RTR Little Willy
Livestock • Class of 2025
RTR Little Willy was undoubtedly one of the best steer wrestling horses of all time, winning nearly $4 million in a 12-year career. Purchased as a three-year-old by Greg Cassidy, Willy blossomed as a rodeo horse. He carried many cowboys in his career including Curtis and Cody Cassidy, Rope Meyers, Lee Graves, Jason Miller, and Luke Branquinho.
Willy won almost every major rodeo at one point – Tucson, Denver, Calgary, Houston, and Fort Worth. He worked ten consecutive National Finals Rodeos with multiple runs per night. Of those, he won both the NFR Average and World Championship four of those years – Rope Meyers in 2001, Lee Graves in 2005, Jason Miller in 2007, and Luke Branquinho in 2008. In each of those four years, Willy carried his riders to multiple money wins. Meyers and Graves placed in nine of the ten rounds, Miller placed in seven of the ten rounds, and Branquinho placed in eight of the ten rounds. To date, Willy and Meyers hold the fastest average score of the National Finals with 37.4 seconds on ten head.
Willy was inducted into the Canadian Professional Rodeo Association Hall of Fame in 2020. His Canadian career included 6 Canadian Steer Wrestling titles and 5 CPRA Horse of the Year titles. He also won the gold and silver medals at the 2002 Winter Olympic Command performance for Rope Meyers and Lee Graves respectively.
Willy retired to the Cassidy Ranch in Donalda, Alberta, after the 2010 National Finals Rodeo at the age of 24. He passed away at the ranch a few months before his 35th birthday on November 4, 2020.
