Magical. It’s the word Andrea Busby comes back to when reflecting on her experience at the 2024 Wrangler National Finals Rodeo.

Her first qualification to rodeo’s season-culminating event ended with a rewrite of the Women’s Professional Rodeo Association record book. The Millsap, Texas, native’s aggregate time of 144.12 seconds on 10 runs reset the all-time standard. She captured almost $228,000 in Las Vegas, nearly doubling her winnings from the regular season, catapulting her from 12th in the world standings coming in to a No. 3 finish.

Magical? Absolutely. Fleeting? Most definitely.

“After I got my (NFR average) saddle and my buckle, I felt like I would never have another bad day. And then that night everyone was like, ‘Where are we going to eat dinner?’ And I was like, ‘Wait, it can

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