Makenzie Mayes dominated the 2025 Resistol Rookie leaderboard with $83,911.69 won for the year and landed in the top 25 in the world standings.
“It’s pretty surreal,” Mayes said of her rookie season. “Just to be out there and accomplish as much as I did was something I’ve dreamed of since I was a little girl. For it to come true was pretty awesome.”
The Scroggins, Texas, cowgirl saw big wins in the last few weeks of the ProRodeo season, adding to her already strong first trip to the Northwest. She took home $7,297 in Kennewick, Washington, for the win on her mare Chicado Moon—“Rousey”—and won $7,064 from her runs in Pendleton, Oregon, on Kita Rita—“Rita”.
Her mares Rousey and Rita were all Mayes could talk about when given a chance to reflect on the crunch time that was the last month of the season.
“The last month was crazy,” she said of September on the road. “It was like my horses knew it was time to bring the heat. They always know whenever to bring it, I feel like, and they really did—both of them. Rita doing so good at Pendleton, and then Rousey went and won Walla Walla and Lakeview. There were so many that she won right there at the last minute. She did amazing at Kennewick also. Both of them stepped up for me in a big way and were like, ‘Okay, we’re going to get this done.’”
Mayes kicked off the summer with a big win at the inaugural Music City Rodeo in Nashville, Tennessee, where Rousey added $8,016 to their rookie earnings.
Toward the end of the summer—before her stellar last month—Mayes hit a slump that forced her to feel some rookie-year growing pains.
“We went through a really big slump getting closer to the end of the summer, and it was bad. I was so ready to go home,” she said. “It all turned around at Kennewick. Everything happens for a reason, and I felt like it made me realize that even though I went through this slump, it wasn’t that bad. It always gets better—it can always get better.”
There are no plans of slowing down on Mayes’ mind, either. The 2025 Resistol Rookie Barrel Racer of the Year has solidified a spot at the 2026 winter rodeos and is ready to see what the future holds after her big year.
“We’re going to go back out,” she assured. “I am really excited to get into the building rodeos. I think Rousey will really love the building rodeos. This year already opened up so many opportunities, so I’m extremely excited for this next year and hoping that one day, we can make it to the NFR.”