Miss Rodeo Texas Blog

What a whirlwind it has been making appearances and getting ready for Vegas! I have been so lucky this past month meeting so many impressive and kind people. I made the drive right down the road to Kerrville to model for our wonderful sponsor Delores Unique Designs. This event was extra special because Sissy Miss Rodeo Texas Teen was there. We met so many sweet ladies of the Hill Country Sheep and Goat Organization who were just so excited to have us there and hear about our travels as rodeo queens. Delores’s designs were a huge hit and I’m just so happy I was apart of this wonderful event!

The San Antonio Go Rodeo Round Up was by far the biggest event I have attended yet! I had no clue there would be so many people here! Im pretty sure there was about 3,000 people in the expo hall! I don’t blame them not only was it a great fundraising event but they also got to enjoy the music of Mark Chestnut and Dwight Yoakum! They really put me to work helping award the items to the winners of the live auction! There was so many friendly faces welcoming me and telling me all about what I will be doing come February! I had a blast and can’t wait to see everyone again the the San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo!

From San Antonio to Fort Worth I headed up north for the National Cowgirl Hall of Fame Inductions. For the first time other state title holders were invited to attend, and it was so nice seeing Miss Rodeo Kansas Abbey Pomeroy, Miss Rodeo Oklahoma Sierra Pecha, Miss Rodeo Washington Katherine Merck, and Miss Rodeo Wisconsin Lydia Berg of course I can not forget Miss Rodeo America Lauren Heaton! Listening to the inductees speeches was so moving and quite inspiring to see such strong passionate woman making a difference in the world of agricultural and our western way of life. Thank you to Wanda Waters for letting me sit with her and the many influential individuals at her table!

I hung around the Fort Worth area for Boot Barn’s Grand Opening of its new stores in the DFW area! I got to hang out with with Amy T. and Lacy of the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders and sign autographs for the many shoppers.

From cowtown to bulls night out I was in Goliad Texas for their third annual PBR event. Friday night was kicked off with the Calcutta in downtown Goliad. Alex Ingram Miss Rodeo Texas 2014 was invited to come back and I was so thrilled. Thanks to Gary and Lana Jorzombek who were our wonderful host for the weekend. They have worked really hard to put on this event and to make sure they have Miss Rodeo Texas to help promote this fun family event. In the production meeting they asked if I would present the Texas flag so of course I said yes with a smile on my face and Texas pride in my heart. When it came time to carry the flag in the arena I then realized they failed to tell me it was a dark arena, spotlight, fire on the arena floor, fireworks, and bull riders lined up in the arena as I ran the pickup mans horse around the arena ant full speed! Talk about an experience to remember. Thank you Gary and Lana as well as Alex for helping make this one of the funnest laid back appearances yet! Hope to see y’all next year in Goliad.

Out in west Texas I stopped by the Miss Rodeo Sandhills Pageant. At horsemanship the first night I gave the invocation and tried to help calm the nerves of the contestants! All the girls did a fabulous job and are true horsewomen. The next day was all pageant the girls did interviews in the morning and then went on to model, give their speech, as well as answer impromptu questions. I gave the invocation and even had an impromptu interview with Jay Hendricks of Channel 7 news (great preparation for Miss Rodeo America). Once the scores were tabulated the category winners where announced as well as the Miss Rodeo Sandhills Royalty. I helped crown the girls. Congratulations to the new Miss Rodeo Sandhills Katelynn Brownlee, Teen Emily Woodard and Princess Alayna Johnson, hope to see y’all at the Miss Rodeo Texas Pageant in June!

I can’t believe its already time for the Miss Rodeo America Pageant! During the pageant I will not have access to a phone, computer, or anyone outside the pageant but you can send emails of encouragement to missrodeopageant@yahoo.com! The e-mail rules are as follows:

1. They will start accepting messages on Saturday, November 28, 2015
2. Please include the State in the subject line.
3. All messages are read prior to printing to ensure appropriateness of the message.  The committee reserves the right to not deliver a message they feel is inappropriate.
4. Messages may not be printed after Saturday, December 5th
5. Messages received after the pageant cannot be sent to contestants, there are no means of doing so.
6. Contestants DO NOT have access to e-mail during the pageant, please do not expect a response.

Coronation will include a live audio feed.  You can tune in to www.prorodeolive.com and listen to the coronation live on Sunday, December 6th at 10:30 a.m.(noon our time). The Wrangler Network will also be streaming a live video feed at wranglernetwork.com Photos will be posted at shooterenterprises.com

“Vaya con Dios”

Nikki Woodward – Miss Rodeo Texas 2015

Who knew living the life as a rodeo queen was just like a George Strait song? Amarillo by morning up from San Antonio literally! My next stop was at the Tri-State Fair and Rodeo in Amarillo. As soon as my feet touched the ground I was off to help with the Mutton Busting prelims. There was over a hundred little kids between the ages of 4 and 7 ready to ride some sheep. I helped get them weighed in, signed up and get pumped to ride that big smelly sheep! Once in the arena I presented the kids with a ribbon and walked them out of the arena back to their boastful parents.

After an evening full of Mutton Busting the next morning was an early one with a TV interview with Channel 7 news. After that it was a busy day full of rodeo slack. We started off with the steer roping slack. I was excited to not only see this event for the first time in person but to also help push steers and meet some talented cowboys. What really helped make this an interesting time was my horse! He kept spooking at the steers! Nothing to bad, but he definitely didn’t want them to get to close to him, but it made for some good laughs! After lunch it was time to head to Cavender’s for a Radio remote with KGNC Radio. World Champion Bareback rider Will Lowe, rodeo announcer Mike Mathis, and the lady in charge Angela Ragland all joined me for this event. It was great getting to talk to Jason Kidd the host of the show and give him an inside look in to the western way of life and rodeo queen world!

The next morning was even earlier as I had more radio interviews at the KGNC station headquarters. Once again I met up with Jason Kidd to give the listeners some answers about the rodeo as well as what my role is as a rodeo queen and of course what I was wearing! After the interview I headed back to the arena for some more slack action. We started off with team roping, steer wrestling and then calf roping. Once again I assumed the position of pushing cattle out. Today I had a rope horse that wasn’t shy about cattle at all! They even gave me a rope and said lets see what you’ve got? Well I couldn’t disappoint and am happy to say I slicked one on em. Little did I know that Ali Allison of News Channel 10 was there watching and I had an interview with her later that day. After we wrapped up slack for the day it was off the news station for my interview with Ali. I had a wonderful guest join me for the interview Miss Rodeo America Lauren Heaton. Ali knows her rodeo and quizzed Lauren and I over the upcoming Miss Rodeo America pageant as well as our involvement at the Tri-State Fair and Rodeo. She even made a comment about my slack working skills.

That night was the first night of rodeo action where they did a special grand entry dedicated to our military. We were in for a surprise when they said that Lauren would be carrying the American flag that had fireworks in it! We didn’t know until last minute and hoped that Teddy Bear her horse would be okay with it. He gave a little hop but was a good boy the rest of the time. Every night we got to help those crazy Mutton Busters get on sheep and presented them with their hard earned trophies. We worked along side the pickup men pushing steers and calves, and even rode in the back of the Ford truck to set and pick up the barrels. This was a great way to wrap up the end of the 2014-2015 rodeo season which ended September 30th. It was a real treat getting to spend the weekend with Lauren she’s a real gem and a wonderful Miss Rodeo America. 

From Amarillo it was on to the Fort Bend Country Fair and Rodeo in Rosenberg. We kicked off the new rodeo year with the Exceptional Kids rodeo. This was an amazing event to be a part of and my station was the photo booth. They told me at the beginning that I might need to recruit the kids to come take photos since there was going to be so many other stations (with cool things like horses). To my surprise I was busy the entire time with kids tickled to take a picture with me. It was an amazing experience and I am so thankful to have been apart of such a great event. That night was the first performance for the PRCA rodeo and I carried the American flag. After the national anthem I helped warm up and get the judges horse ready. I then headed over to the office and got to meet country singer Tracy Bird! The next night was “Tough Enough to Wear Pink” night and I once again carried the American flag. This time was a little more interesting as my horse decided he wanted to go back to the trailer. He reared up a little and put on a good show but we made it through. Tonight I was able help out in the arena. I even had an impromptu interview with the announcer and rodeo clown! They really know how to put on a rodeo. I enjoyed my stay and getting to meet the wonderful people of the Fort Bend County Fair and Rodeo.

From Rosenberg I headed back to San Antonio for a night at the races. The South Texas Cattle Women hosted their night at the races to help raise funds for BEEF promotions, BEEF Certificates for South Texas children’s homes, and consumer education! This was a fantastic event where I was lucky enough to mingle with so many impressive people from across the state. I even got to bet on a race horse! I didn’t read the information provided in the program book (because I really don’t know what it all means) I just look for the prettiest color and the one with the worst odds! Well sure enough he came in third and I won myself a little pocket cash! What a great night of racing, socializing, and fundraising with a wonderful group of people, can’t wait until the next one!

“Vaya con Dios”

Nikki Woodward – Miss Rodeo Texas 2015

September is a busy time for Rodeo in Texas. The contestants are working hard to make it into the top 15 to qualify for the National Finals Rodeo by September 30th. My schedule isn’t much different from those rodeo cowboys and cowgirls as I have traveled many miles across Texas.

My Labor Day weekend was filled with pageantry, rodeo, a parade, and of course fair food. I kicked off the long weekend judging the Miss Kendal County Fair Queen contest. The pageant started with the contestants one on one interviews. The girls gave a speech on why they wanted to be the Kendal County Fair Queen at the beginning of the interview. I was very impressed with how well these girls handled a one on one speech with the judges right off the bat! These eight young ladies made my job really hard, and I was already nervous about being a judge for the first time. As if being a judge wasn’t hard enough they also had the Little Miss division with six contestants who all could have been a great Little Miss.

At the conclusion of the interviews the on stage portion of the pageant began with modeling and current event questions. All the girls handled themselves very well with some tough questions. After all the on stage fun we were taken back to finalize our scores and have the accountants tabulate them to determine the 2015-2016 queens court! Yes they have a court with three girls in the Miss division who are crowned Duchess, Princess, and Queen, along with the Little Miss. The winners were Abigail Smith Little Miss, Kortni Langlinais Duchess, Becca Bernhard Princess, and Kylie McIntosh Queen. It was a blast and quite nerve racking judging but I am so happy I had this opportunity and experience being in the opposite position at a pageant!

The girls on the queen’s court were nice enough to let me be a part of their court for the weekend. They showed me around the fair grounds and even treated me to one of the best gordita’s I have ever ate!  The next morning was the parade where I was lucky enough to be the Grand Marshall. I even got to ride in a brand new Ford Mustang provided by Jennings Anderson Ford in Boerne.  At the rodeo the pickup men from Bad Company Rodeo were nice enough to let me help them push cattle. It’s always nice as a rodeo queen to get to work along side the pickup men and show off our skills. The people and the rodeo were great at the Kendall County Fair and Rodeo, thanks for letting me be a part of all the fun!

My next stop was the West Texas Fair and Rodeo in Abilene. Where I was giving up the title of Miss West Texas Fair and Rodeo. The pageant had four contestants Katelynn Brownlee, Kendall Pearse, Emily Woodard, and Brighlon Kilpatrick. The pageant started with horsemanship. I rode Strawberry who was provided by one of the Girls on the Harden-Simmons Six White Horses team. Setting the pattern here was great practice for horsemanship at Miss Rodeo America. After horsemanship the girls and I walked the midway and watched the loud but very entertaining tracker pulls!

The next day was our busiest day with the majority of the pageant taking place. We started the day in style at the parade downtown. This was especially fun riding our horses with the marching band right behind us! After the exhilarating parade it was time for the speech portion of the competition, where I was the M.C. The girls did a great job with their speeches and certainly made the judges job harder. After speeches the girls proceeded to interviews to finish off the mornings rush of pageantry, but they weren’t done yet. That night was the style show and on stage questions. I was the M.C. of this event as well. After each girl modeled their fabulous outfits I did an impromptu interview with them to help show their personalities and to let the audience get to know a little bit more about them. After each girl modeled it was time for me to ask their on stage questions. Each girl was asked a current event question, a rodeo knowledge question, and a personality question. Finally the rush of the day was done and the pageant festivities were all over except for coronation. We all had to wait until Tuesday to find out the results at the first performance of the rodeo!

Tuesday finally made its appearance and all the girls were ready to find out who the new Miss West Texas Fair and Rodeo will be. After the first event of bareback riding it was time and the winner is…. Kendall Pearse! As soon as she was crowned and made her first queen run, we rushed off to handout all the awards. The girls had a quick photo shoot and then it was back to the arena for Kendall and I as we helped with the mutton busting and the calf scramble. From Wednesday through Friday Kendall and I were introduced at the rodeo and helped give extra insight to those little mutton busters, and sign over a hundred autographs a night!

Saturday rolled around and was an early start as I handed out ribbons to the exhibitors in the Steer show! The show was so big and so competitive that it actually ran all the way up to the start of the rodeo. Saturday night at the rodeo was the biggest night yet! The stands were packed and the crowd was ready for some rodeo action. In the mutton busting that night the cutest little girl with a pink cowboy hat with a crown on it won! The queens committee was raffling off a Yeti cooler to benefit the queen’s scholarship. I bought three tickets with the thought of just supporting the program. Right before the barrel racing Kendall drew for the winner of the Yeti and out of over a thousand tickets she drew my name! I couldn’t believe it, how could that have happened? The rodeo ended with some spectacular runs and rides and I left Abilene one Yeti richer!

“Vaya con Dios”

Nikki Woodward – Miss Rodeo Texas 2015