PRORODEO Sports News February Digital Edition

accomplishments, and he’s still search ing for a second gold buckle. “It’s the chase to perfect greatness,” Hanchey told the PRORODEO Sports News on Wednesday at the National Western Stock Show and Rodeo in Denver. “Every year, I want a gold buckle. One is not enough. It sounds cliché but every year I’m trying to figure out how to go in (to the NFR) in the top five and have a chance at a gold buckle come Round 10.” Last season, Hanchey snuck into the NFR in the No. 15 spot by $1,635 to keep his streak alive. He placed in a couple rounds in Las Vegas to finish the season 14th with $171,851. The 36-year-old cowboy is not worried about keeping his streak going in 2026, but is choosing to take the season one rodeo at a time in hopes of entering the NFR in a better position than this past December. “I try not to think about it because you kind of get stuck in the past when you try to think about how many times you’ve made it,” Hanchey said. “But this past year was special, and it was hard to get into that one. I feel awe some. I just feel like I’m trying to make my first one this year. “That’s the mindset and mental game that I’ve had every year. I’m trying to make my first one. Then you look up, and you’ve been to 16 in a row. It’s been a heck of a ride, but we’re not done quite yet.” When Hanchey won the world in 2013, he finished with $202,672. Twelve years later, Riley Webb won the 2025 PRCA World Championship with $555,544 and picked up $250,412 at the NFR alone. “It takes so much more money now,” Hanchey said. “I remem ber the first few years I was making it. If you had $70,000, you were locked into the top 10. Now that’s not the case, you have to have $150,000 to hopefully make the Top 15. “That goes to show what kind of money has been added to

these rodeos. That’s my mindset. I try not to go to a lot of rodeos in the win ter and just go to the big ones because come June, there are so many dang ro deos that add a lot of money. And you have to have some ready for the bubble run just in case you’re there … I wish I was 25 and not 35 (years old).” Hanchey’s personal life has also changed since he first hit the road in 2009 and won the Resistol Rookie of the Year title in tie-down roping. He got married to his wife, Taylor, in 2021 and the two are raising their 20-month-old son, Stran, with a baby girl on the way. “Being older and having a wife, kid and another kid on the way changes your perspective a lot,” Hanchey said. “Stran’s getting to the age where he really doesn’t want me to leave, so it’s getting a little tougher on that front. But also I want him to be proud of who I am and that motivates me every day.” Hanchey has a stable of good horses that he’s taking on the rodeo trail this year, from Bugsy, the 2023 Nutrena Horse of the Year presented by AQHA in tie-down roping, and a pair of 7-year-old horses that he’s excited to show off this season. After 17 seasons in PRORODEO, Hanchey is still perfecting his craft. He said his body feels good and he’s ready to make another run in 2026. “A lot of guys are younger and prob ably faster,” Hanchey said. “But I don’t know. I feel like I still work as hard as anybody. I just want to be better.”

SULPHUR

Hanchey boasts a resume worthy of consideration as one of the most con sistent tie-down ropers in the modern era. But he’s not content to rest on his

FEBRUARY 2026 PRORODEO SPORTS NEWS DIGITAL MAGAZINE 27