Davison, who with wife Whitney owns Gold Buckle Stallion BR Golden Leader, will bring added business acumen to the growing futurity group.
Bluff Dale, Texas, Oct. 14. 2024—Two-time National Finals Rodeo Heeler Cole Davison has joined the leadership team of Gold Buckle Futurities, the stallion incentive and futurity production group that’s already paid out some $1.3 million to ropers, stallionowners and breeders in just three events.
Davison joins owners Kaleb Driggers, Shane and Taylor Hanchey, Billy Myers and Jeremy Barwick.
“The Gold Buckle team has prioritized producing and promoting elite horses—across the breakaway, calf roping, heading and heeling—paying back great money to stallion owners to keep them engaged and connected to the industry,” Davison, 35, of Stephenville, Texas, said. “They’ve all put in the work and thought, as competitors who’ve been there and done that, to ensure every event has the best cattle, fairest payouts and premier promotion. We all are looking forward to helping grow the rope horse industry.”
Former owners and World Champions Shelby and Haven Meged will return to the lucrative futurity competition for their horses and owners, after stepping away from Gold Buckle leadership. Gold Buckle owners do not compete at their own futurities to limit any conflict of interest in the judging process.
“Cole understands the business side of the industry as well as anyone,” Driggers said. “He’s a realist, and he’s connected to non-traditional sponsors and businesspeople outside our team roping industry, so he will help bring in more of a big-picture perspective to the growth of this organization.”
Gold Buckle—which hosts a spring and fall event annually—pays 50% of its stallion incentive pot back to stallion owners, the highest stallion payout in the futurity industry. While any horse can compete in the Gold Buckle events, the futurities also pay an Elite Breeder’s Incentive to the enrolled programs that produce the winning horses. The program live streams each event, pairing that production the the group’s top-of-the-line marketing to showcase rope horses to a global market.
About Gold Buckle Futurities
Gold Buckle Futurities is a premier organization dedicated to promoting the sport of roping and showcasing the best talent in the industry. Through its commitment to excellence and the development of future champions, Gold Buckle Futurities continues to set the standard in competitive roping.
