Photo courtesy of Blair Smittcamp
At the age of eight, mass communication and journalism major Blair Smittcamp discovered the love of her life. It started as a secret hidden from her parents, but eventually her passion could no longer be hidden, and it has lead to competitions at the Salinas Rodeo.
Nearly every day Smittcamp would spend time playing with her best friend Tessa Herbold. After about two months of sneaking blue jeans in her backpack and coming home with a certain stench, Smittcamp’s parents figured out that playing meant riding horses.
“My next door neighbor was my horse trainer who had a daughter my age,” Smittcamp said. “I used to go over there and we would play dolls or do whatever eight-year-old girls do, and one day she had to take us to work,” Smittcamp said.
This fascination consumed Smittcamp, and at age 12 she created a presentation for her parents that tried to prove she could care for a horse. The speech was not a success initially, but Smittcamp’s parents broke down that Christmas and bought her a horse named Foxy Lady.
Training with Foxy Lady helped Smittcamp realize how much she enjoyed galloping. The rush of a fast gallop led her to the sport of barrel racing. Barrel racing involves racing a horse around three barrels in the shape of a cloverleaf pattern. The racer pushes their horse to the limit in order to reach the best time and win the event.
Smittcamp first competed at local event centers and ranches. She eventually joined the American Computer Barrel Racing Association (ACBRA). This allowed her to compete for the first time in larger rodeo arenas. The rodeo in Coarsegold, Calif. was home to her first barrel racing event at age 16.
It was around this time that she started to have larger ambitions in the rodeo world. Smittcamp acknowledged that her love for riding horses blossomed into a deeper love for everything involved with being a true cowgirl.
Smittcamp decided to take things a step further and compete in a rodeo queen pageant, which is similar to a regular beauty queen pageant.
“Instead of us wearing rhinestone gowns and swimsuits, we wear full-length leather dresses with matching boots and a hat and our talent is riding horses,” Smittcamp said.
Full-length leather dresses aside, there are five main events that contestants have to perform well in to become a rodeo queen.
Preparation for these events required her to get some help. Pamela Plenys joined her as a motivational coach, aiding her through each event.
“Part of my job is taking a young woman’s potential and trying to polish it and encourage her to be the best that she can be,” Plenys said.
After two devastating losses in the Clovis Rodeo Queen Pageant in 2007 and 2008, the hard work paid off and Smittcamp became the 2008 Salinas Rodeo Queen.
“Being the Salinas Rodeo Queen is the highlight of my life,” Smittcamp said.
Smittcamp, whose rodeo pageant days are behind her, still competes in barrel racing.
“Horses are my life and I’m a born and bred Clovis cowgirl and I would not change that for anything.”