Back to Vegas: Andrea Busby’s Season, Her Horses, and the Road to the 2025 NFR

Eighty rodeos. Thousands of miles. Three standout horses that never quit on her. That is what carried Andrea Busby back to the bright lights of Las Vegas for her second Wrangler National Finals Rodeo.

Her 2024 season wasn’t a fluke or luck, and this season proved just that. 

Andrea heads into the 2025 Wrangler National Finals sitting fourteenth in the WPRA standings after a season full of grit, good horses, and staying consistent when it counted.

Eighty Rodeos, One Goal

When Andrea and Jets Top Gun made ten clean runs in 2024 and set a new average record, the whole industry took notice. She walked into the Thomas and Mack as a first time NFR qualifier and walked out as an average champion.

Andrea winning the 2024 Barrel Racing Average at the 2024 Wrangler National Finals rodeo, setting a brand new record - 136.10 seconds on 10 runs.
Photo: Hilary Rae Photography

But the real test comes the year after the fairytale.

This season, with Benny sidelined, Andrea had to lean on the rest of her string. And they stepped up in a big way.

A lot of competitors don’t hit their stride until the summer run, but Andrea came out swinging early. Her winter season set the tone for the year, with wins like Fort Worth¹ that pushed her straight into the top of the standings.

This season she stacked more than 133,000 dollars in earnings, hitting eighty rodeos across the country.

All of it led her right back to her second NFR qualification, and she earned every bit of it.

A Standout Program 

Busby Quarter Horses is a program with depth. Andrea and her husband Jeff manage between 120 and 150 horses at home, and the horses they raise show up on the biggest stages. Their program has produced horses like Kassie Mowry’s Famous Ladies Man and Jordon Briggs’ Famous Lil Jet.² Even cooler, Briggs' Famous Lil Jet held the Thomas and Mack average record before Andrea broke it. Talk about consistency in those Busby Quarter Horses!

Andrea is bringing a string to Las Vegas that reflects the heart of Busby Quarter Horses: gritty mares, talented geldings, and horses with the kind of try that keeps them clocking when the stakes get high.

Born On Derby Day ("Derby") - a 2017 mare by Freckles Ta Fame, out of KR Last Fling

Derby has been the steady heartbeat of Andrea’s season. She’s all business. She just goes in, does her job, and walks back out like it was no big deal. Those are the kind that keep your rig moving down the road.

HanksNTheFastLane ("Goodbye") - a 2019 gelding by The Goodbye Lane, out of Sissy B Gold

Goodbye is the young gun of the trailer. This was a season with many milestones for Goodbye, handling setups from Colorado to Texas and proving he has the maturity to run with the big dogs. He is talented and honest, and we are excited to see what lays ahead in his future. 

Blazing With My Dude ("Tito") - a 2015 mare by Blazin Jetolena, out of Dasher Dude

Tito is the veteran of the pack. She was part of the 2024 NFR lineup and knows the feel of the Thomas and Mack. Experience matters in that building, and Tito brings it.

These three are very different horses, but they share the same qualities that make a solid rodeo string: heart, honesty, and a will to compete and dominate. 

Showing Up Every Single Day

Anyone who has made the rodeo trail knows it is not glamorous. The ground changes every run. The weather swings from one extreme to another. Horses get tight. They get tired. The days get long.

For Andrea, it all comes down to consistency and knowing your horses. Her daily routines are everything. She keeps their care as consistent as possible, at home and on the road, from their feed to the supplements they rely on every day. Each horse gets worked the way they need, not lumped into a one-size-fits-all plan. She leans on her veterinarian, Dr. Marty Tanner, watches the small things, and knows each horse well enough to spot even the slightest change.

This Year, the Lights Look Different

In 2024, Andrea was the newcomer with something to prove. This year she walks in as the reigning average champion. She knows the building. She knows the pressure. She knows how fast things can go right or wrong.

And she knows she has the horses to compete.

Derby. Goodbye. Tito.
Three horses that carried her to the pay window all season. Three horses that earned their spot on the biggest stage.

Andrea is not trying to recreate last year. She is showing up ready for whatever this NFR holds. That is the thing about rodeo. You do your homework, trust your horses, and take it one run at a time.

Andrea’s Simple Gut and Recovery Routine

Andrea does not complicate her program. She sticks with what keeps her horses feeling good inside and out, especially during long hauls, weather swings, and back to back runs.

Her FullBucket protocol looks like this: 

• Equine Probiotic Pellets
A daily part of her horses’ routine to help maintain digestive balance on the road.

• Probiotic Paste
Something she always keeps in the trailer for horses that need support during travel or schedule changes or anytime they have to go on antibiotics. 

• Athletic Formula
Used for horses to support peak performance. It optimizes your horse's ability to extract the essential nutrients from a quality hay and grain feed program and stabilizes the gut of the performance horse. 

• Medical Muscle
Derby is the reason Medical Muscle became a must-have in Andrea’s barn. Andrea said that once Derby started on it, “everything changed for her. She started striding out better and getting softer,” and the tying-up issues stopped. Now all of her running horses stay on Medical Muscle. 

She doesn’t chase fads. She trusts science and what works. It is about supporting the inside of the horse so the outside can hold up through the grind.

See You In Vegas

A new year. A new string. The same heart and work ethic that carried Andrea to an NFR record last year.

No matter what the 2025 NFR brings, one thing is certain. Andrea Busby will show up with horses she believes in and a season full of runs that earned her spot inside the Thomas & Mack.

FullBucket will be cheering for every turn and every run.
Good luck to Andrea and the entire Busby Quarter Horses team. We cannot wait to watch.

(Psst...use code BQH20 to save 20% all FullBucket products!)

Want to dive deeper into the routines behind consistent performance? Download our FREE veterinarian-developed gut health playbook and get access to the routines and protocols used by professional barrel racers like Andrea Busby. 

References
1. BarrelRacing.com. “Andrea Busby No. 1 Barrel Racer After Fort Worth,” 2025.
2. WPRA.com. “Andrea Busby Profile,” Women’s Professional Rodeo Association, 2025.
3. FullBucket Health. “Andrea Busby Testimonial Videos,” 2024–2025. Quotes pulled from brand-owned ambassador interviews.