5 Basic Requirements to Become a Rodeo Queen
Wondering what the basic requirements to become a Rodeo Queen are? Here’s my top 5 essentials for any aspiring queen.
Have Fun
By far the most important requirement to becoming a rodeo queen, is to have fun while doing it. Now everything might not be sunshine and roses, but the vital part in any subjective judging event is you have to enjoy it as that is what will drive you to continue. Whether you enjoy showing off your partnership with your horse, making new friends or going outside of your comfort zone, the best time you can show passion in rodeo queening is if you have fun while doing it.
Access to a Horse
You might think ”Obviously all rodeo queens have to own their own horse” and if your trying to convince your parents to get you one, this might not help. But no, you don’t need to own your own horse to be a rodeo queen. State queens travel out of their home state most weekends in a year and they almost always borrow horses from stock contractors or rodeo committees, in most cases only getting a few minutes to warm them up before doing grand entry. Often times lots of queens that do have their own horses won’t even use them at rodeos. This is simply because not every horse is cut out to be a rodeo queen horse. They need to be okay with carrying flags, bright lights, loud cheering crowds, cattle, even sometimes fireworks or BMX motorcycles, it can be a lot for any horse to take in, let alone be safe while doing it. Borrowing a horse that is used to rodeos already can be a great option, especially if they were a previous rodeo queen horse. But primarily looking for a horse that is safe and sane in different circumstances is a great start. The most important thing though is to simply have a horse you can use and a way to get to rodeos, whether you own/rent a trailer, haul with friends, or pay someone to haul.
Check out 3 Ways to Prepare Your Horse For Rodeos now for more information on how best to prepare your horse to be a rodeo queen horse.
Age Requirement
Rodeo queen pageants are similar to that of the beauty/scholarship pageants of Miss America and Miss USA, in that they are designed only for young women designed as a scholarship activity. Anywhere from ages as young as 3 to about the age of 27, tends to be standard in the rodeo queen world. Most Miss State Titles require you to be above 18 years of age, and states can also have teen, junior and princess categories though those age limits can vary pageant to pageant. Highschool rodeo titles are restricted to while you are in Highschool. Also keep in mind the participation requirements with the title vary greatly based on age, so if you have to go a little further out of your way for a younger title age you may only have a handful of events in the entire year, where as a miss or teen title may be more labor intensive thus staying local would be more beneficial.
If you are over 27, unfortunately their is not many opportunities to hold a rodeo queen title yourself. Occasionally their are states that do local Mrs. Titles for those married or above the age, but they are typically fundraiser pageants and not directly correlated with a rodeo. Which is where joining a rodeo queen committee, rodeo committee and even a flag or drill team, if your looking to ride in the rodeo, may all be great options for you to get involved in the rodeo world.
Find a Pageant
This is where google and Facebook will be your best friend. Do you have a local rodeo near you? Try going to their website and see if they have a section on their rodeo queen. Often times they may link to the rodeo queen pageants website or Facebook page, where items like application, requirements, contest dates will be posted, or there will be a contact listed to find more information about the pageant. If your Highschool has a rodeo team, reach out them to find highschool rodeo queen title options near you. Some pageants do have a location requirement, ie. resident of state, within x miles of the rodeo, or in a specific district or county. As well as age requirements, not every rodeo has junior, teen and queen titles, so keep that in mind that the rodeo closest to you may not be the best fit. If you are brand new to pageants, keep an eye out for pageants that have clinics or in-person preparation lessons, as these will allow for a more hands on approach designed to help you successfully compete on pageant day. And if any reader is based in California, I would love to have you join my Facebook group “California Rodeo Queens”, a page I created last year as a way to share pageants, rodeo queen events and visiting royalty information as a centralized resource for the state of California. (PS. I think more queens should make state-wide rodeo queen Facebook groups, to make queening more accessible to all, so if your a queen in another state, consider being the starter!)
Check out the Resource page for more information on how to find a pageant near you.
Hard Work
Probably the most simple item on the list.
“The most difficult things are the ones most worth doing”
All the hard work you put in will pay off, whether you win the crown or not. Becoming a rodeo queen lets you build life skills that you really can’t get anywhere else. All the knowledge, life skills, memories you make are all unique to being a rodeo queen, but applicable in so many other situations. Put the hard work into yourselves, as there is no such thing as a bad investment in yourself.
