Riata Showcase, Something for Everyone!
Dec 10, 2025
The Riata Showcase Horse Sale wasn't designed to be flashy. It was
designed to be useful.
In its second year, the Riata Showcase once again proved why it fits so
naturally alongside the Ariat World Series of Team Roping Finale. With 59 head
averaging $52,522 and a packed house at the South Point, the sale
reflected exactly what Riata set out to do—connect real rope horses with the
people who actually use them.
That matters, especially in a year when many sales across the country
felt the pressure of a softer national market. While the average dipped
slightly from 2024, consistency was the real takeaway. The top five horses
averaged $110,000, the top ten averaged $90,000, and bidding
stayed active from start to finish.
Most importantly, the buyers told the story.
The majority of the buying came from team ropers—not speculators, not owners-only—ropers
looking for horses they could rope on, haul on, rely on, and build a program
around. Some came looking for standout horses. Others came looking for value.
They found both, with strong action in the $30,000–$40,000 range and several
horses selling in the twenties. That middle of the market stayed healthy all
day, which is often the clearest indicator of a sale's real strength.
At the top end, the market spoke clearly.
Exagereyt brought $170,000 to Weiterman Ranch, becoming the first Riata stallion ever included in
the Showcase lineup. His inclusion was intentional—Riata viewed it as a test of
the market, and buyers responded. With nearly every Riata stallion or slot
bringing six figures this fall, the result reinforced the idea that
incentive-backed performance still carries weight when it's earned in real
competition.
Metallic Play followed at $115,000, trained by Bobby Lewis and sold out of the Las Tunas
barn to Eliason Performance Horses. The top-selling gelding, SJR Bet He
Sparks by Bet Hesa Cat, brought $105,000 for consignor William Wiley
and buyer Freddie Bracamonte.
The Showcase wasn't without its tough conversations. No-sales remained
similar to last year—just over a dozen—and most were simply horses that didn't
meet their individual reserves. After addressing issues in 2024, Riata held
firm on its policies, including removing sellers who turned down high bids from
future sales. The $100,000 horse sale incentive was also updated, limiting
no-sale horses to one year of eligibility.
Those decisions weren't about optics. They were about credibility.
Buyers noticed the details. The 3-year-olds in the sale stood out for
their maturity, and ropers bid on them with confidence. Mike White's 3-year-old
Sanctus colt brought $62,000, helped by previewing on mid-level Finale
cattle—another example of Riata's commitment to letting horses prove themselves
by the clock, not by looks alone.
That distinction is important.
Riata exists in a world with plenty of rope horse futurities and
incentive programs doing good work. What separates it is not just the
incentive, but the structure behind it. Riata was built by the same vision
that created the USTRC and the WSTR—programs rooted in handicap and
recreational roping. For the first time, an incentive program was designed to
follow horses into the divisions where most ropers actually compete.
No judging. No subjectivity. No controlled environment.
Just the clock.
That philosophy showed up in the sale ring. Flashy horses without
horsepower struggled. Horses that could stand up, read cattle, and handle
pressure brought bids.
In the end, the Riata Showcase was exactly what it set out to be: a
straightforward team roping horse sale with honest horses, active bidders, and
real-world validation. It fit seamlessly into a Finale week that paid more than
$20 million and reminded everyone that this sport is built from the middle
out—not the top down.
Riata didn't try to be everything to everyone.
It simply stayed true to ropers.
And the market rewarded that honesty.
