Hayle Gibson-Stillwell enters her first National Finals Rodeo in 2025 ranked No. 12 in the WPRA world standings after earning $140,032.27 across 82 rodeos.

The Redcrest, California, cowgirl reached the Finals on homebred horsepower and a season that unfolded without plans, projections or expectations.

Gibson-Stillwell grew up far from the rodeo arena. Her parents raced motocross, not horses, but she showed interest early.

“My parents said when I was a kid I’d be in the truck and I’d see a horse and I’d yell,” she said.

She started lessons at four with an off-the-track jockey and learned to ride in a flat saddle. Her first horse was an Arabian gelding named CJ, a horse she leased before he was eventually given to her. He carried her through gymkhanas, junior rodeo and into high school. “He definitely gave me my start, my foundation and the love of the game.”

She roped through much of her youth because she and her sister shared one horse and roping was easier to practice. Barrel racing became a greater focus in college, where she rode an On The Money Red mare that helped her transition into amateur and local pro rodeos. She stayed inside the California Circuit for years before hauling outside the region in 2023. Her home in Humboldt County makes rodeoing difficult.

“I live at the Oregon border on the coast. It’s four hours just to get to an interstate,” Gibson-Stillwell said. Most California rodeos require nine to eighteen hours of hauling.

Two mares pushed her beyond the circuit. Fancy RDC “Fancy” and Fling N Fortune “Bebe” carried her into bigger events in 2023. Fancy won the Open Derby at the Royal Crown in Buckeye with a 16.7, and Bebe placed in the Royal Crown Derby. A turnout in Tucson allowed her to enter the rodeo, where Fancy was second in the round and made the short go.

Road closures kept her from returning home, so she continued entering rodeos. “Fancy just kept winning and so did Bebe,” she said.

She lost Bebe shortly before RodeoHouston in 2023 but went to the rodeo in the mare’s honor. Fancy, returning from a fractured coffin bone, advanced into the final day. That momentum carried her into the 2024 season until Fancy fell at Reno and sustained a diaphragm-related issue that took months to diagnose and correct.

The setback forced Gibson-Stillwell to rely on a young mare she had only started seasoning: Piper, a 2019 mare registered Buncha Dinero, by PC Frenchmans Hayday and out of her thoroughbred mare Ruby. Ruby was a racetrack mare she ponied at a fair meet before purchasing.

She flushed an embryo during the time she was running Ruby, using a breeding she bought in a charity auction. Piper was the resulting foal.

“She was born broke,” Gibson-Stillwell said, laughing.

Ranch work made up most of the mare’s early training. Piper’s futurity year was her first extended exposure to competition. “She hadn’t ever really left the house. She was more of a ranch horse,” she said.

The mare adapted quickly. “The light bulb came on. She loves the game. She loves to show off,” Gibson-Stillwell said. Piper helped her win the California Circuit Finals and, with Fancy sidelined for part of 2024, became her primary rodeo horse.

Her program is straightforward. She hauls in a stock trailer with the horses loose. “My horses do not like stalls, so I make a point to find a place to get them out,” she said. She feeds forage-only using alfalfa and grass pellets, adds salt twice daily and supplements with MVP products and specific Chinese herbs. She uses a Bemer blanket, a Spectra laser blanket, cold laser therapy and an Equipod. “Less is more for my horses,” she said.

Road to NFR No. 1

The 2025 season began without a firm plan. She placed at San Antonio and Austin, stayed in Arizona through the winter and entered rodeos she could reach. “I didn’t have any goals,” she said. “Less is more is my motto.” She alternated between Piper and Fancy depending on ground conditions. At Eagle she chose Piper after riding in the arena early. At Vernal she ran Fancy. “Everything has just worked out,” she said. Her father joined her for two weeks during the summer run. “He hasn’t been around the horses very much. It was fun to see rodeo through his eyes.”

Her placements across the West built into a consistent season. She won Fallon on Fancy, placed in the first round at Nampa, placed throughout the California spring run and maintained momentum during the summer. “Crumbs make bread,” she said. She learned at Nampa not to deviate from what works. “I started overthinking and I changed my pre-run routine. It didn’t work out. Now I’m sticking with what I know.”

She manages the miles with podcasts, music and candy from gas stations. “It’s mostly me for most of it and a lot of energy drinks,” she said. She gets help entering from a longtime friend and, when possible, her husband, friends or her father join her on the road.

Piper and Fancy remain the core of her 2025 team. Sharky, another mare in her string, is used selectively for certain ground conditions. Gibson-Stillwell bases decisions on the mares’ needs and avoids long drives when possible. She keeps her focus narrow. “We’re going day by day,” she said. “We’re just out there dancing each run and seeing where it takes us.”

The season took her to her first NFR qualification. It came through consistent placing, simplified decision making and a program centered on keeping her horses comfortable. Her approach to hauling, training and entering stayed the same as when she began seasoning Piper. She entered rodeos that felt right, managed the horses based on feel and stayed patient. “There are no expectations,” she said.

The process carried her from the Northern California coast to Las Vegas for the first time, bringing a homebred mare she raised from an embryo flush and a rebuilt string shaped by years of effort and setbacks. Her road to the NFR was not planned, but it was steady.

“We’re going day by day,” she said. “We’ll see where it takes us.”