PRORODEO Sports News - March 27, 2026 Digital Edition

with his grandparents made it more special. “I really look up to my grandpa,” Mackey said. “He taught me to keep a straight head on all the time and I always listen to what he and my grandma say. (That moment at the NFR) meant a lot with my grandma and grandpa. They helped me from when I was riding sheep to now. They still help me out.” Mackey has taken the momentum he gained from Las Vegas and car ried over to the 2026 PRORODEO season. He’s currently No. 2 in the world with $54,086 in earnings so far. He placed third at the National Western Stock Show and Rodeo in Denver in January and the Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo in Feb ruary. He also placed third at the San Antonio Stock Show & Rodeo, second at the 81st Annual Yuma (Ariz.) Silver Spurs Rodeo and had a third round win at RodeoHouston with an 87.5-point ride on The Cervi Broth ers’ Honey Badger. Mackey didn’t qualify for the semifinals in Houston, but the round win helped him shake a slight cold spell as he prepared for other major events, including Lawton (Okla.) Xtreme Bulls, part of the Rank 45 Xtreme Bulls Series, San Angelo (Texas) Stock Show & Rodeo and Rodeo Austin, both part of the PRO RODEO Playoff Series. “I think the NFR has helped my confidence,” Mackey said as he looks forward to the rest of the 2026 season. “It let me know I can ride on the biggest stage. I knew I could do it, I just had to get there. Now, there’s nothing I’m scared of. I just go out there and have fun doing what I do.”

O n Oct. 30, 1936, world champion steer wrestler Hugh Bennett organized a walkout at the Boston Garden Ro deo. More than 60 cowboys and cowgirls joined the strike to force the rodeo promoter to improve judging and increase prize money. The athletes came together to form the Cowboys’ Turtle Association, reflecting that while they were slow to act, they stuck their necks out for change. Now 90 years later, the movement still holds significant value in the history of the Professional Rodeo Cowboys As sociation, which came to be in 1975. In honor of the 90th anniversary of PRORODEO, the PRORODEO Sports News spoke to multiple cowboys on the road and asked them to share their favorite memories - both new and old - of the Western sport. Those memories will be shared in the print editions of the PRORODEO Sports News every month leading up to the official anniversary of the PRCA in October. Additionally, the PSN will visit some of the historic mo ments, cowboys and roughstock animals in the storied his tory of the sport. Enjoy the trip down memory lane. COWBOYSCELEBRATE, SHARE FAVORITE MOMENT IN HONOR OF PRORODEO’S 90TH ANNIVERSARY By Zach Alvira

MARCH 27, 2026 PRORODEO SPORTS NEWS DIGITAL MAGAZINE 33