Stallion Showcase 2025 | Walz Performance Horses: Live Your Dream 

Walz Performance Horses began as Sonya’s dream to build a horse business. Over time, it has grown into a true family venture, including her husband, Jim, and their two daughters Kieley and Kinsey. 

A native of Harding County, South Dakota, Walz is living her childhood dreams of raising horses. Her daughters are now chasing their growing dreams on home bred and raised horses, rounding barrels and poles, exploding out of the roping box, and lining one out down the fence. 

Part of Walz’s dream was to be a horse vet, and today, as part of her business, Sonya does all of her own equine breeding work, including semen collection, A.I. and embryo transfers.  

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“I’m truly doing what I wanted to; not many people can say that they are living their childhood dream.” 

Jim and Sonya both have rodeo and roping in their blood, so competing on the horses they raise came naturally.  

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“I’m assuming Jim always wanted to rodeo, but I’m not sure if he wanted to be breeding 50 head of horses when I need help,” she said. “Jim is the most supportive person ever. I get to do the things every day that I want to do, and I couldn’t do that without his support.” 

The first stallion Walz purchased, Ima Firefighter, laid a strong foundation for their program, even without the many incentives available for stallions now. Walz ran Backdraft – as Ima Firefighter is nicknamed – on the barrels, roped off him, and used him on the ranch in his younger years.  

“He’s the man,” Walz said. “Ima Firefighter built the business. Jim jokingly tells people that he’s higher up than Jim is. That’s not true, although it’s close!” 

Backdraft is Walz’s pride and joy and best friend.  

“The day that horse is gone it’s going to kill me. When I go into his stall, I still get goosebumps. He still impresses me; I still have the little girl flutter when I look at him.” 

A freak pelvic fracture nearly put the horse, and Walz’s dreams, out of business.  

“Do I give up or do I keep going?” was the question she had to answer for herself. After months of care, Backdraft did heal, and Walz came though the experience more determined than ever to pursue her dream. 

“He healed crooked but he doesn’t know that,” Walz said.  

Although her veterinarian said she could probably ride him after he healed, Walz chose to retire him. 

“He earned it,” she said. “He’s still just the man, he goes south with us to Arizona in the winter and enjoys the warm weather. We ride his offspring, and my kids are winning on his babies, and I think it is amazing. That’s the whole point.”  

While Walz has always promoted her program, she has never put the program ahead of her family.  

“With all the things we have going on, I haven’t made the stallion business my overwhelming ‘that’s all I do’ business.” 

Although Ima Firefighter may not have the offspring numbers out there that some stallions do, “the ones that are out there are amazing,” Walz said. “I know I’m biased, there are so many nice studs out there. If I didn’t have my own it would be hard to pick.” 

“Credit the Firefighter and Debbie Pate made it to the top eight at The American, and ended up fifth. Vegas Firefighter and Taylor Langdon were in the top 20 in the world until she got hurt. Too Chains and Taylor Hildreth dominated the futurity world. I could go on and on with the names of outstanding Ima Firefighter offspring but the article would probably become too long!” 

But Walz is content. 

“I’m ok with that,” she said. “I like it the way it is. We’ve been so busy with Kieley and Kinsey’s high school rodeo that thank God I didn’t have 100 mares booked this summer. Jim had to stay home and do the collecting as it was.” 

Kieley’s main breakaway mount is I Love Firefighters, fondly known as “Bella.” The Ima Firefighter daughter also competed with Kinsey at the Junior High Finals in pole bending, and has done some heading. 

“All of our horses do everything,” Sonya said. “They’re very versatile. 

Kieley and Bella have set the breakaway arena on fire.  

“They won the National High School Breakaway World Championship in 2023 by winning both rounds, placing in the short round and winning the aggregate with a 6.19 on three,” Walz said. “They didn’t stop there; they went to Fort Worth and won the 2024 Women’s Rodeo World Championships and then they went to AT&T Stadium where her team won the Kid Rock Rock N Roll Rodeo.”  

Sonya has started entering again so she can rope with her daughters. Sonya says, “It’s game on!” 

“Your kids learn from what you do,” she said. “How is your kid going to be a winner, not just at rodeo, but at life in general if you can’t lose and win?” 

From Junior High rodeos to roping against some of the top women in the nation, to a unique once-in-a-lifetime experience competing in the Kid Rock invitational rodeo in the A T & T stadium, Walz encourages her daughters to go for the top, yet tries to give them space to fail as well as succeed.  

“It was so cool to see my 18-year-old daughter compete in AT&T stadium,” she said. “I told her before that she needed to enjoy this. ‘I hope you go out and catch this calf and I hope you guys win, but don’t be so nervous you don’t enjoy this experience.’ When I asked her if she needed me at the box, she said, ‘I got this, Mom.'” 

Last year Kieley won both rounds at the NHSFR; this year her calf ducked and she missed. Walz said that even when things don’t go well in the arena, it’s ok. 

“Kieley is a true champion. Yes, she was sad that this year’s Finals didn’t go as she had hoped, but she walked out proud with her head held high because she knows what she is capable of. All the hauling, competing, roping and rodeos are just teaching my kids how to handle pressure and teaching them life skills,” she said.  

Walz’s latest stallion, Honky Tonk Dreams, is a son of Metallic Cat. “Taz” as he is affectionately known, is taking Kieley and Kinsey into cutting and reined cow horse competitions. 

“We were looking at other horses with race breeding when we asked the question, ‘what about cow?'”  

With breakaway taking off, it seemed like a natural choice. Taz is now being used in the breakaway, cow horse and cutting. 

“We did a 90 degree turn with the program,” Walz said. “When we got him, we knew nothing about reined cow horse competition, but he did.” 

Taz had won NRCHA competitions in the hackamore, the snaffle and the bridle. They decided to give it a try, and Kieley started practicing on some roping steers. 

“You know those parents who over mount their little kids?” Sonya asked. “At the first high school rodeo they competed in, I did just that. My daughter was truly an amateur cow horse contestant and she went in there riding a supreme champion. Taz will flat run a cow down and I told her to HOLD ON!” 

It was definitely a learning curve, but the pair figured it out and qualified for the National High School Rodeo Finals. Kinsey started competing in cow horse on him this fall.  

“He’s a totally different style of horse. My whole program has changed to fit what is best for us now,” Walz said. “He’s so well-mannered and good natured,” Sonya said. “All of our studs are. If they weren’t good to be around, they would not be a stud.”  

Walz has learned how to do every facet of managing the breeding side of the business herself. She and Jim collect the stallions, and she ultrasounds and AI’s her own mares, and even has her own recip mares and does her own embryo transfers. 

“When the colts are born, I can truly say ‘I did it.’ I checked the mares, I collected the stud, I AI’d the mare,” she said. “If I want to do something I just learn it. I started reading books, and would call vets with questions and take notes. I’m basically self-taught by trial and error, and asking for help from lots of people.”  

Kieley is great help in the breeding barn, but Walz says Kinsey really likes being involved in that part of the operation.  

“Kinsey is ‘game on’ when it comes to breeding,” she said. “One day last summer I had two mares ovulating and I had to be gone. I knew the next day would be better to breed them, so I collected the stud and put the dose in the fridge.” 

Kinsey got the mares in, AI’d them, and both are now bred.  

“They’re not just kids sitting at home whose mom gives them nice horses to ride. They’re helping breed mares, helping keep track of records and actively involved in everything. The horses they’re going to be riding soon, they literally helped make. They are creating their future because of my business. There are a million rodeo kids out there, but how many helped their mom do all the breeding or are responsible enough to do all that?” Sonya asked. 

Walz said that it used to bother her that she was not among the top barrel horse breeders, but through a lot of life situations she has grown to realize that “just because my name is not at the top doesn’t mean I’m not as good as anybody else.” And while she may be behind other breeders in the “statistics game” because she doesn’t book as many mares as other breeders, she said, “there are more important things in life than what I used to think was important.” 

If a stallion has 100 foals born in a year, for instance, he’s likely to sire more winners than a stallion who sires ten foals per year. But some “slap in the face” experiences have reminded Walz where here priorities lie.  

It hasn’t always been easy. In a short period of time, the second stallion in the program, Sweep The Leg Johnny, had to be put down due to complications from plural pneumonia. Then the broken pelvis diagnosis on Ima Firefighter came in and only a few years later, First Moon Medley had to be euthanized due to an injury.  

“I’ve had lots of reasons to just say ‘to hell with it,'” Walz said.  

When faced with the question of whether to give up or keep going, the horses always won out.  

“I’m raising good horses for my kids, my family and those people who want to breed to our stallions. Kieley has won over $150,000 on horses we raised and she just turned 18. How amazing is that? We’re breakaway roping on barrel horses. I have enough confidence right now and I know I have amazing animals, and I don’t have to prove it. The ones that are out there are doing great, they are versatile and amazing. 

“Truly what we do now is because I want to give my kids the best life possible,” she said. “My kids love it and are winning on these horses. We will haul them to the ends of the earth to help them chase their dreams.”