After five slips and falls that contestants say was caused by poor ground conditions during Semifinal One of the barrel racing at the San Antonio Stock Show & Rodeo on Feb. 20, 2025, contestants are demanding solutions, and the committee is moving to give them some.
Barrel racers took to social media to advocate for a change in ground conditions, prompting the SASSR committee to meet on Feb. 21 with contestants and the WPRA to discuss solutions. The committee acknowledged the issue and brought in Randy Spraggins and his crew to address the problem.
While Spraggins himself won’t arrive before midnight, his team will assess the situation and do their best to improve the ground before tonight’s performance.
What does the WPRA have to say?
The WPRA has been on-site advocating for their athletes and the ground conditions since SASSR’s first bracket, according to WPRA Vice President Heidi Uecker-Schmidt.
“San Antonio faces a number of challenges that affect the ground,” Schmidt said. “The concerts, moving the stage in and out—it all impacts the ground conditions. This is where Randy and his crew come into play. They’re highly skilled at handling these kinds of situations. From Cheyenne to the NFR, the PBR, and Rodeo Houston, they’re experts at solving complex problems at rodeos with post-event entertainment.”
Ricky Hibbler is currently on-site in San Antonio addressing the ground issues ahead of Semifinal Two.
“Ricky dug some test holes,” Schmidt said. “The problem is that water isn’t penetrating the lower layers. In Randy and Ricky’s opinion, the water is all sitting on the surface. When the ground crew tries to break through the top layer, they hit bone-dry sand underneath, which has caused all the issues.”
According to Schmidt, the SASSR ground crew is experienced and dedicated but hasn’t previously faced the unique challenges presented by these specific ground conditions.
“On behalf of the WPRA, I can say San Antonio has tried,” Schmidt said. “They brought in other ground experts, but they may not have had experience dealing with the specific constraints San Antonio faces. We don’t want to see another situation like Chelsea Moore’s happen again.”
What do the contestants have to say?
BarrelRacing.com spoke with SASSR semifinalist Megan McCloud Sprague following the meeting. She remains optimistic about the crew’s efforts.
“San Antonio acknowledged that it’s a little late to address this issue, but it was necessary,” Sprague said. “The committee was great to work with. They’re really trying, though they hoped it wouldn’t come to this. Moving forward, they plan to keep Randy and his team on to maintain the ground.”
Sprague competed in the same bracket as Chelsea Moore, whose horse, Tres Socks, aka “Woodrow,” suffered a ruptured peroneus tertius after a fall.
“I wasn’t overly concerned about the ground in my set,” Sprague said. “I did feel with Chelsea’s accident that there were issues that needed to be addressed, but I thought that long before our bracket started. It wasn’t until last night after the drag that I really knew I needed to speak up.”
San Antonio has tried three different drag implements over the 16 performances to fix the ground but have not been successful.
“The committee is really trying,” Sprague said. “I commend the ground crew and committee for trying to fix the issue. The ground has some elements to it that are really old. They’ve had this ground for a long time, and it’s been exposed to weather in addition to being hauled in and out of Frost Bank Center. In a situation like this, it really takes an expert like Randy and his crew to come in and pin down the problem to fix it.”
Trot, lope or run?
As far as a plan for tonight goes, Sprague doesn’t have one quite yet.
“To be honest, I don’t have a plan and probably won’t have one until after the rodeo starts,” Sprague said. “No one is sure what we are dealing with, which makes creating a plan hard. Randy promised us that he would let us know what we are working with. So as of now, my plan is to saddle Vice, and my husband will watch the first five girls run and either give me a thumbs up or down.”
Despite the challenges, Sprague praised the committee’s transparency.
“If I have to, I’ll trot through,” Sprague said. “San Antonio has been understanding of the situation. I commend them for giving us girls some leeway of knowing that even though they’re trying as hard as they are, the conditions aren’t as good as they could be. I hope they won’t penalize anyone who prioritizes horse safety. None of us want to hold back, but we won’t risk our horses either.”
Plans moving forward
According to Sprague, the rodeo committee plans to keep Spraggins and crew on staff to provide better ground for next year.
“I don’t know exactly what the plan looks like, but they informed us they were planning to invest in new materials,” Sprague said. “I don’t know if that is to be mixed in with what they already have or if they are trashing the old dirt and getting new. They are very adamant that they are aware of the situation and know it’s time to make it better.”
