Ainsley Goughnour, Miss Teen Rodeo Oregon 2020-21!

Yet again, another month has flown by! It’s crazy to think that in a normal year we would be going to Sam’s send off party for Miss Rodeo America Pageant and in two short months I would hand off my crown and my reign would be over.

October has been a slower month but has been nothing less than amazing. This month, one of my awesome sponsors, Clackamas County Fair and Canby Rodeo, put on a mock tryout so girls could go through a practice pageant and get feedback to help them with future pageants. They kicked off the morning with Horsemanship, where the girls had to ride a horsemanship pattern, make a queen run and flag run on their horse and then again on a draw horse. They also did horsemanship interviews.  Of course, while all this was going on we snuck in some pictures with Sam, Morgan and members of the MRO Board. After horsemanship and a lunch break, we headed inside to warm up while the girls took part in personal interviews. Then the contestants all gave a speech and answered three impromptu questions.

Meanwhile, as they tabulated scores from the pageant, the Miss Rodeo Oregon Inc. Foundation had a little surprise up their sleeves. (More on that in a moment.) Once scores were tabulated, they announced who would have been on the court had it been a real pageant. I’m so proud of each of the contestants for putting themselves out there to be judged as well as being willing to learn and gain experience for their future.

Now about that surprise…..!   While waiting for the results of the mock tryout, the board called Morgan and me up front and in came our custom made Bob Roy saddles. To say I was surprised was an understatement. Every year, Bob Roy makes beautiful saddles for all three of the MROIF girls. Bob sponsors half of the Teen and Jr. saddles and the other  half we raise at our coronations. I can’t wait to use my saddle during my reign and beyond. It is a piece that I will cherish for years to come. When they brought out the saddle, I was shocked and ecstatic to actually have it in front of me. Thank you to the MRO board for this amazing surprise and Bob Roy for making this possible.

Though it wasn’t the most eventful month, it was one that will bring a smile to my face every time I think about it. I hope you are able to find joy in this season as we get ready for Thanksgiving.  We have so much to be thankful for.
Cheerfully,
Ainsley
Miss Teen Rodeo Oregon

Morgan Brownell, Junior Miss Rodeo Oregon 2020-21!

This month I was able to go to the Clackamas County Fair and Canby Rodeo Court mock tryout along with Sam and Ainsley. Ainsley and I worked the gate during horsemanship. We also had a mini photoshoot in the cute Halloween decorations that they had set up while we waited for speeches to start.

After speeches and while we were waiting for the girls to be brought back in, Ainsley and I were surprised with our one-of-a-kind Bob Roy Saddles. We were so surprised and super happy. I have had a few rides in mine and it is amazing!! I have ridden all four of my horses in it and it fits them all so nicely. We don’t leave it at the barn so it sits in our house on “display” in front of my mom's St. Paul Rodeo picture from when she was princess and a couple different pictures we have that was given to us from 2012 JMRO Ashley Ferch and MTRO Kayla Vincent.

At the beginning of this month, I had a playday with Tommy and we got High Point for the day! I was so proud with how we did. There were a lot of people there but it seemed to go by fast. I made a mistake that I will NEVER do again and forgot to tighten my cinch before poles and as I was running down, I realized my cinch was sliding to the side. I was able to adjust it but I kept running, just a little slower. We still got 1st in poles but it wasn’t our best time. We got a cute halter that I actually was needing for Chester so now he wears it!

Gratefully, 2020/21 JMRO Morgan

Meet Carol Zimmerman, Board Secretary!

I was ranch raised in the small rural area of Scio, Oregon, and have had a horse as far back as I can remember. My family had a dairy until I was in middle school when we converted our operation to commercial beef cattle, sheep and angora goats.

In those early dairy days, my dad would tie a horse up outside the dairy barn and I rode a million imaginary miles without him needing to leave his job to help me. As a youth, I completed ten years in the 4-H program having projects in horse, sheep and sewing. I was a 4-H Horse project member when the horse program first began in Oregon. I competed at the Oregon State Fair with my horse project in Showmanship and Horsemanship, and was on the State Champion Horse Judging Team.  I also rode English at Oregon State University.

Before the days of shiny crowns and engraved trophy buckles, I served as a princess on the Junior and Senior Rodeo courts in Lebanon, Oregon as well as serving as Oregon Mounted Posse Queen where I received an outfit and a filigree belt buckle. Though the rodeos were great in those days, the queen world and wardrobes were very different from today.

Two sons and two daughters call me Mom, all of whom ride and rope and have children involved in 4-H and some in Pee Wee Rodeo. My husband Wally, also an MRO member, and I currently live in the Tumalo area outside of Bend where we have seven horses and raise and sell hay.

I am a past 4-H leader, having been a leader for horse, beef and swine clubs. I’m a retired elementary school teacher with over 30 years as a teacher, and have chaperoned youth delegations to the National 4-H Club Congress in Chicago, as well as youth delegations to Washington D.C. The travel bug bit early in my working years and I’ve been fortunate to travel throughout the western United States, our neighbors to the north and south Canada and Mexico, as well as Europe, Russia, and more recently, Iceland.

I have competed in the show pen, and have ridden on drill teams, as well as doing back country pack trips. On one of my most memorable trips Wally, my son, and I were five nights in the back country of the Carson Iceberg Wilderness of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Currently I am a ten plus year student of the Vaquero California style Bridle Horse Project to create working cow horses and participate in working cattle in the spring and fall.

I am a member of Miss Rodeo Oregon, Inc. Foundation serving as Secretary for the past six years, and have helped with the Jr/Teen and Miss pageants, as well as  serving on the Education and Programs committee. As a Miss Rodeo America member, I have attended several Miss Rodeo America contests as well as coronations. I have served as a judge’s chaperone for the Miss NPRA contests sitting in on the personal and horsemanship interviews as the time keeper. Local pageants have invited me to serve as a judge for their queen contest pageants. Currently I am serving as
the Deschutes County Fair and Rodeo Queen advisor. I enjoy helping young women prepare and achieve their goals as they represent the sport of Rodeo and the Western Way of Life.