After winning the 2024 PRCA regular season with Dustin Egusquiza, Levi Lord is back in team-roping-title contention in 2025. Lord’s been busy building his horse herd this year and is now loaded for bear as he heads out to hunt down his gold buckle goals.
While Egusquiza was also the regular-season champ with Travis Graves in 2021, 2024 was Lord’s first hurrah on that front.
“World championships are all about the NFR,” Lord said. “It pays so much now that it always comes down to those 10 days in Vegas. We’ve had some great regular seasons. It’s about getting the NFR figured out to make it happen. Winning the regular season is great, and going in toward the top is, too. But having a shot at the world title is always about whoever does the best out there.
“The horses are pretty much everything at our level. There are certain places where talent and natural ability will let you get by on a lesser horse, and you can use your talent and your rope. But you can’t win at the highest level without riding the right one for the job.”
Egusquiza and Lord huddled up as a team, and doubled down in the horse department. Lord’s Old Faithful the last couple years has been the bay he calls Birdie (Zoomin Diamond Prom is 15 now). Levi bought Birdie from Jake Minor, who bought him from Breck Ward, right before the 2022 NFR.
“Birdie’s really forgiving, and just a super easy horse,” Lord said. “He isn’t going to do anything to get you off balance or take anything away from you. He’s small and fast-footed, and makes it easy to catch the steer. I’ve ridden him in every setup the last two years, and he’s pretty good at doing it all.
“I bought Birdie to ride at the NFR in 2022, which was my first trip to Vegas (after also roping at the 2020 NFR in Texas), and he’s been great for me everywhere. I knew I needed to up my horsepower to rope with Dustin, and it’s pretty much all been on Birdie the last couple years.”
Lord’s brought in back-up for Birdie this year, too. Little Blackie (San Jo Deacon) is the 15-year-old black he bought from Missouri’s Gus Mosely, who’s in Mineral Wells, Texas now. If Little Blackie looks familiar, it’s because before Mosely, Paul Eaves rode him in 2020 when he was heeling for Colby Lovell.
“The one thing that stands out about Little Blackie is how fast he is,” said Levi, who won San Antonio on Birdie in 2023, and struck again in The Alamo City aboard Little Blackie in 2025. “He’s probably the fastest horse I’ve ever ridden, and it makes all the difference as fast as things are now, especially roping with Dustin. Little Blackie’s super cowy, too. He leaves the box at full speed, and is locked onto the steer. He lets me get to the spot so fast.
“Little Blackie and Birdie are similar, but different. They’re both small, fast-footed and easy to rope on. But the black is full speed and full contact at all times, and not very forgiving. He sucks to practice on. Birdie’s easier, but Little Blackie’s speed is really handy in these fast setups, to where I’m almost waiting on it to happen.”
Can a team contend for world championships today with only one good horse at each end?
“It’s too competitive out there now,” Lord added. “All the top guys have two or more good horses. Even at a small roping, their third-string horse is going to be badass. When you’re going head-to-head with the Top 15 day in and day out—rodeos and ropings—one horse just can’t do it. It takes too much of a toll. Adding these extra horses has already helped elevate our team.”
