“I’ve grown up around the rodeo industry, and it’s all I’ve ever known,” Conner told The Breakaway Roping Journal in 2020. “There weren’t opportunities like this just five years ago when I was dreaming of roping for a living. Nobody knew this would happen. I didn’t know there would be a career for me to pursue…I will never leave this industry.”
Her father, Jade Conner, who nearly qualified for the NFR in tie-down roping before she was born, had already set the terms.
“When Josie was 15 or 16, I opened an account for her and told her ‘I think you rope good enough to be profitable, and if you run out of money, come talk to me,’” he said. “Since that day, I’ve never paid another dime (for rodeo expenses).”
Dutch and the Rookie Year
The Conners bought Stylish Drifter—“Dutch”—from another Louisiana family in December 2021, weeks before she bought her card. The gelding went to work immediately: an $11,000 win at the Bob Feist Invitational all-girl breakaway at the Lazy E in April, then an arena record of 1.85 in Salt Lake City that summer for a WCRA gold medal and $25,000, which didn’t count toward the standings back then.
Read more: Conner Goes Dutch
The rookie season itself nearly came apart in late July, when Dutch fell on her on slick ground and broke her ankle. She roped in a walking boot from late August on, drew checks at eight of her last 10 rodeos and closed it out in Maine with a 2.3 worth $579 on Tonka. Conner finished the season 15th with $61,233 and clinched the 2022 Resistol Rookie of the Year title days before her 19th birthday.
“Technically I’m a rookie, but I’ve been doing this a really long time,” she told us that fall. “As much as I’d like to blame it on my horse, I definitely made the mistakes. I’m looking forward to the next couple of years.”
She went back to the National Finals Breakaway Roping in 2023 on Tonka and finished 13th with $85,402.
The 2024 Climb
The winter that opened 2024 went badly, and the year turned into the best one she’d had.
“I had a horrible winter. I don’t even know what I came out of the winter with, but it wasn’t a lot,” Conner said. “I took that and reflected on some things.”
She led Cowboy Christmas with $15,815, won 10 rodeos on Dutch and took over No. 1 in the world from Jackie Crawford with a $10,311 win at Ellensburg, Washington. She finished 2024 third with $165,046, $3,712 behind champion Kelsie Domer, and Dutch was voted Breakaway Horse of the Year.
Read more: New No. 1! Josie Conner Leads Breakaway World Standings with Ellensburg Rodeo Victory
Fort Worth, The American and the WRWC
Then came 2025, the biggest season of her career. Conner won the Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo with a 1.8 in the finals for $20,000 and moved to No. 1. In April she won The American Rodeo on a 1.89 for $100,000, her first year in the field as an invitee rather than a contender. That May she won the Women’s Rodeo World Championship at AT&T Stadium on a 1.81 for $60,000. And in December she and Hali Williams split high-money-earner honors at the Kimes Ranch Million Dollar Breakaway with $115,000 apiece.
“Obviously, I’d like to rope for the $1 million, but I’ll take $100,000 any day of the week,” Conner said after The American. “Last year I made it to the final four [as a Contender] and didn’t do any good. That was the furthest I’d ever gotten—until today.”
Read more: 6th Time’s the Charm for Josie Conner at The American Rodeo
She finished third in the world again, at $203,735, behind Taylor Munsell and Shelby Boisjoli-Meged. Dutch earned more than $169,000 and repeated as Horse of the Year.
A Season Without Dutch
This season has been the first one without him. Dutch came up sore over the winter, the vet work never pinned it down, and a comeback attempt in August sent him home again.
“His whole body looks like he hurts to me. I’ve rode him for several years. I know what he’s supposed to feel like and he doesn’t feel like that,” Conner said in June. “He doesn’t owe me anything, so he won’t come back until he’s back to feeling his best.”
She has rebuilt the season on two mares. Baybe Bullet came on lease at the start of the year from Joey Williams, after years of the Conners asking, and won the average at Salinas, California, in July for a week worth $9,829. Im Countin Checques—“Checkers”—came from Montana Brown in June, and Conner placed on the first calf she ever ran on her.
“She shows me so many characteristics of Tonka. She’s as close to the feeling of Tonka as I’ve ever had. She kind of breaks the rope like Dutch,” Conner said. “So I’ve got a pretty good mix of two that I’ve won a lot on and liked a lot.”
Read more: Checkers Gets the Call: Josie Conner Loads New A-Team on the Trailer while Dutch Takes the Summer Off
Where She Stands
Conner is No. 4 in the world with $126,815. She was the No. 1 seed in the Cinch Playoff Series at the Aug. 24 cutoff with 952.01 points, 174.88 clear of second, and Checkers goes to Puyallup.
“The year’s not over until it’s over on September 30th,” Conner said. “All you can hope for is a chance.”
