Purpose Before Perfection: The story of personal growth as a rodeo queen

Join Dr. Krishona Martinson and her daughter Montana Martinson in this episode that reveals the depth behind the crown.  Montana shares how her rodeo queen duties and aspirations are helping to transform her into a confident professional, and mom Krishona agrees!

Transcript

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Kris Hiney: Welcome to Extension Horses Tack Box Talk series, Horse Stories with a Purpose. I'm your host, Dr. Kris Hiney with Oklahoma State University, and today we're going to be talking about something about which I know nothing, which is rodeo queens. And so, with us today is actually a mother-daughter duo to talk about the journey of a rodeo queen. So, welcome to the podcast.

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Kris Hiney: Montana Martinson! So, welcome, Montana!

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montanamartinson: Thank you for having me!

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Kris Hiney: And Krishona Martinson is Madison's mom, so our favorite equine extension specialist from Minnesota is here to weigh in on her thoughts about Montana's journey. Yes, thank you for having me. Alright, so Montana, we're gonna first start that you are a rodeo queen. I'm gonna say what it is, and then you may explain, but…

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Kris Hiney: Your title, you are the Extreme Events Queen for Minnesota, is that correct?

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montanamartinson: Correct. Extreme Events, Minnesota Queen.

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Kris Hiney: Okay, so I already gotta start with, like, is that, like, bull riding?

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montanamartinson: Sure. So, similarly to bull riding, the PRCA, Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association, has rodeo queens at the local, state, and national level.

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montanamartinson: So, I represent the Minnesota Extreme Events Rodeos, so they have the rodeos in Waconia, Minnesota, and Canterbury Park, which is also in Waconia.

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montanamartinson: Minnesota, so I represent those two rodeos and any other events that they produce throughout the year.

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Kris Hiney: So, again, I'm gonna have to ask a lot of questions. So, I've always heard of, like, Rodeo Queens for estate, so is this only rodeos that have…

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Kris Hiney: Scary things, or it's rodeos that a specific company put on.

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montanamartinson: Yes, so the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association and the WPRA, which is

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montanamartinson: sister ship for the women in professional rodeo. They produce rodeos across pretty much North America. Canada, United States, and Mexico. So, in Minnesota, there are local rodeos across the state, and Ted Slather, who is the owner and producer of Extreme Events, hosts two PRCA rodeos.

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montanamartinson: which means that I get to represent those rodeos. But there are other PRCA rodeos in the state of Minnesota, and every state.

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montanamartinson: across the United States.

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montanamartinson: That also, some of them may have queens, but some of them are just PRCA rodeos where their contestants can go and compete at for money, and to try to qualify for the NFR, which is the Super Bowl of Pro Rodeo.

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Kris Hiney: Alright, so I'm still confused. You're gonna be like, how does she not get this? Because I've heard of, like, a state rodeo queen, so are there multiple Minnesota rodeo

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Kris Hiney: Queens!

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montanamartinson: No, so each state, if they have at least one PRCA rodeo, and are willing to have a board of directors and a young lady represent them, can have a rodeo queen. So although there are 50 states, there are, I would say, about average 28 to 34 girls each year that compete for the title of Miss Rodeo America, and only state queens

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montanamartinson: can have that opportunity to compete for the title of Miss Rodeo America. Now, all state queens represent the PRCA for their state, so Miss Rodeo Minnesota is different from my title of Extreme Events MN Queen. For example, my previous title was Miss Buffalo Rodeo, so I represented the Buffalo Rodeo, which is just one

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montanamartinson: PRCA Rodeo in the state of Minnesota. So, my titles right now would be considered a local title, and then the state titles would be the state queens, and then there is one Miss Rodeo America each year, where the state queens have the opportunity to compete for that in conjunction with the NFR.

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Kris Hiney: So are you, like, a princess, then?

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Kris Hiney: So, my title…

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montanamartinson: My title is the queen, but some would consider a princess, or sometimes there are different categories for ages, so maybe someone who is from the age 14 to 17 would be considered a princess, where a queen would be 18 and above.

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Kris Hiney: So, Montana, hopefully you have a lot of patience with me.

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montanamartinson: Okay.

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Kris Hiney: You can tell, like, this is new territory for me, so I'm trying to wrap my heads around it here, so… so at this point in time, and we'll get to what Rodeo Queen is in a second, because I still want to get this figured out. You are… are… yes, you are doing the Miss America Queen…

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montanamartinson: So that would be… that would be an amazing goal of mine to achieve in the future. So I'm still in college, and I do plan to run for Miss Rodeo Minnesota after I graduate, but as my time as a college student, I also want to get experience and gain network experience, and just kind of learn more about the opportunities that being a local queen has to offer.

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montanamartinson: And a lot of girls spend many years before they run for their state title, and the best way to practice how to be a state queen is to be a local rodeo queen first.

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Kris Hiney: We've got that out of the way.

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Kris Hiney: I think we should probably now ask the easy question is, what is a rodeo queen?

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montanamartinson: Yes.

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montanamartinson: So, a rodeo queen is a young woman, and she is chosen to represent a rodeo or an association, and she basically serves as the ambassador, not only for rodeo, but for the Western way of life, and

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montanamartinson: You can usually find her promoting events, the traditions of Western heritage, sponsors, agriculture, and rodeos often attend, obviously, rodeos, but parades, community events, we do a lot of school visits and sponsor…

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montanamartinson: appearances, and we're also very knowledgeable about rodeo events, the Western history, and also just current events in agriculture.

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Kris Hiney: Okay.

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Kris Hiney: So, so, beyond what I would say most people, including myself, I'll say, like, when I hear Rodeo Queen, I think you have a crown on your hat.

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Kris Hiney: And… you wear long… sparkly dresses. Like, my next won't do that, right?

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montanamartinson: Yes, so those are some perks if you're into crowns and rhinestones, which a lot of us rodeo queens are, but I think that…

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montanamartinson: you know, the biggest misconception about that is, you know, it's not all about looks or wearing the crown. In reality, to earn the title or the position to be a rodeo queen, it does take a little bit of hard work and

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montanamartinson: preparation, but competing for a title, you compete in a pageant, and that pageant often involves multiple categories, so some of those include impromptu questions, interviews.

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Kris Hiney: Yes, yup.

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montanamartinson: There's also an extemporaneous speaking, where you are given a prompt, and then 10 minutes to prepare a speech. We are one of the only pageants, the PRCA, Miss America

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montanamartinson: organizations that have a written knowledge exam, so these are questions on equine science, the PRCA rulebook, maybe former title holders, so you really have to know your history and the rules, and then horsemanship is our biggest and our largest scored category. So, as rodeo queens, when you show up to rodeos.

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montanamartinson: You're often not on a horse that you are familiar with, so during the pageant, you would jump on…

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montanamartinson: a horse that you have never ridden, and you perform an AQHA reining pattern, so it requires, you know, a little bit of skill and practice, and that's how we make it look a little bit easy, is a lot of time spent behind the public eye to make it look so effortless.

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Kris Hiney: Okay. So, alright, now I have just another question before I get… So, a reining pattern, but you're not on a reining horse, right?

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montanamartinson: Correct, so, usually at rodeos… Yes.

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montanamartinson: So, the Miss Roadie Minnesota and Miss Roadie America and other states, they partner with AQHA, the American Quarter Horse Association, so it's really nice that the judges can judge each cowgirl on a set pattern. Makes it a little bit easier to score each contestant. There's also a horsemanship interview that also, is combined with your

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montanamartinson: total horsemanship score. But at rodeos, you're often not on a reigning horse, but either a stock contractor horse, sometimes you're on a contested horse, or

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montanamartinson: maybe there's someone local that hauled in a few horses for girls to ride. So, the range of horses that you ride can be the brokest horse you've ever been on to a 4-year-old that was pulled out of the pen the night before. So, you really have to be comfortable and…

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montanamartinson: Make sure that your horsemanship is something that you can be very confident about when showing up to rodeos.

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Kris Hiney: Yeah, cause that could be scary. Hopefully none of the saddle broncs, though, right?

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montanamartinson: Correct. We would hate if that got mixed into one of those flag bullpens.

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Kris Hiney: Let's see how she does with this.

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Kris Hiney: So, so you said you have to take a written test on equine science. Like, did you, like, oh, I'm gonna ace it because of your mom, or did that put, like, more pressure, like, if I get this wrong, I will be humiliated forever?

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montanamartinson: She definitely was a good resource for some of those questions that I'm not super confident in, but also growing up, I was really involved in 4H and the horse project in my county, so I was able to kind of grow up around

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montanamartinson: multiple people who are very involved with equine, so it does make it easier just being surrounded, but it's a written test, and spelling does count, and if you know me or my mom, that's not always our strong suit, so definitely just practicing and making sure that I get all my questions answered so I can prepare the best I can.

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Kris Hiney: That's funny. Now you've just outed Krishona. So, Dr. Martinson, what did you think?

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Kris Hiney: Yeah, we'll make sure she does that. What did you think when she came to you and said, I want to be a rodeo queen? Did you have some thoughts? Well, I sort of thought, like, child, there isn't any more time in the day to do more things.

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Kris Hiney: But I think a lot of parents, when your child has a real passion and ambition for something, and you can see that they really love it, you obviously make time and space.

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Kris Hiney: And, it has become a substantial part of Montana's long-term goals and plans, and that is nice to see that your child has a passion and something that is meaningful.

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Kris Hiney: And it even has changed her trajectory. Like, Montana, you forgot to mention, you actually took an equine science class in college just to help bolster her knowledge, so she is really trying, you know, to do the best and prepare the best way that she can, and it's…

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Kris Hiney: It's all good things to know, like the impromptu speaking, explaining things, the current events, those are all just probably good things to know and good life skills to have.

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Kris Hiney: So, my tune has changed a little bit about how supportive I am. I'm now very supportive of the Rodeo Queen ambitions, where maybe a year ago, I wasn't as supportive. Okay. Because you probably didn't know as much about it, either. I do nothing, no. Like, you… You're just like the hat, and like, okay. Yes. So, so what is your… so you said you go to…

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Kris Hiney: Go to rodeos, and sometimes you might have to ride a horse at a rodeo, but you go to other

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Kris Hiney: things, do they just, like, give you a schedule and say, hey, can you show up to something?

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montanamartinson: Yeah, so often, it's different from each title and each association, but I have a queen coordinator, which helps me figure out my schedule, and it's kind of the buffer in between the sponsors or appearances, just to kind of help me manage my schedule and

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montanamartinson: things that happen outside of rodeos as well. So, we go to elementary schools, and we read books, and we educate the kids about rodeo, or if

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montanamartinson: one of our rodeos is approaching, we'll go and we'll tell them, hey, there's a rodeo coming to you in your town, you know, you and your family could come out and see it. Sponsors are a huge part of why a rodeo can exist. Without the support of sponsors.

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montanamartinson: Rodeo would not be the same sport that it is, and as a rodeo queen, we are often the face of the sponsors that are supporting us, so we do a lot of promotional events, we go and we give them thank yous, we take pictures to post them on our social media and our website, so all that kind of stuff also goes into being a rodeo queen. So there's a lot outside of the arena that we do to help rodeos be successful as well.

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Kris Hiney: So how many hours a week are Montana Rodeo Queen versus Montana College students?

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montanamartinson: Well, luckily, up in the Midwest, our rodeo season is during the summer months, mainly, so in the winter, and kind of during school, I get some time to myself, but in the winter, that's when I do more of the sponsor visits, more of the outreach in the community.

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montanamartinson: Attending events in my community to promote rodeo and to support

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montanamartinson: my community as well. So, I would say in the winter, I am, along with, like, posting things on social media and working on promotional events, maybe an hour or two a week, but in the summer, when it's full-on rodeo season.

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montanamartinson: If I'm at a rodeo, and it's a 3-day rodeo, I'm probably committed all 72 hours.

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Kris Hiney: Oh, wow. So, do you have a summer job?

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montanamartinson: Yes, and that's also probably another misconception, is that rodeo queens don't work outside of their titles, and although I think if you are a state title holder, you are limited a little bit to how much you can work maybe full-time, but a lot of girls actually do hold full-time jobs along with their titles, and especially

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montanamartinson: as a local title holder and a college student, I am able to balance that. And in the summer, I do work full-time, and that's the good thing about rodeos, is that they're mainly on the weekends, and maybe some Fridays. I gotta sneak off a little bit early for a rodeo, but again, when it's something you're passionate about, you just kind of make it work.

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Kris Hiney: So, Krishona, how have you viewed her time management through this process? Well, I think she… I mean, these are good life skills, right? Because you and I know, Kris, as professional adults, there are a tremendous amount of demands in our time, and so I think it is good for all young people to learn how to manage their time and prioritize.

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Kris Hiney: I would say some weeks.

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Kris Hiney: it's probably 40 hours a week of rodeo, and other weeks it's 1. So you just have to figure out, and be transparent. Montana does have a more formal, intensive internship coming up this summer, as she's getting more advanced in her college studies, where in the past, she's had a little bit more flexibility. So, but again, it's… it's been a slow progression to time management.

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Kris Hiney: Which is just a good skill in general to have going into your adulthood. So, Montana, since your mom mentioned your schedule might get a little tighter, and you have some bigger goals of being the state rodeo queen for Minnesota.

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Kris Hiney: like, does that… I mean, do you see, like, okay, I won't try to do that till after college, or are you trying to figure out how to put that in with college?

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montanamartinson: Yeah, so some girls, when they reach the state title level, they do do it while they're in college, and often a few of them graduate during their state title year. So, again, it is very manageable to do school and be Rodeo Queen both successfully, but for me, I started my Rodeo Queen journey in 2024, and some girls have started since the age of 5, and some

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montanamartinson: Some girls are in college.

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montanamartinson: Some girls only hold one title before they compete for Miss Rodeo America or their state, so it's really for you just finding your balance and how much, you know, time you want to put in in your timeline, so I think it's really situational, but for me, I would like to finish my bachelor's degree and then pursue, the goal of being Miss Rodeo Minnesota.

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Kris Hiney: So what would you say is the biggest thing people get wrong about Rodeo Queens?

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montanamartinson: Yeah, I… I think…

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montanamartinson: Again, kind of going back to… I think a lot of people look at Rodeo Queens in the arena and just think that we're pretty girls on horses, and it's very easy. And although we all are beautiful girls on fabulous horses, again, there's a lot more behind the scenes that I really don't think that a lot of people can see. Again, we work

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montanamartinson: a long time to perfect our horsemanship skills, our speaking skills. A lot of former Miss Rodeo Americas and state title holders have coaching programs and mentoring programs to help girls

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montanamartinson: have a successful, not only reign as their queen, but also to help prepare for pageants and interviews and different events like that. So, even though at the rodeo, we love to look fabulous and wear the crowns and all of the sequins, there's a lot behind the scenes that we spend our time making sure that we are gonna look our absolute best in front of the public.

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Kris Hiney: So there are Rodeo Queen coaches? Like, this is a profession?

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montanamartinson: Yes, there are multiple former Miss Rodeo Americas and State Queens who are very successful in their rodeo queen careers, you may say, that offer coaching and mentoring to help girls prepare for their state-level pageant, or the Miss Rodeo America pageant, and it's very helpful, to get their insight and to really learn from someone who is… who

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montanamartinson: Was wearing the shoes that you would like to be in someday?

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Kris Hiney: Or the boots. Or the boots, that's right. So, I don't know if you want to answer to this question, but like, how much does that cost to have a Rodeo Queen coach?

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montanamartinson: I think each girl and each mentor kind of has their own prices, and they also offer different levels.

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montanamartinson: some girls, you can go out to their house, and they can give you horsemanship lessons on their own horses. Some girls offer just over Zoom, or, you know, they do weekly cahoots, where you can jump on a Zoom call and go through a few, study questions, things like that. So there's different levels within the coaching and kind of how much

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montanamartinson: Help you need, or how much help you want.

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montanamartinson: So, I guess it kind of just depends, and I don't really know everyone's price range, but I think a lot of girls spend…

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montanamartinson: Maybe $100 to $500, depending on how much coaching and the level and who you're getting it from.

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Kris Hiney: Okay, so it's not like if you want to be Mr. Newman, like, a $10,000 investment.

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montanamartinson: Well…

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Kris Hiney: Probably not.

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montanamartinson: Hopefully not, but…

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Kris Hiney: As Krishona is looking at me.

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montanamartinson: You probably could invest that in a rodeo queen education, for sure.

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Kris Hiney: Wow. Okay. Yikesies. Okay. Well, let's talk about some of the other, maybe more fun things, then. So, you said that you do a lot of going around and doing some advocacy kind of work, so what do you… what are you trying to promote, or I guess, what is the message you're trying to…

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Kris Hiney: to talk about, like, because you said a lot about Western lifestyle, I mean, is it all about Yellowstone? Like, what are we talking about here?

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montanamartinson: Yeah.

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montanamartinson: So, something personally that I like to share and promote is I have a platform that I run on, and I have… well, my platform is called Purpose Over Perfection, and that's something that I like to spread wherever I go, and my idea with that is that not everything has to be perfect, but often things are purposeful, and when you wake up every day and you

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montanamartinson: put purpose over perfection. It really takes you far in life, and it can promote great leadership within individuals and promote girls.

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montanamartinson: to be the best versions of themselves, but outside of my personal, when I'm promoting rodeo, I want people to come out who have never been to a rodeo, or maybe they've been to a hundred rodeos. I want them to come to the rodeo, ask questions, experience the Western way of life.

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montanamartinson: And especially with Yellowstone, that you mentioned it, that has really kind of boomed the rodeo industry. A lot of people who have seen Yellowstone, they want to come to a rodeo and kind of experience that themselves, so we really want to…

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montanamartinson: Kind of make sure that we're hitting on that, and encouraging people to ask questions, and to come out, and to see the animals, and to ask us questions, and get them involved in rodeo.

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Kris Hiney: Oh, I'm gonna ask you a hard question, then. Are you ready? Here's the impromptu part.

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Kris Hiney: Okay, what is one thing you would say that rodeos could improve on?

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montanamartinson: Yeah, so I… I think often rodeos, a lot of people…

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montanamartinson: don't understand what we do with the animals, and often people always think that the animals are getting hurt. That's maybe my number one question I always get, especially in bull riding. Everyone's always super concerned about what that strap is around them. Is it hurting them? Is it making them buck?

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montanamartinson: And I think what Rodeo could improve on is just the…

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montanamartinson: We need to make sure that people understand that we are not hurting the bulls, it is a sheep lined

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montanamartinson: flank strap, and it just encourages movement in the bull. And it is taken off after 8 seconds, and there's no harm done to the bull, and we deeply care about the animals. Without the bulls, and the bucking horses, and the calves, we don't have rodeo. And I like to tell people that horses have better spa days than most humans do. When we get them ready, we give them baths, and they get to be let out.

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montanamartinson: So I think just making sure that we're super transparent with how we're treating the animals, so I think that creates a little bit of fluster when the…

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montanamartinson: Spectators are really concerned about the animals, but we really do care for the animals, and we couldn't do rodeo without them.

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Kris Hiney: So, like, you're at a rodeo.

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Kris Hiney: Oh, okay. So, so in your role as kind of being an ambassador, what… what would you do? I mean, because animals do get injured, right? We cannot deny that that doesn't happen.

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Kris Hiney: On occasion, and people get injured on occasion. Like, what is your role in those kind of circumstances if you're at that rodeo?

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montanamartinson: Yeah, so if I'm at a rodeo, and I hear someone, or someone comes up and, you know, expresses their concerns, often I think it's a misunderstanding.

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montanamartinson: from just experience. So, for example, the PRCA, it's part of their rulebook and their guidelines for rodeos that they have to have a veterinarian out at the rodeo scene. So that way, in case any

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montanamartinson: animal athlete got injured, we would have someone who was medically trained to help them. And for the cowboys and cowgirls, we also have, an ambulance out there as well, because, especially in the rough stock events, but definitely not…

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montanamartinson: limiting that just to the Rough Stock riders, but the Cowboys and cowgirls do have a chance to get hurt as well. And also, we have a Justin Sport Medicine team, often at rodeos, and these are trained professionals that help make sure that our athletes, as long…

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montanamartinson: With the animal athletes, all get taken care of at the rodeos before, during, and after.

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Kris Hiney: All right, so I'm going to ask you your final question here, because you've been great with giving up so much of your time. So, what advice would you give to a young lady that was interested in maybe getting started on this path, and perhaps some parents that weren't on board? So, how would you give them advice?

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montanamartinson: Yeah, so if someone is interested in competing for a Rodeo Queen title, I would encourage them to reach out to a former Rodeo Queen or their state association to kind of learn the expectations of what that title entails. You know, I'm speaking from my experience, so my pageant and my title might be different from their local or their state one, but I would also just focus on

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montanamartinson: on, you know, building your knowledge and your confidence, and especially your horsemanship, but I would also say to just not wait until it feels perfect, because showing up and being willing to learn

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montanamartinson: That's super important, because growth will come from experiences and trying things, and from my experience.

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montanamartinson: Former Queens and my state directors have been super willing to help and to get me the information that I need to be successful.

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Kris Hiney: Okay.

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Kris Hiney: Krishona, now your question, what would you tell that parent that's like, I don't know about this? Well…

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Kris Hiney: I think parents know their kids, and, you know, I'm not surprised. Montana has always loved horses, she loves fashion, she loves dressing up, doing her hair and makeup, so that doesn't surprise me,

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Kris Hiney: So I think the parents just need to know their kids, but I would encourage them to start out with the local pageants. So, Montana's first title was the Buffalo Rodeo Queen. It's 20 minutes from our house. She was part of the community.

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Kris Hiney: It was actually a friend of ours that was the queen coordinator, Tracy. She was phenomenal.

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Kris Hiney: Or maybe she wasn't the Queen Coordinator of Montana, but she was part of that team.

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Kris Hiney: I thought it was cool that Montana, like, they had an opening of a car wash. They wanted Miss Buffalo Rodeo there. They have a parade. She was in the parade. You know, the sponsors, a local apparel store was a sponsor. She was there one day with them doing social media, and it, again, it's…

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Kris Hiney: when you take away the glitz and the glam, behind it is all good life lessons, good life skills that they are building. So once you kind of get on board with that, and you see the passion of your kids, and you see that as a positive passion, and not a negative passion, and, I mean, Montana's a college rodeo athlete.

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Kris Hiney: We do have horses.

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Kris Hiney: She has, you know, ridden in rodeo events, for quite some time. I think just start local, start as close to home as you can, because

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Kris Hiney: I mean, not when she… when you're a local queen, those state queens have priority, so if you show up to a rodeo, and all of the flag horses or judge horses are being used, you have to bring your own. So we uphold horses to Spooner, Wisconsin, to the Dakotas.

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Kris Hiney: around the state of Minnesota so that she can ride and participate, in the rodeo. So you… there is a little bit of parent involvement, although now that she's a college kid, she can drive a truck and trailer, which I guess is another important skill to have. It is? And I have no worries about her taking care of her horse, or the other horse as well. She's on… she's very good at that. So, it does give them a lot of independence and good life skills.

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Kris Hiney: Okay, so something not to be afraid of. Yeah, not…

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Kris Hiney: start small, so don't be afraid of it, but start small. And the other thing, I think, is a lot of these rodeo queens in Montana sort of briefly met, touched on it, they're all self-funded, so she, if she wants to be…

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Kris Hiney: you know, Miss Rodeo Minnesota, she's gonna have to fundraise and be creative, make connections, have sponsors,

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Kris Hiney: those are all also important life skills, but also take a lot of time, so I think just sharing those connections with her, and maybe I have a little bit of a leg up because I'm active in the horse community, but she's… again, it's all good life skills, but it takes a lot of work, and

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Kris Hiney: you do, I mean, you do have to budget time and also resources, to make this dream happen.

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Kris Hiney: Okay.

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Kris Hiney: Well, this has been fascinating. I've learned… I've learned a lot, right? Because my knowledge base started low, therefore I can… my learning curve is… is steep in this case, my knowledge acquisition. So, this has been great, I really appreciate your time, and so we expect that you will be…

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Kris Hiney: In what?

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Kris Hiney: Mr. Rodeo, Minnesota 2028.

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Kris Hiney: I got it right! Alright! And then.

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montanamartinson: You'll be at the NFL.

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Kris Hiney: FR that year, right?

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montanamartinson: If it happens the way I'd like, yup.

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Kris Hiney: Okay, well, I'll book my tickets now. Well, I appreciate both of y'all's time, this has been super fun, and best of luck to you, Montana, in all of your future queen goals.

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montanamartinson: Thank you very much.

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Kris Hiney: Okay, and this has been another episode of our Tack Box Talk, Course Stories with a Purpose.