Two-time PRCA World Champion Shad Mayfield and the Barrilleaux family, operating as C&S Equine, have bought Zak 34, the $429,000 Snaffle Bit Futurity Champion and 2026 World’s Greatest Horseman Reserve Champion, who will keep standing at Solo Select Horses alongside his sire, Woody Be Tuff.

For the Clovis, New Mexico, cowboy, it’s the biggest piece yet of a horse program he started building this spring while recovering from hip surgeries.

“We’re super pumped to be adding Zak 34 to the program,” Mayfield said. “This is a big day for us. And definitely me, I was very emotional. Everybody knows how much I love horses and getting into the breeding side of things. And to add such a horse as Zak that has been proven and has a great name for himself and just the horse he is to add to our program to build off of, we’re super excited and blessed for the opportunity to have him.”

Why Zak 34

Mayfield first noticed the black stallion from the stands at the 2026 World’s Greatest Horseman, where Zak 34 finished Reserve Champion under NRCHA $2.7 million rider Chris Dawson.

“Well, I watched that horse go at the World’s Greatest Horseman last year with Chris Dawson, and I think it was how he worked there that caught a lot of eyes,” Mayfield said. “He’s such a big black, pretty, stout horse as well as just the athlete he is. That horse is such a freaking athlete. And I like bigger horses, especially in the calf roping. I feel like a bigger horse is just more versatile to go out there and do more things. And with this horse being big, he’s not like a big slow-footed horse. He moves like a little horse. He’s such an athlete and we’ve seen that with him at the World’s Greatest Horseman. We’ve been looking for the right stud for a minute and then when the opportunity came about, we just felt like he was what’s going to fit our program.”

Zak 34 is by Woody Be Tuff, the sire of more than $16 million, and out of Cat Digs Lucinda who is by the legendary High Brow Cat. He stands nearly 15.2 hands with heavy bone and according to Solo Select, he vetted clean after a long, high-level show career. Sons of Woody Be Tuff are rare.

“One reason there aren’t very many of them is because the Center Ranch purposefully gelded every single colt,” Solo Select’s Melanie Smith said in the stallion’s announcement. “That’s why there aren’t hardly any Woody stallions out there, and that’s what makes this horse so special.”

Mayfield already had a connection to the line. This spring he sent Figure To Fly “Lollipop,” the 2024 AQHA Tie-Down Horse of the Year, to Solo Select and bred her to Woody Be Tuff.

Read: Mama Pops: The Foundation of What’s Next for Shad Mayfield

“The biggest thing is we want him to go out there and be a great sire and make great babies for the people that are willing to trust us,” Mayfield said. “We feel like he’s going to be able to make great babies and cross with a lot of great mares out there. I’m a big fan of Woody Be Tuff and there’s not very many upcoming Woody Be Tuff studs out there, and he’s one of them. I mean, this past year was the first time I ever bred Lollipop and the horse I bred her to was Woody Be Tuff. So this is definitely a horse that I’m going to be able to put Lollipop and actually both of my mares with.”

Both of those mares are Popular Resortfigure mares, Lollipop and Popular Snow Resort “Tootsie Pop.”

Bringing back the old-school calf horse

Mayfield is excited to cross Zak 34 on mares of all sizes, but especially smaller mares, to raise correct, big-boned calf horses.

“This horse is going to bring back the old-school, strong, big boned calf horse build that I like to see,” Mayfield said. “I feel like the big bone that he has and just the build that he has, is going to be what makes the next generation of calf horses hold up so well and be good in any setup. If you breed to this horse, you’re going to get a powerhouse of a horse. You’re going to get a calf horse that’s going to be so strong, athletic and versatile. I’ve got it in my head right now of how him and Lollipop’s going to cross is going to be so good. He’s just such a dominant sire that he’s going to make, I feel like, such good calf horses.”

According to the announcement, that eye for bone came from home.

“My dad would tell me what to look for in a horse,” Mayfield said. “You look at the bone, the size, and the frame. With Zak, he’s got all that. That’s a horse that’s going to be able to hold up.”

Rope horse futurities for Zak and Boosie

Zak 34 is already enrolled in the NRCHA Cow Horse Incentive, Riata, Royal Crown Roping and Solo Select’s Reined Cow Horse and Rope Horse incentives. Next on the list is the Gold Buckle.

“Our goal first thing is try to get him in the Gold Buckle,” Mayfield said. “We’re going to try to put him in every rope horse futurity we can because the build of a head horse, calf horse, really any horse he can make is going to be spectacular.”

Mayfield and the Barrilleauxs also own Rebel Impact “Boosie,” a 3-year-old stallion by Metallic Rebel out of Annie B Rey, who Corey Cushing just showed to a 218.5 in the reined work at the NRCHA Snaffle Bit Futurity.

“This year Corey’s having a lot of success showing him and he’s working at the Snaffle Bit right now and he’s in a great spot after doing the reined work and herd work to make the finals,” Mayfield said. “They’ve just got to go down the fence and make one more good run. Corey, he’s super impressed by what that horse has done and just how far he’s come in such little time. He is definitely going to be in all kind of incentives, that’ll be coming within the next couple of years. But Boosie, he still has to go prove himself and he’s doing it right now.

“But for Zak, he’s already proven himself. So we’re going to have him in every incentive, but definitely first one we’re going to try to get him in right now is the Gold Buckle moving forward.”

Partnering with Solo Select

Mayfield has built one of the strongest personal brands in tie-down roping, and he’ll put it to work alongside Solo Select’s marketing team.

“The way we marketed myself and what I’ve done is that’s why I’m here today,” Mayfield said. “It’s been an awesome opportunity and I feel like working with Solo, that’s going to be huge. Solo’s ahead of the game. This ain’t my first time going over there today, but every time I’ve gone over there, they just have everything lined out how it needs to be. The studs that they have there, the team that they have, it’s awesome.

“The biggest thing that was said at Solo today was that we want people to know this stud’s personality,” Mayfield said. “I feel like that’s what has boosted Lollipop so much. People have really got to know her and her personality. So we’re really pushing for everyone to see Zak’s personality and the kind of horse he really is.”

A program born from time off

The breeding program grew out of the time Mayfield spent away from the rodeo trail after his two hip surgeries.

“We can’t rope forever,” Mayfield said. “So I’ve always had that in the back of my head as like, what’s it going to look like after rodeo? And for me, you could save up for roping your whole life, but whenever you’re done roping, what are you going to do? Just sit around and not do nothing? No, I can’t do that. What made this happen is me being out having surgeries. Having the first of the year off, I was allowed to sit back and learn about the breeding, learn about the cow horse stuff, learn about everything. If I’d have been rodeoin’, I wouldn’t have ever had the opportunity or the time to just sit back and do what we’ve done this year.

Family first

To Mayfield, the Barrilleauxs, Canaan and Jennifer, are more than business partners.

“It’s the future for myself,” Mayfield said. “It’s a legacy that I’m starting one day for my family and being a partner with the Barrilleaux family, they’re such great people. They care about everybody. And that’s the biggest thing is you want to be associated with great people that believe in me and believe in what we’re building and they believe in everything we’re doing.”

Mayfield has been teaching the Barrilleaux kids to rope. Their oldest son, 11-year-old Cason, now has Mayfield’s horse, Rampage.

“He just started roping seven months ago and I gave him Rampage,” Mayfield said. “I said, ‘Listen, Rampage has done what he’s needed to do for me. And he’s just 17 years old, so he’s still got some fuel in the tank. So I want him to go out there and help Cason and teach him to get where he needs to be.’ So really this is all about building up the next generation of horses and kids and everything.”

The Barrilleauxs stood by him through the hardest part of his year.

“They believe in me more than anybody else does, and they’re family to me. We spend a lot of time together and they came out on the road and supported me this year. The biggest thing that stuck with me is while I was out and had surgery, they were always there for me. They didn’t go anywhere. You see people that when you’re down, you see who’s really there for you. They’re a huge reason why I came back early. Having an opportunity to be in the arena with Canaan and Jennifer’s son, that helped push me to get back. After having the surgeries that I had, you could take it two ways, you could be down and depressed or you could have people like the Barrilleaux family who are still going to push you and believe in you to get up and go do great things.”

As for what a younger Mayfield would think of the program:

“Young Shad would be in disbelief,” Mayfield said. “This is something I’ve only ever dreamed about. I feel like we follow what God has wants us to be. And I give all glory to God on everything because I wouldn’t be where I am today without him. He put a rope in my hand and allowed me to go and do big things with it and got us to where we are today. But young Shad, I think he’d be proud. I think he’d be very proud of where we’re at today.”