The Oregon Queen — May/June 2021

June 8, 2021 Off By Lois Forester

Samantha Henricks, Miss Rodeo Oregon 2021!

When planning my year of travels, I knew I had to make a stop at Bishop Mule Days. As many of you may know, I grew up showing performance mules at various mule shows, including Bishop Mule Days. I won World Champion Youth as a 13 and under competitor in back-to-back years and then was awarded Reserve World Champion Youth 14-17 and in my final year as a youth, I won World Champion Youth 14-17.

The first Miss Rodeo Oregon I ever met was actually Nicole Shrock at Bishop Mule Days in 2013. Nicole put rodeo queening on my "radar" and encouraged me to try out for my first rodeo queen title and years later, here we are! I knew I wanted to go to Bishop Mule Days as Miss Rodeo Oregon to complete the circle. I made the 10 hour trek to Bishop, California and was able to watch many events. From dressage to packing, gymkhana events to donkey races and western pleasure, Mule Days really encompasses the versatility of a mule. My mom also showed her mule, OM Frosted Mocha, and won Reserve World Champion Amateur. My whole family over the years has shown at Bishop at one time or another. It really has become a tradition to make it to Mule Days every year for my family.

I was joined in Bishop by Rayna Rogers, the 2021 Mother Lode Round Up Queen. Rayna sang the National Anthem each performance and did so beautifully. I was also able to meet Maycee Knight, the California High School Rodeo Queen. At the performances, I was able to ride a family friends roping mule named Ruby Rue. She was great and handled every performance with ease!

Prior to going to Bishop, I was able to catch up with former Miss Rodeo Oregons, Nicole Shrock, Ashley Zeigler Minaise and Sara Marcus Deraldine on their podcast, Crowning Connections. Here, I spoke about growing up showing performance mules and competing at various shows along the west coast and how it shaped me into the person I am today. If you have not listened to it, I encourage you to do so. These ladies do a fantastic job and have continued to advocate for the western way of life and agriculture long after their year as Miss Rodeo Oregon. I really believe showing a mule in a horse dominated sport gave me the courage to be my authentic self and to be confident in any situation. During the week of Mule Days, I was also able to do an Instagram takeover of their Crowning Connections page! Go check it out to see pictures and behind the scenes of the most iconic events in Bishop!

I have to touch on the fact that applications are due for Miss Rodeo Oregon 2022 in just a few short days, June 15th! I cannot encourage young women enough to take the plunge and turn an application in. This has been an experience full of adventures and opportunities that I will cherish for a lifetime. Do not think twice, turn in that application!

I am having a bit of deja-vu as we start to prepare for summer rodeos! I am excited to hit the ground running, starting with Eastern Oregon Livestock Show, followed by the Crooked River Roundup and the iconic Cowboy Christmas in St. Paul and Eugene! Make sure you stay tuned in on social media to follow Ainsley, Morgan and I on our travels across the state!

Sincerely, Samantha Henricks Miss Rodeo Oregon 2021

Ainsley Goughnour, Miss Teen Rodeo Oregon 2021!

I have been busy since the last time I wrote to you all. After the Miss Rodeo Oregon clinic, events have picked up and I have been all over the place. I’ve been on one side of the state and back again…multiple times.

On April 18th, I traveled to Joseph where the 2020-2021 Chief Joseph Days Honorary court was crowned after a long wait. Congratulations to Queens Brianna, Destiny, and Casidee. Joseph is in good hands and I can’t wait to spend the summer with these girls.

The next weekend, I was a little closer to home where I spent my weekend at the Oregon Ag Fest. The St. Paul Rodeo Queen Kearsten, JMRO Morgan, and I assembled and handed out agventure kits as the kids headed out onto the Clackamas County Fair and Canby Rodeo grounds to see first hand what agriculture is all about and how important it is in their everyday life. I can’t forget to mention my new friends, Pendleton (a mini horse) and Sunday (the horse); we took a few walks around the grounds together. I spent time with the Oregon FFA State Officers, welcoming people and handing out goodies as they came into the fairground and started their adventure through the Ag Fest. I had a ton of fun reaching out to kids and adults alike, teaching them just a little bit about agriculture and how it impacts our lives.

The following weekend, I went back to Eastern Oregon for the Pendleton Cattle Baron Weekend. Morgan and I had the opportunity to welcome people as they came into the Pendleton Convention Center. Pendleton sure knows how to get “ranchy” and have a good time. I was able to attend their Ranch Rodeo, the first ranch rodeo I’ve attended and man was it wild but oh so good. I helped sell raffle tickets and then at the end of the night I was privileged enough to hand out awards to the hardworking cowboys and cowgirls. The next day I handed out programs for the horse and dog auction taking place later that day and interacting with everyone as they came in. For lunch, we walked around and sampled tri-tip from the Buckaroo Cook Off. Team Meat Sweats--also known as McKillip Catering--won the People's Choice award (they had my vote). The cattle dog and ranch horse auction was a site to behold. The animals were incredible and an absolute blast to watch all weekend. The Ranch Bronc riding and steer roping competition were two of the many highlights of the weekend along with finally meeting the Happy Canyon and Pendleton Round-Up Courts and throwing shirts and hats to the crowd. Thank you to the Pendleton Cattle Barons board for their amazing hospitality and welcoming feeling. This is definitely an event I’d recommend attending if you haven’t already.

May 9th I headed to Boring, Oregon for the Mt. Hood Roughstock Rodeo. The future's looking bright for rodeo in Oregon! The competition was tight. Before the rodeo I was at the front door handing out an assortment of stickers, coupons, and programs. Holly and I ran a hot lap, sponsor flag runs, and threw shirts to the crowd. Congratulations to Plus one Productions on a successful rodeo!

May 20th will be a highlight for my reign. I finally got to meet one of my best friends in person, Molly Below, Miss Teen Rodeo Missouri. Molly is one of those people who has a contagious positive attitude. It was a short visit but I know there will be more in the future! A big thank you to Molly and her mom, Jenny, for being so welcoming and fun! We are already making plans to see each other again.

This past weekend was the one and only Spray Rodeo. We got to kick off the weekend with a parade through the streets of Spray (and I couldn’t be prouder of my partner Leo; he acted like an old pro). I got to show off my Prairie Leather chaps, cuffs, and breast collar during the parade! Leo and I then made our way through the rodeo arena together for the first time with Pete looking over us. He did amazing with his hot lap, grand entry with fireworks blasting right
behind him, and running a sponsor flag. I took some time walking around with the Canby Court--Queen Nicole, and Princesses Marlee and Alexa as well as Santiam Canyon Stampede Queen Allie, signing autographs and taking pictures with kids. Congrats to Allison the Spray Rodeo queen on an amazing rodeo and job well done. Thank you to my parents for all of their help throughout the weekend. Thank you to Leo for taking such good care of me and exceeding all my expectations. I'm looking forward to many more rodeos with Leo.

Phew, that was a lot to fit into one newsletter. As you can see, things have picked up quite a bit and I’m loving every minute of it. I can’t wait to see what I have to report on next month!
Joyously,
Ainsley, Miss Teen Rodeo Oregon

Morgan Brownell, Junior Miss Rodeo Oregon 2021!

The last weekend in April, I was invited to attend the Oregon Ag Fest at the Clackamas County Fair Grounds and even though it looked a little different this year, I still had a blast! I started out Saturday morning walking Sunday the horse while Ainsley was walking Pendleton the pony. We were also able to hand out Agventure kits that we also had the pleasure of putting together! The kids were so happy to be able to get those! Coming on Sunday we were able to hand out Agventure kits again and we also got to greet people as they came in! Everyone was so happy to not only get out and go to Ag Fest but to also see us!!

Coming into May, Ainsley and I went over the mountain to Pendleton to take part in the Pendleton Cattle Barons Weekend. We got to greet people coming into the trade show, Ranch rodeo and Ranch bronc riding. We were able to meet the Pendleton Round Up court and spend some time with them throwing shirts and hats during the rodeo and bronc riding. I got to see my first Horse and Working Dog sale and holy cow are those animals talented!! My brother also came down to visit from college in La Grande and watched the rodeo with us. Thank you Pendleton Cattle Barons for letting me come and participate in your event!!

After that we had a few days off then headed to Boring for the Plus 1 Productions Rough Stock Rodeo. I was able to hand out programs and greet people coming in the doors then straight to my horse to get on and do a run in! After that we watched a little bit of the rodeo then handed out shirts and some other cool goodies and once the night was over Ainsley and I did one final lap around the arena with sponsor flags! Thank you to John Jardine and Tanya Utberg for the amazing event!!

Custer and I had a last minute parade in Silverton at the Silverton Pet Parade. For Custer‘s first parade, he did amazing. The streets were filled with so many happy people waiting to see all the animals ranging from chickens and ducks all the way up to horses!! It was so cool to see all the different types of animals dressed up in so many outfits.

I was able to kick off the 2021 rodeo season with the Spray Rodeo. After going to this rodeo for years, I finally got to participate in it doing run-ins, flag runs, chasing cattle and doing the quarter mile race. We started Saturday off with the parade through town seeing everyone so happy to see us. Right after that we headed to the arena for the rodeo. This was Custer's first rodeo and he did awesome. He didn’t care at all about the fireworks at the back of the arena. After the grand entry we headed to the other end of the arena to do flag runs and push some cattle which I used Chester for. Did you know this isn’t Chester’s first time at the Spray Rodeo for Jr. Miss Rodeo Oregon? In 2012, JMRO Ashley Ferch used him for not only her run in but also the quarter miles race!! That same year my dad roped there and did the race on Chester too and they both won the race on the same horse!! Even though Chester and I didn’t get first like he’s done before we still got third! The second performance Custer had double duty doing both a run in and carrying flags. Also a huge thank you to my dad for not only tacking up and un-tacking my horses for me but also warming up one horse while I was on the other. I don’t know what I would do without you! Overall it was an amazing weekend with so many amazing queens and so many memories made!!

Gratefully,

2021 JMRO Morgan Brownell