RELEASE DATE: Mar. 30, 2026

Top stock is part of the Frontier

GUYMON, Okla. – When Frontier Rodeo was established 35 years ago, it was simply an idea.

It’s become an award-winning reality. For 11 straight years, it has been honored as the PRCA’s Stock Contractor of the Year. Other accolades have graced the company, too. From Big Bucks being named the PBR’s Bull of the Year in 2005 to Gun Fire’s Bareback Horse of the Year title in 2022, Frontier has had five animals win nine year-end achievements.

That excellence will be on display at Guymon Pioneer Days Rodeo, set for 7:30 p.m. Friday, May 1; 2 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday, May 2; and 2 p.m. Sunday, May 3, at Henry C. Hitch Pioneer Arena.

“They understand the game,” said saddle bronc rider Weston Patterson, a 2025 National Finals Rodeo qualifier from Waverly, Kansas. “They know the difference in good-quality stock and common-quality stock, and I think that’s why everybody goes to all their rodeos. You know you’re going to have a chance to get on good bucking horses and be around a great group of guys.

“They’re not just good guys; they’re good cowboys. They’re just all-around good people, and they’re the type of contractor that will take care of you.”

The company’s origins may be in southeast Texas, but its foundation is in the Plains. Nelson found northwest Oklahoma to his liking and purchased his first plot of land in 1997. The firm is spread over 10,000 acres near Freedom, Oklahoma. That’s where Medicine Woman was born in 2003.

As she grew, she developed into one of the greatest bucking horses ever. Medicine Woman was the Saddle Bronc of the Year in 2011, ’14, ’15, ’16 and was inducted into the ProRodeo Hall of Fame in 2022, a year and a half after she was retired from bucking and just a few months after her death.

In 2015, NFR veteran Issac Diaz won two rodeos on the mare, in Corpus Christi, Texas, and Dodge City, Kansas. He realized then the importance of having a horse of her caliber.

“Just to be able to draw a horse like that twice in a year is amazing,” Diaz said then.

That’s a fairly common theme for cowboys who are matched with Frontier animals. That’s why Maple Leaf was the top bronc in 2013 and why Full Baggage was the Bareback Riding Horse of the Year in 2011 and ’13.  

“Frontier is a powerhouse when it comes to stock contracting,” said Wyatt Casper, a five-time NFR qualifier who grew up in the Oklahoma Panhandle community of Balko. “Their horses are great, and they’re not content with where they’re at. They’re working at it every day to get better. Their genetics go back far enough that they’re breeding good stock.

“That’s a really good crew to be around, and they know what good horses are.”

So do the thousands of fans who pack into Hitch Arena in Guymon every May. Casper felt that on Gossip Girl, a horse then owned by Kirsten Vold Rodeo. Casper scored 88.5 points on the strong bay to win the 2025 Pioneer Days Rodeo title.

“I knew I had a pretty good chance to win,” Casper said last year. “Gossip Girl has been good. I was coming up here pretty confident that we had a pretty good horse.”

Frontier Rodeo acquired Vold and renamed the company Double J. With that, the Frontier team added more power to its already proven herd of \bucking animals, 17 of which were selected to perform at the NFR in December.

“That’s going to be a great deal for Frontier,” Casper said. “Kirsten did a great job with that program, and with them being able to add those genetics to the herd. It’s going to be nothing but positive. I’m excited to see where they take it.”

In addition to Pioneer Days, the Frontier team produces many of the top events in ProRodeo, like Cody (Wyoming) Stampede; Spanish Fork (Utah) Fiesta Days; Dodge City Roundup; Buc Days in Corpus Christi, Texas; and The American. On top of that, there are several smaller events that are part of the Frontier resume.

“I think that Vold card is going to affect them greatly,” Patterson said. “I think at the smaller rodeos they have in the Prairie Circuit, they’re going to see more guys just knowing they have a good chance of getting on quality stock. I think that’s going to be a big deal on what Frontier Rodeo has to come in the near future.”

Pioneer Days Rodeo is known for high scores, fast times and high-energy entertainment, and much of that is thanks to its association with another Oklahoma icon, Frontier Rodeo.

Where Champions Come to Play the First Weekend in May

For information contact Ted Harbin, imteditor@gmail.com, (660) 254-1900