Caitlyn White and stallion “Mr Soul” claimed the 2025 Wilderness Circuit Finals aggregate championship in Heber City, Utah, November 8-9, while Carlee Otero dominated the year-end barrel racing honors.
White and Mr Soul clinched their NFR Open position in with a time of 46.78 seconds across three runs at the event, racking up a total of $8,074 across three round placings and the average finish.
In the year-end race, Carlee Otereo ran away with the win, garnering a total of $57,156 and setting a new earnings record riding AM Regina George, “Regina George” and Cathys Kandy, “Twix,” who got her the Round 2 win at the circuit finals as well.
Both ladies will be heading to the 2026 NFR Open in Colorado Springs to run against 24 other peers for a chance a healthy paydays and a spot in the Playoff Series Puyallup Rodeo.
Wilderness Average Champion: Caitlyn White & Mr Soul
White entered the Wilderness Circuit Finals with confidence in the Ruby Buckle stallion, “Mr. Soul”—and the pair delivered when it counted.
White and the 10-year-old son of FuryOfTheWind out of McKaizless Kiss by Dash Ta Fame posted matching 15.63-second runs in Rounds 1 and 2 before firing a 15.52 in Round 3 to secure the average title with a combined 46.78 seconds in a field that included multiple 2025 NFR qualifying cowgirls.
White, 31, of Spanish Fork, Utah, didn’t jump into the WPRA ranks fresh out of high school like many barrel racers. Instead, she waited for the right horse, gaining miles in amateur rodeos before a friend connected her with Mr Soul’s owner, John Nielsen.
The stallion had been trained and futuritied by Taylor Kramer, and a chance conversation with Kramer led White to try him. Four years later, the two have built a partnership that’s completely reshaped White’s career.
“He really has changed my life,” White said. “He’s so powerful and so honest. He’s made me such a better rider, and you’ve got to be on it—he’ll tell on you if you’re not. You’ve got to ride him into the turn, but once he’s there, he does his job. He’s right in the middle of both styles, which I love.”
Despite being a stud, Mr. Soul’s temperament is a standout.
“You’d never know he was a stallion,” White said. “He loves attention, loves treats, and he’s never once acted studdy in a warm-up pen—even when it’s [close quarters].”
His first foal crop is small, but already promising. White recently won $54,000 aboard his first competing offspring, “Soul Fury,” which sparked new breeder interest for the 2025 and 2026 seasons. Mr Soul stands at South Valley Equine, who are partnered with Nielsen on the stallion. The clinic team in Saratoga Springs, Utah, coordinate breeding around White’s rodeo schedule—including offering frozen semen on weekends when Mr. Soul is on the road.
“He stays with me all summer and then goes to John’s for his winter break,” White said
A Breakout Wilderness Circuit Season
The 2025 ProRodeo was White’s second full year with her WPRA card, and the Wilderness Circuit proved a perfect fit for the stallion’s power and consistency.
Mr Soul placed at numerous stops across Idaho and Utah, including wins at Blackfoot and Utah’s Own PRCA Rodeo—where he split the win with McKenna Coronado.
He also clocked a 16.8 on a standard pattern in Gooding, Idaho, a run White expected to place high but still ended up ninth in a stacked field.
“For him to run 16.8 on a standard? I was so proud of him,” White said. “It’s crazy how tough our circuit is.”
Wilderness Circuit Finals Redemption
White narrowly missed qualifying for the circuit finals in 2024, making her 2025 qualification especially meaningful.
She survived Rounds 1 and 2 with identical 15.63’s, earning third place in both go-rounds. Then it all came together in Round 3 for White and Mr Soul.
“He went in with a vengeance,” White said. “It was clean, smooth, and just faster. The fact that he didn’t let the little bobbles shake him—that shows his mindset.”
The 15.52 they turned in was good enough for second in the round and to clinch the aggregate.
Winning the average secured White’s spot at the 2026 NFR Open—an opportunity she’s intentionally keeping a relaxed outlook about.
“I haven’t planned next year’s schedule yet,” she said. “The NFR Open will definitely be part of it, but I’m just going to see what comes up.”
Breeding season will also shape her plans, as she manages Mr. Soul’s availability alongside her own string, including a mare she’s returning to competition next year after foaling.
Through it all, White credits her husband for traveling with her and supporting their operation, as well as CV Equine, whose therapy sessions she says helped bring another horse back from lameness.
2025 Wilderness Circuit Finals Barrel Racing Results
First round: 1. McKale Seitz, 15.48 seconds, $2,487; 2. Kimmie Wall, 15.58, $1,865; 3. Caitlyn White, 15.63, $1,244; 4. Anita Ellis, 20.24, $622.
Second round: 1. Carlee Otero, 15.47 seconds, $2,487; 2. Terri Wood Gates, 15.54, $1,865; 3. Caitlyn White, 15.63, $1,244; 4. Haylee Moosman Woodward, 15.69, $622.
Third round: 1. Anita Ellis, 15.27 seconds, $2,487; 2. Caitlyn White, 15.52, $1,865; 3. McKenna Coronado, 15.56, $1,244; 4. Terri Wood Gates, 15.57, $622.
Average: 1. Caitlyn White, 46.78 seconds on three head, $3,731; 2. McKale Seitz, 47.42, $2,798; 3. Anita Ellis, 51.55, $1,865; 4. Terri Wood Gates, 51.77, $933.