May Ruralite 2026
By Dana Greig
Photo by Renee Duman-Verdino
Anthony and Renee Verdino out of Cottonwood have been well-known in not only the local rodeo world, but in the professional circuit throughout the Northwest for the last handful of years providing stock in Idaho, Montana, California, Utah, Nevada and Colorado. Within the last few months, their name expanded to national recognition after being chosen to provide one-third of the steer wrestling stock to the 2025 National Finals Rodeo (NFR) last December.
Their stock performed extremely well, being called out multiple times by rodeo announcers and competitors alike. After earning a spot last year and performing well, one could logically conclude they have it made in the shade to be one of the premier stock providers for years to come without much headache.
However, the spot they earned is something that must be curated anew each year.
“One fun fact a lot of people don’t know is that we don’t raise our steers,” explained Renee. “They are not domestics; they are M branded - from Mexico. We have to go to Mexico and deal with the cartel to get our steers.”
Verdino explained the professional rodeo will only allow Mexican steers, a rule that has been in place for close to 100 years. Additionally, animals purchased from Mexico for rodeos must be steers. Rodeo contractors are not allowed to buy breeding stock from Mexico to be used to raise steers stateside.
“We use a broker because it’s really hard to get these cattle,” said Renee. “The broker goes to villages to gather stock from small ranches. These steers are durable Mexican cattle, but not one single breed. They aren’t designated as rodeo cattle, just the same types that would be consumed to eat.”
Although the 3–4-year-old, full grown animals aren’t raised for rodeo, contractors still have to pay a premium price to purchase the stock for entertainment instead of consumption. The process of buying the cattle includes many hoops for contractors to jump through.
“It wasn’t something that we walked into,” Renee explained. “You have to know someone who knows someone to get started. We’ve had to work to get affiliated with people and get our names out there to get this far.”
Along with the process of using a broker to gather cattle and deal with cartel to make a purchase, just getting the cattle across the border is a process in and of itself. The animals are quarantined, tested, branded and passed through a health inspection before they can leave Mexico.
“There is literally a guy on a horse that pushes our cattle to the Mexican/U.S. border, then a guy from the U.S. that pushes the cattle down the rest of the alleyway once they cross onto the U.S. side,” said Renee of the transportation process.
An additional obstacle contractors have faced through the last year was a screwworm outbreak at the Mexican border last March that completely shut down the process. At the time of the interview, it was unclear if the PRCA would be forced to change their import rule due to the shutdown, or where and when American contractors would be able to get new stock for the upcoming year.
Another little-known fact about stock in the professional rodeo circuit is that all contractors are allowed to run their stock for one year only. Which means, if the animals are purchased in April they can only perform in rodeos until the following April.
“They learn tricks,” said Renee of the need for turnover. “They get used to being roped or wrestled that they start running slow or darting to the sides. It can get unsafe for the contestants.”
Each year, contractors go through the multi-stage purchase process, receive animals anywhere from as low as 200 pounds, train them for their job in the arena and get their weight to a minimum of 375 pounds and a maximum of 525 pounds. Then, to run at the NFR, the animals must be within 15 pounds of 475 pounds.
This all means the “curated anew” process to have PRCA ready stock each year is quite the juggling act. And the Verdinos do it with an average of 200 head per year.
Making it to the NFR last year wasn’t simply a stroke of luck for the Verdinos. As Renee stated, being a rodeo contractor in general isn’t something they just fell into. This is an industry they have poured their blood, sweat, tears and time into being a part of. As they remain dedicated to jumping through whatever hoops necessary to continuing providing quality stock to the NW, they hope their efforts are once again noticed and appreciated enough to get them back to the NFR.