Miss Rodeo America 2009

Maegan Ridley

Maegan Ridley of Alta Loma, California, is Miss Rodeo America 2009. She captured the crown at the conclusion of a weeklong competition featuring 27 contestants from across the country.
The 54th Annual Miss Rodeo America Pageant was held at The Orleans Hotel in Las Vegas. During 2009 Maegan will represent the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association as its official spokeswoman. She is expected to travel 100,000 miles and appear at over 100 rodeos during the next year.
The 20-year-old is pursuing an Associate of Science Degree in Anatomy and Physiology focusing on Speech Language Pathology from Chaffey Community College. Maegan plans to earn both a Bachelor and Master’s degree in Speech Language Pathology with a concentration on rehabilitation. Her occupational goal is to combine her skills as a therapist with her love for horses and rodeo by assisting cowboy patients as a member of the Justin Sports Medicine Team. Upon completion of her reign, Maegan will have the opportunity to further her education using $11,500 of scholarships she was awarded from the Miss Rodeo America Scholarship Foundation.Maegan enjoys kayaking, baseball, writing cowboy poetry and rodeo. She is active in assisting at special kids rodeos, working with disabled individuals through her local therapeutic riding program, and working as a riding instructor inspiring young horse enthusiasts. Maegan is the daughter of Jon and Georgia Ridley and has two brothers, Cameron and Griffin.
"As Miss Rodeo America I will share with everyone why my heroes have always been cowboys. What an honor, privilege and blessing it is to have this opportunity to represent rodeo in this capacity. Rodeo is the only sport derived from an original hardworking industry. Whether attendees at a rodeo wear a cowboy hat worn and true, or one just bought brand new, as Miss Rodeo America I want to reflect the hardworking image of the American cowboy giving the audience a sense of pride in rodeo as one of our nation’s legacies. Wherever my trails may lead I will remain a genuine cowgirl, riding with faith, and aspiring to share our Western Heritage," Maegan said.

Miss Rodeo America 2009, Maegan Ridley

by Anne Christensen

Maegan Ridley was named Miss Rodeo America during the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo in Las Vegas in December 2008. She describes her hometown of Alta Loma, Calif., as a rural oasis of orchards and equestrian trails amid three larger towns that surround it. Her family’s property still has 22 orange trees; Maegan and her brothers throw oranges into their horses’ stalls for them to enjoy – and it’s good for their coats, she says.

What was your path to the Miss Rodeo America pageant?
It was always a dream, but I never knew how to start climbing that ladder. Four years ago, I was helping a friend who was having problems with her horse at the San Bernardino (Calif.) rodeo. I met the pageant director there, and she said it wasn’t too late to enter for Junior Miss Rodeo. I signed up then and there, and I was named first runner-up. That was it – there was no more searching for another activity! I was fortunate, because within an hour of my house we have a handful of PRCA rodeos and each has a pageant. They’re all hands-on, with rehearsals for modeling and speech and the other portions of the contest. They threw the learning curve at me and I really soaked it up.

And you wanted to continue?
The next year, I represented the Jurupa rodeo. I really enjoyed the camaraderie and getting to represent our sport to the community. The same things I love about representing rodeo as Miss Rodeo America, I found early on at the local level. In 2007, I won the title at the Bakersfield Stampede and represented them for a year, and the next year, I represented the Norco Rodeo at the Miss Rodeo California contest, which is how I got to the Miss Rodeo America 2009 pageant.

How did you win? What’s your secret?
It’s important to be competitive in all the events and be there for every portion of the pageant, from horsemanship to modeling to speech. And consistency – the judges look for someone who is being herself, who is not ‘off stage’ when the judges turn their heads away. And you can’t get ahead of yourself. The Miss Rodeo America pageant is seven days with many portions of competition. If you think too far ahead, the emotion and stress will get to you… like in the horsemanship competition, when you’re done riding one horse, it’s time to stop thinking about that one and start thinking about the next one. Step by step, you have to be in the moment.

Which events were easiest for you?
I had prepared so much because I wanted to know what to expect when I got there. Speech is something you can rehearse and rehearse, so that might have been the easiest. Each girl speaks for 1-1/2 minutes on her home state. I love cowboy poetry, so I wrote one about the history of California.

Which events were hardest for you?
The interviews – the test is very specific. There’s not a page in my PRCA media guide and rule book that doesn’t have highlighting and tags, because I’ve been studying it hard for a year. But you want to be challenged, because you have put forth so much effort. The judges want to see what you’re all about. In one interview, they asked me, ‘If you’re going to go camping, tell us about four horses and four books you would bring.’ That was really fun because I love horse camping – my family and I go all the time. I said I would bring some of our horses, a Dutch oven cookbook, a Bible, and a couple of novels.

What aspects of the job do you expect to enjoy most – Western fashion, public relations, travel, meet-and-greets, the rodeos themselves?
I am looking forward to traveling to places across the nation that have a love of the sport of rodeo, and to being a part of more than one rodeo family. There’s something about our Western lifestyle you can’t replace – the history, family values, morals and traditions that are not forgotten because we’re so proud of our heritage. In a lot of things you find people doing now, there’s no desire to share it with other people, but in rodeo, we love to share our lifestyle.

What are you taking time off from this year – what would you be doing in 2009 if you had not just been named Miss Rodeo America?
I’ve been working toward an associate’s degree in speech/language pathology at Chaffey College (Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.), but lately I’ve been thinking more about public relations and communications. I’d love to be a representative for a company or group in the Western industry that promotes our sport, sponsors or lifestyles. I want to make sure our rural lifestyles aren’t forgotten – that when life changes in an area, our heritage isn’t forgotten, horses aren’t zoned out, open space doesn’t disappear – so our industry can thrive.

Photos courtesy of Miss Rodeo America

For more information about Miss Rodeo America, contact the MRAI office at 27906 Cumbres, Pueblo, CO 81006
or call 719-948-9206. Visit the website at www.missrodeoamerica.com.