Yes, all NMSU Rodeo Team members must compete at all 10 region college rodeos. This helps us keep resources needed for the rodeo team and have good practice stock for our team members throughout the year, and all while ensuring our athletes get optimal attention.

Please see the How to Apply menu to see special requirements for the rodeo team. Please be sure to apply early and start planning the beginning of your senior year in high school.

We limit our team to 50 members, this helps us to know our team and not have so many team members that the students fall through the cracks. We consider this to be a family, and we want to know everyone on our team on a personal level.

Yes, we encourage you to compete at the professional level if you feel you are at that ability level, however college rodeo comes first for us and you are required to compete at all of the college rodeos. Please be prepared to plan your pro rodeos around the college schedule.

NIRA requires a 2.0 GPA to be eligible to compete. If you ever fall below that requirement and are not eligible to compete you will be off the team. To be considered for any rodeo scholarship opportunities, you must maintain a 3.0 GPA. We consider this “COLLEGE RODEO” and not “RODEO COLLEGE.” We value your education and believe that comes first!

NMSU Rodeo has a limited number of stalls available. These stalls are generally offered to rodeo scholarship participants first, after that if we do not have enough stalls it will be up to the student to find accommodations for their horses somewhere in the Las Cruces area.

Each student is responsible for getting themselves and their animals to the rodeos on their own. We do try to travel as a convoy to the rodeos but it is up to you to cover costs and plan travel arrangements.

Currently we are not allowing students to be fully online. Our team is a family and each member is expected to pull their own weight. Not living in Las Cruces greatly limits this culture and limits your growth as well. We expect you to live in Las Cruces (or surrounding area) and help with all team functions, jackpots, rodeos, and university required activities.

Chase Ritcher with Rocky Mountain Rodeo provides our bulls and broncs; depending on how many athletes we have competing we try to accommodate the proper amount of stock. We will have anywhere between 18 to 25 broncs for practice as well as 8 to 12 bulls. You can find videos of this stock on Facebook: Chase Ritcher, Rocky Mountain Rodeo, or R Spade Buckers Pages.

We practice all timed events Monday-Thursday and will pull the roping sleds on weekends based on availability. We have roughstock practice twice a week. We also have morning and afternoon practices for breakaway and tie down so you can rope twice a day if desired.