Diné breakaway roper Bailey Bates
part of the WPRA conversation

By Quentin Jodie | May 29, 2025 | Rodeo |

WINDOW ROCK

One of the biggest draws in this week’s Home of the Navajo PRCA Rodeo is none other than Bailey Bates.

The Mexican Springs, New Mexico cowgirl caught fire toward the end of the 2024 season and missed making the National Finals Breakaway Roping by finishing No. 18 in the WPRA world standings last fall.

The Diné cowgirl is scheduled to compete on Friday night at the Dean C. Jackson Memorial Arena during the opening performance of the three-day PRCA rodeo. The rodeo performances are scheduled for 8 p.m. on Friday and Saturday night and 1 p.m. on Sunday afternoon.

Last year, Bates finished in a two-way tie for third with Nicole Baggarley during the Window Rock prorodeo as the two cowgirls turned in a pair of 2.2-second runs. They finished three-tenths of a second behind 2024 winner Josie Conner, who roped her draw in 1.9 seconds.

“I just want to go out there and be aggressive,” Bates told the Navajo Times in an earlier interview this week. “It’s going to be competitive, but I want get a good start and just do whatever I can.”

Coming off a solid finish last season, Bates is on pace to make her first NFBR qualification. Through 24 rodeos, she is sitting inside the top 15 at No. 14 with $29,734 in earnings.

“I’m just doing what I was doing last fall and it’s carried over,” Bates said of her early success, which includes her biggest win of her career when she collected a whopping $10,217 at the 2025 San Angelo Stock Show and Rodeo in mid-April.

“It was an awesome feeling to win one of the Texas Swing Rodeos,” Bates said. “That’s one of the legendary rodeos. Even being there for that week, I was thinking about the San Angelo roping and how coveted that title would be.

“But I wasn’t really thinking about any outcomes,” she added. “I was just trying to enjoy myself while I was there.”

At that rodeo, Bates secured the event title by making three consecutive draws in 1.9 seconds.

“I’ve roped runs in the one-second range but having three runs in 1.9 seconds is pretty cool,” she said. “Everything worked out but when you back up in the box, you don’t think about what time you want to make.

“You just think about the process of the run you want to make and not the outcome,” she added.

Since her breakout season last year, Bates has gained a different perspective about her roping.

“It’s just about having confidence, knowing that I belong there,” Bates said. “It’s about having faith and more belief. That has really helped me since last fall.”

Still, she is looking to stay grounded despite her meteoric rise in the WPRA ranks.

“I think what’s important for me is just to keep a levelheaded mindset,” Bates said. “I just need to bear down, and I still need to be disciplined and just work hard and be competitive and take everything one run at a time.

“Whatever happens, happens because not everything is in my control,” she added. “So, I just gotta enjoy the journey.”

Bates credits her dad, Norman, and older brother, Michael, for being a part of that journey.

“My dad and my brother have really helped me out a lot,” Bates said. “They still help me a lot in the practice pen. Of course, you have people like Jackie Crawford Lari Dee Guy and Kelsie Domer that you looked up to, but I don’t think I would be there if it wasn’t for my brother and dad.”