Miss Rodeo Texas Blog

February 2016 was all about the San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo. We kicked things off with the Western Heritage Parade Press conference held right in front of the Alamo, where President Cody Davenport released details for the 2016 Stock Show and Rodeo, as well as invited everyone to the parade that Saturday! From there I was off to do a radio remote at Whataburger with KJ 97 in Boerne, to promote the rodeo and interact with people interested in coming out to the rodeo!

The cowboy breakfast was an early morning but so many people over 30,000 showed up to enjoy some out of this world breakfast tacos! What is even more unbelievable is that this event is completely free yes everything was free. The Texas-size menu includes 20,000 servings of Picante Sauce by Simply Fresco 15,000 cups of McDonalds coffee, 12,000 Kiolbassa Chorizo & Egg Tacos, 10,000 Delicious Tamales, 10,000 Pruski’s Sausage & Egg Tacos, 10,000 Rudy’s BBQ Beef Tacos, 8,000 Pioneer Biscuits & Kiolbassa Sausage, 8,000 bacon & egg tacos, 5,000 potato & egg tacos, 5,000 Kiolbassa Sausage Wraps, 5,000 Pints Oak Farms Milk & Orange Juice and 2,500 servings of Pioneer Biscuits & Gravy. Not only did I enjoy the great food and friendly atmosphere but I was able to hand out the award for the cow patty contest. Yes I awarded the golden toilet to the sponsor participant that was able to throw a rather fresh cow patty from a marked distance into a toilet! The Cowboy Breakfast Foundation has all sponsor dollars netted to go towards St. Philip’s College for Culinary Arts Scholarships. Thank you Jackie Van De Walle for inviting me to partake in this world record-breaking event.

The Cowgirls Live Forever Scholarship Luncheon and Fashion Show was one for the books. The Cowgirls Live Forever Style Show has awarded over $1 million in scholarships. This profound giving would not be possible without the contributions of sponsors and donors of the event who avidly support the San Antonio Stock Show & Rodeo’s mission, “A volunteer organization that emphasizes agriculture and education to develop the youth of Texas.” I am so appreciative that I was able to partake in this extraordinary event. Sissy Winn Miss Rodeo Texas Teen and I greeted guest as they arrived, as well as modeled our western dresses as part of the finale of the show. Thank you to everyone who attended and helped make these scholarships possible, it means so much to be a recipient of a SALE scholarship and I can not thank you all enough.

The Western Heritage Parade was a little chilly and windy this year but that didn’t stop us from celebrating our Western Heritage and herding some longhorns down Houston Street in downtown San Antonio. Thank you Billy and Brenda Harris for letting me ride the famous Jazz who has carried many Miss Rodeo Texas in this very parade. This was the first time the parade has been broadcast live on KSAT 12 SA live. I wasn’t expecting it but Jeff Roper stopped me and did an impromptu interview right there in front of the Buckhorn. Later that day I was fortunate enough to attend the San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo Buyers Hide Party. The buyers from last years auction came to visit have a good time and take home their very own personalized S Hat branded cowhide! Thank you for letting me attend as well as take home my very own branded hide!

During the days leading up to the opening day of the rodeo I made school visits in Lytle, and at Cambridge Elementary. Lytle had their very own rodeo days where they made the entire school day an educational experience about agriculture and rodeo. I was a guest speaker and answered many questions about all aspects of rodeo and agriculture. At Cambridge Elementary I spoke to first graders on my job as a rodeo queen and what I would be doing at the rodeo! Kids really do say the darnedest things and I could not have asked for a more enjoyable day getting to spend it with all of them.

Opening day was finally upon us and I spent the majority of the day doing interviews and promoting the Rodeo. I did the annual carnival food interview David Sears of KSAT 12 where we tried all varieties of funnel cake that was full of calories, powered sugar, and some good laughs. From there  was off to the first production meeting of the rodeo where I met everyone who helps make this rodeo the eleven time PRCA Largest Indoor Rodeo of the Year. What an experience it was riding into the AT&T Center for the first time as Miss Rodeo Texas words simply cannot express that feeling.

For the rest of my eighteen-day adventure at the rodeo I visited the School Tours Tent where I spoke to kids from first grade on up to seniors in high school. I had a blast getting to talk to them and hear about their experiences out on the grounds. I was in the International Room quite a bit visiting with rodeo fans from all around the world, The International Committee were also nice enough to feed me in there and always welcomed me with open arms. The contestant hospitality room is one of the many reasons San Antonio has obtained the PRCA Rodeo of the Year Award. They are by far the most hospitable kind, caring, and welcoming people out there. They welcomed rodeo contestants, their families, and myself in there daily for a great meal, provided a place to rest and some good conversation.

The South Texas Cattle Women hosted their February meeting in this room and were also a sponsor of a hearty BEEF dinner that I am sure the contestants were happy to have. I was fortunate enough to speak at the Brush Country Cattle Women’s meeting held in the New Frontier Club. I talked about my ties to rodeo and ranching and what it means to me to have so many women continue their involvement in agriculture.

Every Sunday I was able to attend the cowboy church service held in the auction barn for fellowship during a non-denominational worship service. Speaking of the auction barn I was in attendance for the Lamb and Goat action as well as the Steer auction where I helped award the scholarship checks to the Grand and Reserve Champions. These auctions wouldn’t have been possible without the support of so many sponsors and supporters. I am so thankful I had the opportunity to spend an evening with the men and women who support our youth at their top buyers reception, thank you!

The Cowboy Golf Classic pairs PRCA Rodeo contestants, volunteers, and patrons in supporting the Justin Cowboy Crisis Fund and the Pro Rodeo Hall of Fame. They didn’t have me on a team competing but they did helped me take a few strokes off my golf game. I enjoyed meeting everyone at this event for such a great cause in helping support our rodeo contestants as well as helping preserve our western heritage! The event was able to donate $40,000 to the Justin Cowboy Crisis Fund and $25,000 for the ProRodeo Hall of Fame and Museum of the American Cowboy.

San Antonio hosted the rodeo committee and queens court from the Pendleton Round-Up whom received the 2015 PRCA Largest Outdoor Rodeo of the Year award, to show them how San Antonio rodeos! I got to play tour guide and show them around the grounds and give them an insiders look into what makes San Antonio the eleventh time Indoor Rodeo of the Year. This rodeo is really special and well deserving of another Rodeo of the Year Award in large part because of all the volunteers, and sponsors who care so deeply about the mission of the San Antonio Livestock Exposition.

I am just so incredibly thankfully for the sponsors and supporters of Miss Rodeo Texas who have helped so much in letting me have this once in a lifetime experience! It truly would not have happened without each and every single one of you. Cavender’s thank you for being my presenting sponsor at the 2016 San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo. To every single committeeman and woman thank you for making me feel like family everywhere I went, you all made it feel just like home. Thank you to the Marketing Department for keeping me going and helping schedule my days. San Antonio Rodeo 2016 gave me lifelong friends; connections that will last a lifetime, and memories that will never die.

Thank You San Antonio!

“Vaya con Dios”

Nikki Woodward – Miss Rodeo Texas 2015

I found myself ringing in the New Year in Waco for the Texas Circuit Finals Rodeo. I was asked to model in the annual Rustic and Rhinestones Fashion show where the Circuit Finals contestants as well as their wives and others involved with the rodeo modeled fashions from multiple boutiques. It was a blast getting to know some of the contestants as well as watching those cowboys get creative with their modeling! After the luncheon and style show I explored Waco a little bit more and went to HGTV’s Fixer Upper’s Chip and Joanna Gains Magnolia Market at the Silos. After my afternoon of fun it was rodeo time where I along with Miss Heart Of Texas Fair and Rodeo greeted rodeo fans, then helped out with the mutton busters, and even threw t-shirts to the crowd. On my way out I meet the sweetest group of young girls who were beyond thrilled to meet Miss Rodeo Texas, so I signed autograph sheets, and set with them for the rest of the rodeo! They really put a smile on my face and helped make this appearance one to remember.

The Miss Rodeo Texas Clinic was held the very next weekend where we had a wonderful turnout of girls from all over Texas, New Mexico, Iowa and Washington. This clinic was so influential in helping me achieve my dream and I’m so happy to be a part of that for these girls. Over our two days at the clinic we focused on getting the girls on the microphone asking them current event, personality, and horsemanship questions. We went in-depth into an overview of horsemanship, had mock interviews, and answered any questions the girls may have about competing. The girls were very lucky this year as Lari Nelson of Nelson Fashion Group came in and gave the girls all pointers and individual time working on their modeling! We changed up our speech format at the clinic to give the girls a chance to experience what its like to do an extemporaneous speech. A huge THANK YOU goes out to Marjorie Murphy, Devin Sisk, Roseanna Pace, and Alex Ingram for organizing and putting together a very informative, beneficial, and successful clinic.

The next week I headed up north to Fort Worth for the Texas Cowboy Hall of Fame Inductions. This was a special year as they celebrated their 15th anniversary! I wasn’t solo at this occasion as Miss Rodeo Texas Teen Sissy Winn and Miss Rodeo Texas Princess Cheyenne Barrett were there with me as well. This was a fun event not only because we mingled with some of Texas’s finest, but this was also the first time we have all been together since the pageant back in June! It was such a pleasure meeting the 2016 inductees who have been such influential individuals in the agricultural industry. This years inductees are Jack Brainard (who’s in his 90s and still rides a horse), C.W. Cascio, Dr. Charles Graham, and Justin McBride. This years Rick Smith Spirit of Texas Award recipients were The Gatlin Brothers. Pam Minick was the host and helped keep me in line as I presented the recipients with their plaque and commemorative medal. When it came time to award the Gatlin Brothers their medals and plaques, Sissy and Cheyenne helped since there are three brothers and three queens. Congratulations to the inductees on their well-deserved honor, and thank you Texas Cowboy Hall of Fame for letting me be a part of this wonderful occasion.

“Vaya con Dios”

Nikki Woodward – Miss Rodeo Texas 2015

Happy New Year! I hope everyone had a safe and wonderful holiday season. Mine was spent catching up on sleep and some much-needed deep hair conditioning after my ten days in Las Vegas competing at the Miss Rodeo America Pageant. This year was the year of change at the pageant; every single event was different from years past. The first event, contestant introductions, threw us a curveball and had us answer current event questions right off the bat. Having made it through the first big hurdle of the pageant the rest of the day was filled with rehearsals, room move in, wardrobe fittings, and the welcome social where the decorated Wrangler jeans competition took place. I am so happy to have won the award for best-decorated Wranglers. My best friend Brianna Sloan and I got together and decided to create a fun pair of pants that could be easily reproduced by Wrangler. She was so helpful and even decorated my boots for the Justin Boot Parade, Thank you so much for collaborating with me and creating some knock out outfits! It was a great start to a fun filled eight days of pageant. (Special thanks and photo credit to Shooter Enterprises for all the pictures)

Horsemanship had a big change this year with the new but old rail work addition. For the last few years they had the freestyle pattern but this year they changed it back to the more realistic rail work competition. Its always a good stress relief getting to ride a horse even if it is on a horse I don’t know and during one of the biggest competitions of my life, it was a blast! After horsemanship it was time for all my studying to be put to work on the written test. Even the test had a change itself this year! 200 points up for grabs, which was almost as many points as horsemanship itself! The pressure was on!

The next big event was the Hall of Fame Gala where I let the crowd in on my most memorable moment from my reign, a secret even Marjorie Murphy didn’t know until that moment! After all of the girls stories it was time shine the light on Lolly Klug and Tom House who were deservingly inducted into the Miss Rodeo America Hall of Fame.

On to the impromptu speech! This was the biggest change to the pageant! We had ten minutes to prepare a minute and thirty-second speech over one of five topics provided to us. We didn’t see any of these topic options until we were taken to the prep room and time started ticking away. My topic choice was  “True Western Living” one that is close to my heart and easy to talk about. This choice paid off as I won this category; out of all the changes and categories to win I am so thrilled and humbled that I won this one. Later that evening we attend for the first time the PRCA Awards Banquet where we met and mingled with the nominees and award recipients, it was an amazing and once in a lifetime experience.

The next day was the one I was most excited and nervous for, the WNFR Chap Luncheon. We were asked rodeo, and equine terminology as well as a significant person associated with the PRCA. Once again this event presented us with a big change, we didn’t know that we would be given three different terms until just minutes before we entered the room. This event was the trickiest to me because our terms were given to us with out content and could be explained numerous ways, but that’s just a part of being a rodeo queen. That night we attended the first performance of the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo a great reprieve from the hustle and bustle of the pageant. After our break it was back to pageant action for the Fashion Show.

The Fashion Show was a blast getting to show off some designs from Wrangler and Kippys, as well as my personal outfit. The best part about this event was seeing all of my fellow Texans, family and friends in the audience.
It really showed me how blessed I am to represent the wonderful state of Texas, and the most stressful part of the pageant was just wanting to make every single one of them proud! After the Fashion Show we attended the live feed of the WNFR in the gold buckle zone.

The next day we went to Cowboy Christmas to show off our decorated Justin Boots and auction off some bags for the “Bucks for Bags Scholarship Auction”. My bag included a trip to West Texas, some beautiful hand made jewelry, and much more. My purse was the highest selling purse! From there we shopped all around the convention center, then hit the town! We were lucky enough to ride the High Roller, Las Vegas’s 550-foot tall observation wheel that boasts the best views in town. It was a long day full of walking all over Vegas and we were all very happy to get back to the hotel and put our feet up. The next and final day was a big one! Coronation was here and I am so incredibly happy to have made the top five and won the speech category. 

I want to say a huge Thank You to everyone who has supported me, sent wonderful uplifting emails, cheered from the crowd, and watched from home, it means so much to me to have represented the state I love and to have had the support of each one of you!

Thank you! 

With the New Year it’s out with 2015 and in with 2016! I’ll kick off the New Year at the Miss Rodeo Texas Clinic January 9-10. Twelve years ago at this clinic my rodeo queen journey began! It was at this clinic where I learned to talk on a microphone, talk in front of people in general (I used to just whisper), answer questions, learned how to interview, and met some of the most wonderful people who have had a huge impact on my life. I can’t wait to see and meet the girls who will be there and be apart of their journey. I still have six months left full of rodeos and adventures to come! Stay tuned for all that is to come.

“Vaya con Dios”

Nikki Woodward – Miss Rodeo Texas 2015