UPDATE: Wednesday, 2:13 p.m. - The Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association and Women's Professional Rodeo Association announced Wednesday, Nov. 26, the 2025 National Finals Breakaway Roping will take place Dec. 22-23, at the Cowtown Coliseum in Fort Worth, Texas.
BILLINGS — A severe equine herpesvirus outbreak has already forced the postponement of multiple events surrounding the National Finals Rodeo, raising concerns throughout the rodeo community just over a week before the sport's premier championship is set to begin in Las Vegas.
The National Finals Breakaway Roping, which was scheduled to start Monday, Dec. 2, has been postponed due to the aggressiveness of the Equine herpesvirus 1 (EHV-1).
See how EHV1 is impacting 2025 NFR events and what's next:
The virus can cause serious health complications in horses, according to Dr. Jamie Lehfeldt, owner and veterinarian at Montana Equine.
"The neurologic disease is the more critical one, and once those horses develop weakness in the hind end. They have urinary incontinence, they will go down to the point where they're dog sitting, and some will go down all the way to the point we can't get them up," Lehfeldt told MTN, adding that respiratory and abortion issues can also arise.
The current outbreak began in Waco, Texas, at a barrel racing event during the Women's Professional Rodeo World Finals. It has since spread to multiple states, along with Canada, and is described as incredibly contagious.
"Transmitted from respiratory droplets from horses, as well as on our hands, clothes, buckets," Lehfeldt said.
The National Finals Rodeo remains scheduled to open a week from Thursday, running Dec. 4-13 in Las Vegas. The event serves as the sport's Super Bowl where world champions are crowned. Several Montana and Wyoming contestants have qualified.
Many recall that even COVID-19 wasn't enough to stop the NFR in 2020, when organizers moved it to the Texas Rangers baseball stadium in Fort Worth to allow fans to spread out.
However, other events surrounding this year's NFR continue to be paused or adjusted. The Benny Binion Bucking Horse and Bull Sale is still scheduled for next Friday, but without stock physically present. Organizers will rely on video and pictures instead at the South Point Hotel and Casino showroom.
The Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association and Las Vegas Events have updated requirements, including on-site quarantining of horses once they're admitted to the rodeo grounds and testing equine temperatures twice daily, plus other measures.
The EHV1 outbreak is a concern not just for competitors, but also for stock contractors and horse owners.
Eastern Montana's Brookman Rodeo recently earned two of the sport's most prestigious awards: 2025 Bareback Bucking Horse of the Year and the Remuda award for high quality livestock. Brookman's Dave Wieferich admitted to MTN Sports the outbreak is "really scary," but expressed confidence about the preventative measures in place.
Both contractors and NFR qualifiers tell MTN Sports they don't feel like NFR dates will be paused, but they also noted that if even one outbreak surfaces at the NFR, that would be a disaster.
The PRCA and Las Vegas Events continue to release updates on what's next.
