Frozen Fury on the Plains: Winter bucking bronc futurity showcases tough cowboys and raw horsepower

In the dead of winter when most rodeo arenas have gone dark and quiet, Wyoming’s capital city comes to life for a full day of rowdy excitement and raw horsepower.

Frozen Fury on the Plains, a bucking bronc futurity match held every February in Cheyenne, is quickly becoming a popular competition and crowd-pleasing spectacle for cowboys and spectators across the West and beyond.

A unique winter event

According to Boots on the Ground Productions Cofounder Jim Walter, Frozen Fury on the Plains came about after the Event Center at Archer was built on the Laramie County Fairgrounds and organizers struck a deal in order to procure an indoor rodeo arena.  

Part of this agreement was that Visit Cheyenne would put on a winter rodeo event during the venue’s slowest time of year.

“We talked with our partners Dave and Cindy DeLancey at Hell on Wheels Rodeo Company about what would be the most logical thing to do, and we came up with a bucking horse futurity,” Jim explains. “It just kind of worked out, and it all came together really well that first year.”

As an extension of the summer Hell on Wheels Rodeo and Chuck Wagon Dinner Series, Frozen Fury on the Plains is a unique event which simultaneously allows stock contractors to buck their young four- to five-year-old horses in front of a crowd and gives cowboys – including Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA) permit holders, PRCA rookies and non-PRCA contestants – the opportunity to cover a different kind of roughstock.

Jim notes the event center’s intimate venue seats 1,000 people right on top of the rodeo action.

“There’s not a bad seat in the house,” he says. “The worst seat at the Event Center at Archer is better than the best seat at some rodeo venues.”

Additionally, according to the event’s official website, the rodeo pays back 100 percent of entry fees and an additional $4,000 to cowboys and stock contractors as prize money. Winners also receive a custom belt buckle and a bottle of Hell on Wheels Bourbon from Pine Bluffs Distilling.

2026 futurity highlights

The 2026 Frozen Fury on the Plains took place on Feb. 7, and Jim notes the third annual event was highly successful.

A total of 27 cowboys hailing from Montana, Texas, Wyoming and Canada competed in the long go with 13 advancing to the short go. In all, 40 horses bucked over the course of the night.

“This year’s event went very well,” Jim states. “The weather was perfect, and it was the third year in a row we had a sellout crowd.” 

The competition also proved as tight as it was entertaining, with both first and second place honors ending in a two-way tie.

With 81 points each, Trey Shadlock and Lonnie Dunn topped the podium, while Christopher Nelson and Porter McCumber each marked 79 points to tie for second place.

Additionally, with just half a point to spare, Russell Kling Rodeo was the named the top stock contractor, earning 119.5 points on the night.

Jim notes next year’s futurity is already on the calendar, and organizers are looking at ways to bulk up the event.

“We’re really looking at how we can extend the weekend,” Jim states, noting organizers are considering making the event a two- to three-day, jam-packed weekend of Western fun.

While plans are still in the works, Jim says people can definitely count on bucking bronc futurity action during the Fourth Annual Frozen Fury on the Plains on Feb. 6, 2027.

For more information on Frozen Fury on the Plains, visit cheyenne.org/frozenfury-onthe-plains/.

Hannah Bugas is the managing editor of the Wyoming Livestock Roundup. Send comments on this article to roundup@wylr.net.