Kaleb Driggers is having a career year. Maybe a once-in-a-lifetime year. And that’s saying a lot considering he already has a couple of gold buckles.
This season, the 35-year-old Georgia native won his second straight BFI (with Junior Nogueira) for $127,000, his second straight Lone Star Shootout (with Nicky Northcott) for $31,000 and a Hart trailer, and the second-coming-of-the-George-Strait – The CoJo (with Jade Corkill) – for $36,000 plus a new truck and trailer. That was just jackpotting.
Rodeoing, he earned $100,000 for victory at Teton Ridge’s The American for the record fifth time and $22,000 at the PRCA’s Governor’s Cup (both with Nogueira), plus a cool $20,500 for skipping the AQHA World Show to go win the Hondo Rodeo (with Paul Eaves). Add that to his futurity earnings – including his reserve ARHFA Heading title on his own mare for $19,744 – and conservative estimates have his 2025 money at more than $925,000.
Also, it’s not a bad year personally, considering Kaleb and Nicole are expecting a baby girl in May to join their 17-month-old son.
“It’s nonstop,” he said. “When I get to take my family with me, it’s extra special.”
For a team roper to have a chance to break $1 million in a single year is very, very real in 2025. After all, Driggers earned exactly $117,310 at the NFR last year. It’s a bit mind-blowing.
But so is Driggers’ penchant for getting on the best horses – and taking great care of them. What’s more, it seems like half the Top 15 headers in the world have sourced horses through Driggers. He’s the rare rodeo star who delved deep into the horse business, from breeding and training to winning on and selling horses – or buying them back.
For instance, Driggers won the Hondo Rodeo in Phoenix on Frosty. That’s the horse he sold Riley Minor (the same one he rode to win The CoJo) and wanted back in his arsenal. Let’s take a look at all of Driggers’ weapons.
“Colt 45 is the horse I ride at the NFR and over a lot of short scores,” he said. “He was my No. 1 for most of last summer. And I was able to buy Frosty back, that I rode toward the end of the year at outdoor rodeos. He’s kind of taken the role as my summer horse, and 45 is more my winter and NFR horse, now. Oliver is my jackpot horse and the one I ride at places like Cheyenne, Salinas and Prescott.
But Driggers also owns two powerhouse mares in 5-year-old Blowin In Time (“Chyna”) – the reserve champion head horse at the 2025 ARHFA World Championship Futurity – and 9-year-old Fine Vintage Cash (“Crystal”). She’s still Driggers’ go-to heel horse, and the winningest futurity mare of 2023 that recently made the finals at the ’25 AQHA World Show.
“Going into the 2026 futurities, we still have Chyna, and I still have 4-year-old Miss Taxi Fare, that Justin Hughes just bought,” he said. “She’s by Cole Davison’s stud BR Golden Leader out of the same dam as Crystal, and probably won at least $50,000 as a 4-year-old, so I’m excited for her future.”
Driggers will also campaign Hughes’ half-sibling in 5-year-old BR Call A Uber, a horse that Driggers won more than $80,000 on at this year’s futurities, including a third-place check at the ARHFA World.
“Not just my horses, but all the horses that I ride for people are under our care, between myself and Cole,” said Driggers.
Because he wants every edge, and wants his horses feeling good, Driggers has his own Bemer and his wife has a PEMF machine that helps the horses feel great.
“I’m a little bit of a Buddy Barrel Racer when it comes to taking care of my horses,” said Driggers. “They’re such an important part of what I do, whether it’s a futurity or a rodeo or a jackpot. If my horse is feeling his best, he’ll give me his best, and that gives me a slight advantage over the rest of the field.”
Supplements are another way Driggers keeps his equine partners feeling great, and he has one that works great no matter their ages.
“My rodeo horses are older and more apt to work with minor aches and pains, whereas the younger futurity horses will tell you about a problem a lot sooner,” he said. “That’s why it’s been so important to me to use Equinety. My old rodeo horse that I retired – I could tell within four days if he was not on Equinety, and I then I could tell the difference in just a day’s time when he was back on it. He was just so much more sound and alert and ready to do his job.”
As for the 4- and 5-year-olds, they get plenty of strain too, and for them to be “able to bounce back” is super important to Driggers.
“Having that product on my team is a big deal,” he said. “Chyna got a little sore last summer, so she had a few months off and that product helped us get her right back at work at the ARHFA World in Amarillo. I was using Equinety before I was ever an ambassador for it, because it works and allows me to do my job.”
Driggers uses both the Equinety Ultimate OEC anti-inflammatory oil and Equinety Horse XL amino acid powder on every horse.
“I noticed a big change,” he said. “I also started feeding Unbeetable Feeds because it has no sugar. That allowed those futurity horses to be able to get all the nutrients they need to be able to work at the pinnacle of the sport – but also stay more calm. As far as my rodeo horses, it keeps their digestive track cleaner. Since I’ve been on that supplement and this feed, I haven’t had anything colic.”
In mid-October, Driggers was still looking to the Jingle Bell Classic to pad his impressive 2025 earnings. And, while he was in Phoenix, his dad was busy setting up an NFR arena at his home. So, so that’s where Driggers will be come late November – practicing for that little rodeo in Las Vegas. Finally, he’ll stop in Arizona for a few jackpots on his way to gun for a third gold buckle.
