Madi Outhier has won more than half a million dollars in breakaway roping and she’s just getting started. The Fulshear, Texas, cowgirl was crowned the 2021 Breakaway Roping Rookie of the Year at the end of the regular season.
Not a bad way to celebrate her 19th birthday.
More recently, the Texas A&M freshman earned $60,000 and became the first to win back-to-back WCRA Women’s Rodeo World Championships in breakaway roping at South Point in Las Vegas on Oct. 29. Madi’s 1.91-second run to win the title also made her the only athlete to win the WCRA’s world championship and the WCRA Triple Crown of Rodeo in Corpus Christ, Texas, in the same year.
Madi ended her high school rodeo career with an exclamation point, winning the 2021 Texas High School Breakaway Roping title. Madi didn’t consider her summer run to be particularly successful, so winning the WCRA title came just when she needed it most.
“It was awesome to get my confidence back,” Madi said. “The production the WCRA put on there was amazing. It was first class and they put us contestants first. The final round aired on CBS and they say it had 2.3 million viewers, which was a record for number of viewers for a rodeo.”
Madi narrowly missed qualifying for the 2021 National Finals Rodeo since she cut her season short to begin her fall semester in College Station, Texas.
Madi is majoring in business and thanks to her rodeo winnings, she’s already started her own business making and selling jewelry. Although rodeo’s been profitable, the entrepreneur is in playing the long game and is prioritizing her education. “I went home to go to college while they continued to rodeo hard, so I missed some of the big ones at the end of the season.”
Rodeo isn’t entirely on the backburner as she competes on the Texas A&M rodeo team in breakaway roping and barrel racing. Madi considers the competition to be just as tough at the collegiate level as it is at the pros. “All these girls are at the top of their game and it’s just as difficult to win at the college rodeos since they all rope so good.”
Although she won’t be competing at the Thomas & Mack, she could still strike it rich in Las Vegas during the NFR as she’s set to compete at five nearby ropings. Fans can watch her in action at:
- Vegas Tuffest Jr. World Championship at The Expo At World Market Center, Dec. 1-6
- Junior World Finals in the Wrangler Rodeo Arena at the Las Vegas Convention Center, Dec. 9-11
- The Masters Elite at the Henderson Saddle Association Arena, Dec. 2
- Resorts World Breakaway Championship at Resorts World Las Vegas, Dec. 8-10
- Rope For The Crown Breakaway Championship at The Plaza Hotel & Casino, Dec. 3-4
“It’s incredible how much money is at the youth events,” Madi said. “The Resorts World roping is new this year and it will have a pot of $80,000.”.
Beyond that, Madi has her eyes on The American and qualifying for the 2022 NFR. “I was just short of making the Finals, so that’s a huge goal of mine, then The American is going to pay $2 million and they include breakaway in the pot.”
Madi continues to compete on Rooster, the grandson of Colonel Freckles, a futurity champion and one of the top cutting horses of his era.
“Rooster is still my main man; I rode him at the majority of the pro rodeos,” Madi said.
Just like her horse, Madi comes from a family that excels in equine athletics. Madi’s dad, Mike, competed in several events on both ends of the arena but is best known for saddle bronc riding, having qualified for the NFR four times (2001-04). He also won the All Around title at the International Finals Rodeo in 1995-97 and was a two-time winner of the PRCA’s Linderman Award (2004 and 2007). Madi’s mom, Kristy, was a professional polo player for 25 years.
“It was cool getting to go to the big rodeos he competed in and I’d watched him compete at while growing up,” Madi said. “It was a new and awesome experience being on the road all summer.”
Madi’s had a lot of firsts in her career. As a sophomore in high school, she became the first-ever breakaway roping champion at The American.
“It was a pivotal moment in my career. I was juggling a lot of things between rodeo, school and polo and I was loving everything. I was captain of the varsity basketball team and didn’t know which area I would focus on, but after winning The American it pushed me to focus on rodeo and work on my roping. I wouldn’t be where I am now without that win. I got so many messages from younger girls or their parents saying I’m an inspiration, which I don’t view myself as, but it makes me want to be better and do better at everything.”
