Behind the Top 15: Ty Harris

Age: 28

Hometown: San Angelo, Texas

Career earnings: $1,516,406

NFR Qualifications: 7 (2019-2025)

2025 World Standings Finish: 9th ($242,415)

2026 World Standings Place: No. 6 ($141,319)

Star Horsepower: Chucara Sal (Sally) and Django

Ty Harris was a kid who had to have a rope in his hand at all times.

The San Angelo, Texas, native grew up junior rodeoing alongside his siblings—NFR qualifier Joel Harris and younger brother and sister Wyatt and Cheyenne—and turned that early obsession into one of the most consistent careers in tie-down roping.

Harris made his mark at Cisco College, where he came back high call to the College National Finals short round and was crowned the 2018 CNFR champion tie-down roper. That same year he earned the Resistol Rookie Tie-Down Roper of the Year title. By 2019, wins at Reno, the Texas Circuit Finals in Waco and Walla Walla carried him to the first of seven straight NFR qualifications—and once in Las Vegas, he won Rounds 5 and 6 and placed in four others.

Harris became a fixture at the Thomas & Mack. He finished sixth in the average at the 2020 Finals, placed in four of 10 rounds in 2021, and grabbed a Round 10 win with a 7.2 in 2022.

The 2024 Breakthrough

The 2024 season was a springboard. Harris won RODEOHOUSTON in a rope-off with his brother Joel, was named the Cowboy Christmas high-money earner after a $50,000 week, and split the win at the famed Pendleton Round-Up. Then, in Round 3 of the 2024 NFR, he ended the drought in style—a 6.9-second run for $33,867, his first sub-7-second run ever inside the Thomas & Mack and his first go-round win since 2019.

“It felt good to just make that run with those types of ropers and those calves,” Harris said after the win. “I knew I’d made a good run, and I was plenty satisfied with that, but it sure is good to get that victory lap.”

It was his first lap around that arena since Round 6 of 2019, and it came after a deliberate change in preparation.

“This year, I tried to get my body more ready,” Harris said. “I focused on peaking at the right time.”

That week also cemented his partnership with Daddys Shiner Cat, “Peso,” the Logan Bird owned gelding he and Joel now both consistently ride.

“He stands there like a rock, runs as hard as he can, and doesn’t cheat you,” Harris said. “He’s consistent… he just gives you a shot every time. That’s exactly what you need here.”

Steady in 2025

Harris qualified for his seventh straight NFR in 2025, finished ninth in the world with $242,415 and earned $105,218 in Las Vegas, placing in four rounds and winning Round 10 with a 6.8. His regular season included wins at Poway, the Douglas County Fair in Castle Rock, Mandan Rodeo Days, Eagle and the Columbia River Circuit Finals, plus a co-championship at Chief Joseph Days.

A Winning 2026

The 2026 season has been one of Harris’ busiest and most productive. He has won the Molalla Buckeroo rodeo in Oregon and swept a Canadian run with titles at the Airdrie Pro Rodeo, the Guy Weadick Rodeo in High River and the Newell Pro Rodeo in Brooks, along with a co-championship at the Omak Stampede. In August, he picked up a big win at the Caldwell Night Rodeo—taking the first round and the average for a $25,435 week.

The wins have Harris sitting sixth in the tie-down roping world standings with $141,319 won. With the regular season closing Sept. 30, he is in strong position to punch a ticket to his eighth consecutive NFR.