Hi everyone! Does anyone have any insight on the thought of finding a jockey/trainer to campaign a horse on the rodeo road rather than the owner? You see a lot of pros running someone else's horse, and I'm curious how you get your horse's "foot in the door," so to speak. I have a young filly that I think has potential and I would like to eventually get some earnings on her, but I have a full time office job and am thinking of starting a family soon, therefore would not have the means to take her out on the road myself. Not only that, but her chances of doing well would be much greater with an experienced competitor. She is not eligible for any of the breeders incentive futurities that I know of, so I don't think fururitying her would be the right avenue especially since she's already 3. I would like to keep working her on the ranch for a few more years so I am just dabbling in this idea currently and looking for opinions. 

I am not a rodeo person but as a 3 yr old it would be a few years before she would be rodeo ready.  I can tell you that trainers are expensive ( they have to be ) and you can sink a lot of money into a 3 yr old to have her futurity ready much less rodeo ready.  Run your numbers and give it some thought.  Best of luck. 

This!! Run the numbers. You're most likely not going to get a pro rodeo girl to train them on the pattern, most of them jockey finished horses or ones coming from futurity trainers. Also, be expecting to pay for all the entry fees, splitting travel costs or full travel if they're only running yours at a rodeo, vet bills, feed, etc.... the same as you would if you were running the horse, plus paying them probably $700-1000 a month just to jockey one. Some might include feeding your horse in the cost of their jockey bill. You could be looking at anywhere from probably $2,000-5,000 a month real quick to campaign one on the rodeo road, and most likely will have to give them a percentage of any money that horse wins. Just depends on how they plan to haul & enter. So unless you think you've got a filly thats the next Sister/Martha/Mullberry and can earn like them, you're probably going to lose money. You see them jockey studs far more often because owners will get that money back in breeding fees brought in from it. A mare will have almost no benefit unless you're breeding her and you have a line of people wanting babies. The good pro girls also arent going to agree to it unless they can win rodeos, you gotta remember they're trying to get to the nfr and if they have your horse its got to give them a better shot at getting there than the other 20 horses people want them to jockey. Most of them all take on winning futurity horses, which is how the owners get their foot in the rodeo door. I personally don't think it's very realistic for mares financially on an owner, especially one thats not a futurity candidate, but if you want to give it a go then thats up to you & best of luck. 

Maybe start with an ammeture rodeo girl. Your horse will get experience and have a better chance at being competitive. If she ends up doing good there, you can always move up the ladder.