Easton Burns, 11, and his father, Joe Burns, won the Hyer #11 Rookie at the 2026 Cinch RSNC World Finals in Fort Worth, Texas, sorting 36 head in 222.39 seconds over four rounds to earn $13,196.
Riding with his son in the #11 Rookie class wasn’t part of the original plan, but Joe had one extra ride and asked Easton whether he wanted to compete with him or spend the time playing with his friends. Easton chose to ride.
“We made it through all the rounds,” Joe said. “We really didn’t think we had much of a shot.”
From 10th to First
The father-son team entered the final round sitting on just 26 head, while the leaders held 29 and 30. They hoped to move up a few places, but Easton gave them much more than that.
“We were just hoping we could move up a couple spots, get a couple extra bucks,” Joe said. “And then this little guy decided he was going to pull 10 head somehow.”
Easton and Joe flipped their cattle, and Easton began picking them clean from the herd. Once the first two came through the gate, the cattle began falling into place.
“He’s really smooth in there—the complete opposite of me,” Joe said of his son.
At the eighth cow, Joe had to return to the herd. He pushed a trash cow up the wall and moved out to stop it while Easton went after their final numbered cow. The trash cow nearly beat Joe around the gate, but the team squeaked clean with a 6-inch margin.
When none of the remaining teams surpassed them, Easton and Joe had their world championship.
“I was excited when I was on the last cow and pushed it through,” Easton said.
Competing beside his son came with a special kind of pressure.
“Before that, the most pressure I’ve ever had was riding with my wife,” Joe said. “I don’t get nervous in Top 10s or Finals or anything like that, but I got nervous last night.”
When it was over, the emotion caught up with him.
“It was very special,” Joe said. “I’m going to tear up again. It was very, very special.”
A Big Night for Tinder
The Rookie championship completed a standout night for Easton and his mare, Metallic Pink Pearl (Metallic Cat x Tassas Dual Rey), a 2017 red roan, known as “Tinder.” Joe rode his own mare, Bella Of The Blue (Mecom Bay Roan x Mighty Aphrodite), born in 2015, to the win. Easton also rode Tinder to claim the #10 Youth Beg/ Adult Gate, winning the class with Brandon Kruger for $912.
Joe joked that Easton might need to use his earnings to buy a horse of his own because Joe planned to take Tinder back.
The Full Tally
With two World Champion titles, Easton had his choice of hardware to sport. Asked which buckle he planned to wear, he said he would Joe’s week stretched across three classes. Beyond the $6,598 he split with Easton in the Rookie and their earnings in the Youth Beginner/ Adult Gate, Joe captured a thirdplace finish in the Open Sort worth $1,548, and added a $179 Fast Go Bonus there as well. His total for the week: $8,536.
#11 Rookie — 2026 World Finals Champions
| Champions | Easton Burns (Eldon, Missouri) & Joe Burns (Eldon, Missouri) |
| Winning run | 222.39 on 36 head |
| First-place payout | $13,196 |
| Total class payout | $62,060 |
Payouts
| Place | Team | Payout |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Easton Burns / Joe Burns | $13,196 |
| 2 | Destiny Baker / Logan Weldon | $12,000 |
| 3 | Haiden Blackmon / Trent Knight | $6,862 |
| 4 | Paisley Weigand / Colleen Galloway | $6,778 |
| 5 | Cassie Daniel / Zane Daniel | $4,486 |
| 6 | Kinley Campbell / Christina Sullivan | $4,694 |
