Morgan Bagnell is juggling her sophomore year at OSU, her 2026 WPRA Resistol Rookie campaign, and a trailer load of good horsepower.  

At 20 years old, Morgan Bagnell has $26,724 won to take an early lead in the 2026 Resistol Rookie standings, backed by horsepower and a good run through some of her home state rodeos this winter.  

The Heath, Texas, native and sophomore at Oklahoma State University has had her season highlighted by a win in the Wild Card round at the San Antonio Stock Show & Rodeo and a strong showing at the Resistol Rookie Roundup in Fort Worth. Between college rodeos and planning for the upcoming summer run, Bagnell is leaning on the versatility of her herd and her support system heading into the rest of the season.  

Q: Take me back to the beginning—how did you get started in horses and eventually find your way to running barrels?  

A: “I’ve been around horses my entire life and I’ve always had some sort of influence in it. My grandmother on my dad’s side was heavily involved in reining cow horse and reining horses, so I got my first start into horses with that. I never competed in it, but my first horses that I had been on were reining horses and I got my first pony and first horse through her. 

Then when my mom met my now stepdad, Pete Carr, when I was nine years old – he is obviously heavily involved in the rodeo industry – I got a taste for barrel racing, and then I started barrel racing when I was about 12 years old. That’s when I got my very first barrel horse. From there, it was history.” 

Q: Who have been some of the biggest influences in helping you get to this point? 

A: “I don’t know if there’s one single person I would be able to owe any of my success to, but if I had to pick one, it would by far be Pete. He has put me in contact with more people and resources than I could have ever asked for in the industry. 

The first couple of people that I really got started with when I started barrel racing was Jessi Wade and Mary Walker. Almost everything that I’ve learned from the get-go was from them as well as Gina Suick. They’ve all played a huge part in how I’ve gotten to where I am now – I owe a lot to them.” 

Q: What went into the decision to buy your card this season and really go for it? 

A: “Obviously the horses play a lot into rodeoing professionally, especially in barrel racing. We had Sir – Sir was with Brittany (Pozzi-Tonozzi) – later on last year. Then I didn’t have one of the horses I had now and all I had was Catfish and Axle and they were great, but we knew horses was going to play a huge part intogetting me where I wanted to get to. 

Also timing – I knew I was going to go to school and I wanted to go to school, so it just worked out where I got my permit, filled my permit, and then we decided that whenever the time was right, that I could buy my card and really go for it. 

This year just happened to work out that Sir had gone and done awesome with Brittany last year, and I had the other three horses. I was also able to have all my school fully online this year. My college rodeo coach here at OSU is kind enough to let me go and do what I need to get done on the rodeo road. Everything has just fallen in place for me this year.” 

Q: Tell me about the horsepower you’ve got right now.  

A: “The first one that I got out of the four of them, his name is Jet N For Karats or Catfish, as we like to call him. We bought him from Jeff and Andrea Busby. They bred and raised him and had him trained by Sabre O’Quinn. 

I got along with him from the very get-go. We’ve had him for almost two and a half years now. He’s been awesome. I have an amazing bond with that horse –  Ithink I could ride him backwards and blindfolded. He’s great. He’s kind of a fan favorite. Everyone loves him. He’s got a huge personality.” 

“We bought Sir (Sir Epic) in November of that same year, which would’ve been November of 2023, right before the BFA actually. We bought him from Dave and Lori Zabel. 

At the point in time with my riding, I didn’t feel like I did him justice where he was at in his career, at least to be helping him to become a rodeo horse because I was green to the rodeos just as much as he was. So, he wound up in Brittany’s hands, and Brittany is a phenomenal jockey and puts a lot of confidence into those horses. 

This past year was huge for him so now he’s back with me and I’m running him.” 

“We bought Jet Fuel Only, or Axel, in April or May of 2024. We also bought him from Jeff and Andrea. 

He’s awesome. I don’t think I have anything bad to say about that horse when it comes to him as a performance animal. He gives me everything he’s got every single time. I know I can count on him. He’s my steady Eddie. If I’m not sure about something, I will almost always get on Axel – I can count on him to do what I need to get done. 

I think our first or second run I had on him, I won the barrel race and ran my fastest time in that arena. From then on, him and I always just clicked.” 

“Then lastly, we bought Iago. Danyelle Campbell bred, raised and trained him. His name is CouldaWoodaShoulda. 

He is a super, super cool horse. Brittany tinkered around with him a little bit and got him going. He was owned by Joe and Jenna Beaver, and they were kind enough to sell him to us and trust us to take care of him. 

I finally took the reins over from Brittany this past summer, and I’m really looking forward to having him for the rest of this summer run.” 

Q: What did San Antonio do for your confidence, especially with a newer partnership like Sir? 

A: “I think that was a pivotal moment in my understanding that my horses and myself are capable of doing good. 

Being able to win the wildcard round on Sir was really big for him and I as a team. I think I’d only made three or four runs on him since I had gotten him back from Brittany and I wasn’t really sure on how I was going to do for him as a jockey. 

That instilled some faith in myself to know that I could do good on him and could count on him for the rest of the year.” 

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Q: You also had a big showing at the Rookie Roundup—tell me about that event and what makes it unique.  

A: “I think the entire Rookie Roundup experience was unique in the fact that it puts an emphasis on just the rookies. 

Having something that gives us a special experience and a special rodeo where it’s just for us, it gives us a good foot in the door on what to expect and have a better understanding of what the rest of the year will look like. 

And not just rodeos, but on the business side as well. They kind of gave us a lot of input on how to manage yourself and how you rodeo as a business. I think that that was really cool how they do that for us.” 

Q: What have you learned so far about handling the ups and downs of the rodeo road? 

A: “Pete likes to tell me often, and I think it’s a great piece of advice, to not have a rear view mirror. There’s always another rodeo. 

Just because you had one bad run doesn’t mean that that’s going to determine what the rest of the year is going to look like. 

You have to be forward thinking because it’s a marathon, not a sprint, and it’s easy to get down on yourself.” 

Q: Are you someone who sticks to a routine, or have you had to learn to adjust? 

A: “I’m a very routine, type A person. I like things to be done the same way every time. 

But I’ve learned to just go with the flow when it calls for it and not to focus on it too much, because you don’t really know what to expect at a lot of these rodeoswith the conditions or the weather, the ground or the setups. 

Being able to adapt and trust my riding and my horses is what I’ve learned to lean back on.” 

Q: As the season continues, what’s the plan and what are you hoping to accomplish in your rookie year? 

A: “I think if I were going to set any goals for myself besides doing well competition-wise, it would be to understand myself and the horses better when it came to applying ourselves to different situations. 

Just being adaptable. 

I think it’s just finding out where my horses and myself fit best—not just where we’re comfortable in Texas. I think utilizing runs out west and seeing how my horses handle that kind of ground will determine where we end up in the summertime. 

But I know for sure we’ll be going somewhere north.” 

WPRA Resistol Rookie Standings

(As of April 8, 2026 from WPRA.com)