How to study for a Rodeo Queen Pageant
Take time to study every day
The type of pageant and how far out the pageant date is will dictate how much studying each day or week is required. But a good rule of thumb is to research, create flashcards, review vocab etc. at least 15 minutes a day. If you want or feel like you need to study more, than you can easily add on time or do more than one session a day. As long as you are slowly learning the information overtime the less you need to cram right before the pageant when you are already stressed out. One method I recommend is to use spaced repetition, where you slowly increase the intervals of time you review a specific set of information. Spaced repetition is based on the forgetting curve and is used to help increase memory retention of the information.
What Should I Study?
What you need to study will fall onto each individual pageant, some have written tests that cover everything from rodeo terms to current events, while others will utilize on-stage questions and interviews for the judges to get an idea of what you know and how you present the information. For Miss level contestants: Horse Science, Rodeo Knowledge, Rulebooks, Current Events, Agriculture, and Politics are all fair game. This can seem like a lot of information to cover if you only have a short time before the pageant, which leads me to my next point:
Information every rodeo queen must know before they compete
Sounds daunting, but whether you have three days or three months here are some questions that come up almost every pageant, it is the basic knowledge every rodeo queen needs to have and not knowing these things will bring across to the judges that you are simply not prepared.
Know the rodeo you are representing and what dates that rodeo takes place. It may sound standard, but you are competing to be chosen as an ambassador for that specific rodeo and in a pageant you specifically applied for, yet there are many girls who don’t know the correct information. A popular question is to give a 30 second commercial for that rodeo, being able to provide accurate information will go a long way.
Bonus information to know:
Where to buy tickets
Times of performances
Where the rodeo takes place
Website address or phone number to get more information
Sponsors of the rodeo
What are the rodeo events, roughstock events and timed events. If there is an event that is illegal in your state know what it is. Be able to loosely describe each rodeo event, when it stops and ends, how they win the event (high score for roughstock, fastest time for timed-events), how they can be penalized or disqualified.
Bonus information to know:
Who are the world champions in each event
What is the name and event of someone from your state that will be competing at the rodeo of your pageant or at the NFR
Basic information about your horse. What are the normal vital signs, what bit do you use and why, even what shoe size is your horse. Often times questions about your horse are also a time to present more information.
For example: if a judge asks you what vaccines does your horse get? you can tell them your horse gets vaccinated yearly in the spring with the following five core vaccines… and because you live in a high vector area, or your horse is traveling to shows and rodeos, that you also did the risk-based vaccines... Being able to share what you know and how it relates directly to your horse is a great way to present your knowledge to the judges.
Know your rodeo queens. If you are competing for a PRCA rodeo queen title, you need to know who is the reigning Miss Rodeo America, who the reigning State Titleholder is, and who is the queen passing down her title for the pageant. It helps if you can share a little information about each if asked, like where they are from or a fact about them or their title.
Know your pageant. When did the rodeo start, who is the president or board members, being able to talk about the history and how its run today. Who are some of the sponsors of the pageant? You are representing that pageant, put in the work to know everything you can about it. Be able to answer the question: why do you want to be the titleholder Miss Rodeo _____ .
Impromptu personality questions can be an easy way to let the judges see a different side of you, but it can be difficult to think of an appropriate answer on stage so give yourself time beforehand to have a few things ready in your back pocket.
Favorite or things that describe you are always top choices: favorite rodeo event, favorite rodeo contestant, what song describes your life or your horse
who is your hero or role model, what are you grateful for, if you could have dinner with anyone who would it be
tell a joke, what is a fun fact about you
have someone look at your application and ask you questions about it, the application is the only information the judges have about you prior to the pageant so its a great jump off point to ask questions about you.
What if you don’t know the Answer?
The dreaded I don’t know. It can be nerve racking to be asked a question you don’t know the answer to. But there are a few steps you can take to give the judges an idea of what you know and how you handle situations on the spot. Here are some do’s and don’ts for when you have no idea how to answer the question.
Do - give information about what you do know, try to relate it to the topic of the question and always give some knowledge to accompany a “I don’t know” response.
Don’t - tell the judges you will get back to them later, chances are you might not be able to talk to them later in the pageant and the points will already be given and sealed after the event.
Do - if you slip up and happen to say you’ll get back to them later or you’ll go look it up, you HAVE to get back to them. The points may already be assigned but it will show your integrity and dedication.
Don’t - make something up, while answering confidently is always best, you shouldn’t give wrong facts. If they ask you who the world champion is? You can say you are unsure or/ believe it is ___ but the best way would be to check out the world standings on prorodeo.com, don’t just spit out the first name that comes to mind especially if they compete in a different event.
Do - like mentioned above, if you don’t know the answer but you can give the exact location to find out the information present it. Better yet if you can narrow down where on the website the information could be found.
Rodeo Queen Study Resources
Here are some of my top study resources
Physical Learning
Utilize resources that you interact with already. People like your veterinarian and farrier are professionals in their field and a wealth of knowledge at your fingertips. Ask to shadow them for the day while they are at your barn, or see if they would be willing to answer some of your questions. Just don’t get in the way or distract them from their work.
The best way to learn about rodeo is to ask people who rodeo, they may be able to show you exactly what they are talking about and give you a visual version of the information
Internet
google will probably be your best friend to easily find more information about certain topics
the PRCA website also has a wealth of knowledge including their rulebook, media guide, pro rodeo sports news, and the business journal.
Other resources
4H handbooks, pony club and veterinary manuals are all great information
Horse magazines like The Horse or Cowgirl Magazine
The CPRA Pageant posts questions of the day prior to the pageant, while not all are applicable to everyone they are a great start off point and can easily be modified for your pageant
Apps
Merck Vet - a great resource to look about diseases, viruses and an easy search function
2021 AQHA Rulebook - the quarter horse is the heart of rodeo and AQHA is a large sponsor of the PRCA, so it is important to know about the quarter horse
Ground News - a great app about current events that give multiple articles per topic and also tells you what direction the article is leaning so you can get different viewpoints
