harris managed to keep his pre-Fourth of July lead, but the standings tightened up considerably with Kass Kayser now only $60 behind. Only $651 separates the top five.

Texas Circuit

There were no changes in the top ten in Texas other than Lipan’s Cole Clemons putting another $1,281 between himself and the rest of the field with a win in Belton. Clemons’ lead is over $7,000.

Montana Circuit

Though Montana hosted a trio of rodeos for Cowboy Christmas, much of the proceeds went to out-of-circuit cowboys, leaving little impact on the early season circuit standings.

James Ramirez of Churchill continues to lead the way with only Jesse Medearis making a move. On the wings of a big check in Livingston, Medearis went from No. 8 to No. 3.

First Frontier Circuit

In the Northeast, all around hand Zane Kilgus fared the best during the long weekend, moving up four spots to tuck into No. 2 behind Ty Rumford. Rodeo is just barely getting started in the First Frontier and the gap from first to fifth is only $1,000 thus far.

Maple Leaf Circuit

Logan Bird kept the lead thanks to placing at both Maple Leaf Circuit rodeos over the Fourth in Airdrie and Raymond, Alberta.

Prairie Circuit

With only one rodeo on tap, the Prairie Circuit standings saw no changes.

While ropers in most circuits were scrambling from rodeo to rodeo, ropers in California and the Southeastern Circuits had no rodeos on the schedule, leaving standings unchanged.

California Circuit

Southeastern Circuit