PRORODEO Sports News February Digital Edition

SHORT ROUND

C5 RODEO’S VIRGIL HAD FINAL RIDE AT WRANGLER NATIONAL FINALS RODEO

C5 Rodeo’s Virgil, a three-time PRCA Horse of the Year, had his final ride at the 2025 Wrangler National Finals Rodeo. PRCA photo by Mallory Beinborn

F13 Virgil, one of the top bucking horses ever in PRO RODEO, bucked for the last time at the 2025 Wrangler National Finals Rodeo. The decision to retire the 18-year-old, 1,600-pound horse was announced by C5 Rodeo owner Vern McDonald at the South Point Hotel Casino during the PRCA Awards Ban quet, where Virgil was honored as the Pendleton Whisky Let ‘er Buck Saddle Bronc Horse of the Year. It was the third time in his career that Virgil received Horse of the Year honors, but his first in saddle bronc. “There’s nothing left for him to do,” said Tyson Car dinal, the ranch manager for C5 Rodeo who has worked with Virgil for 15 years. “I was saying I should put him in bull riding and let him win that, too. I wish we could buck him more but what if he slows down? We wanted to retire him at the top of his game.” The decision to send Virgil to the pasture comes after an illustrious career that includes eight NFR appearanc es, multiple rodeo championships and record-breaking rides. He became just the sixth horse to ever win both bucking horse awards, joining Lonesome Me, Kingsway Skoal, Spring Fling, Cool Alley and Xplosive Skies. Virgil’s Saddle Bronc Horse of the Year honor comes after he made a return to the event for the first time on a more consistent basis since 2021. He came out of the chutes five times that year. In 2025, he had three quali fied rides on four outings with an average stock score of

44.75. Damian Brennan rode Virgil for 85.5 points in Round 5 of the NFR. In Round 10, Brody Cress had an 89.5-point ride on Virgil for his final outing. Virgil was honored following his Round 10 exit out of the yellow bucking chutes. He pranced around the arena while he received a standing ovation from sold-out crowd at the Thomas & Mack Center. “I usually don’t show any emotion … I tried not to that day,” Cardinal said. “That was the last time that I got to pull a flank on him. It was pretty tough. It’s not just like any old horse that we retired. He was kind of the one that made us. No one would know who I am if it weren’t for Virgil or C5.” Virgil’s legacy was widely built in bareback. In June 2022, Virgil and Rocker Steiner matched for a 95-point ride in Darby, Mont. That mark set a new world record that still stands. His highest marked ride in 2025 came in July at the Calgary Stampede when Zeke Thurston rode Virgil for 92.5 points to win. Following the NFR, he returned to C5’s ranch in Cal gary, Alberta, Canada, where he will roam the pasture as one of the best bucking horses ever. “He’s not just another horse,” Cardinal said. “He had always been big, but with the retirement stuff he blew up. We loved the attention he got.”

50 PRORODEO SPORTS NEWS DIGITAL MAGAZINE FEBRUARY 2026