Rodeo Queen vying for national title
Surprise state winner from Pendleton to face competition in New Mexico
PENDLETON— Kelsey M. Baldwin can ride a horse, rope a calf and tie a goat’s legs as well as any girl her age — at least in New York State.
The 17-year-old Starpoint High School senior was named the 2008-09 state High School Rodeo Queen last month at the state’s first high school rodeo championships.
She also won the titles of All Around Cowgirl, Rookie of the Year, Break-Away Roping Champion and Goat-Tying Champion at the state competition, which took place at the Double M Arena in Ballston Spa.
Kelsey achieved her championship status by, among other things, roping a calf in four seconds while riding her 4-year-old paint horse, Barbie, which she trained herself. She also jumped off Barbie while the horse was still running, tipped over a goat and tied its legs together in about 15 seconds.
She took first place in both events.
Kelsey also had to go through a number of other tests, which included more horse “speed” competitions and maneuvers as well as a number of Miss America-style events, like modeling her favorite western getup and answering questions from judges on the spur of the moment.
She did well in everything and won the Rodeo Queen crown, a silver headdress advertising her title which fits over the band of a Stetson cowgirl hat.
But that just set her up for the big challenge she currently faces.
Because of her state title, Kelsey this weekend is testing her skills to the limit in Farmington, N. M., by competing against the best horsewomen in the world — rodeo queens from 40 other states, five Canadian provinces and Australia — to become the National High School Rodeo Queen.
In addition to a title, she also is competing for more than $200,000 in prizes and more than $325,000 in college scholarships.
Gamble pays off
Kelsey said she is surprised she won the state competition, but hopes to do well in the nationals.
“Going into the state championships I was definitely an underdog because most of the girls who were competing had older horses that were more finished and knew what they were doing,” she said. “Other people had trained them a long time ago. I just started training Barbie last winter, but she was coming along so well I decided to use her in the breakaway roping and goat tying.”
Her gamble paid off, as Barbie kept her cool during the competition and performed perfectly, taking first place in both the breakaway roping and goat-tying events.
She said she used her other horse, Drifter, a brown 6-year-old quarter horse, to take first place in the pole-bending competition and third place in barrel racing. She weaved her steed in and out of six poles at high speed to take that competition and rode in a pattern around three barrels with a lot of speed to finish among the top three riders out of a field of 25 competitors.
Kelsey said she felt she really accomplished something because she fully expected Samantha Swarengen, a 10th-grader from Horseheads, to win the Rodeo Queen title.
“I knew she’d be there,” Kelsey said. “I know her from other rodeos. She’s really good and I thought she’d win. It was pretty close. Samantha would have been my backup if I couldn’t go to the nationals for some reason. I’m sure she’ll win everything next year.” As for her chances in the nationals, Kelsey said. “I think I have a chance of doing well, but a lot of those girls in the finals have had a lot of training for it. I don’t have all that.
“I’m hoping my personality will come through a little more and hopefully [the judges] will like that part of me, and that my skills are good enough. I know I’ll be the underdog because I’m from New York and they don’t think someone from New York can win. I hope to prove them wrong.”
Her mother, Jayne, said Kelsey won’t be doing break-away roping or goat tying at the nationals because that competition involves a lot more technical horse control work, like having the horse walk in larger circles and smaller circles, riding reining patterns, spinning, side-stepping and other exercises.
She said there also are a lot more Miss America-type events, including modeling and answering questions. She said the Rodeo Queen competition should end on Monday.
While Kelsey may seem like an anomaly to most people around Western New York, the only area girl in the state competition, there are many good reasons why she’s a champion cowgirl.
“I got involved because my family always had horses, so I grew up around them,” she said. “I’ve been riding ever since I was in diapers. I started barrel racing on my own when I probably was 5 or 6. My whole life has been about horses. My family has a boarding stable [on their 50-acre spread] on Mapleton Road where we board maybe 40 horses.”
She said she’s been competing at county fairs, 4-H competitions and rodeos — including those in Attica and Ellicottville — for quite some time. When she returns from the nationals, Kelsey said she’ll head out right away to the Attica Rodeo, which starts up Aug. 1.
“I’m very busy,” she said.
Hangs out at barns
She said she spends most of her spare time at the barns with her horses.
“Every day I’m out at the barn riding them and caring for them and feeding them and getting all that love and affection back from them,” Kelsey said. “Most people don’t know it but horses are just like dogs in that way. They really love to be with you. I live for my horses. I’m out there at least three hours every day, sometimes all day. I’m there hanging out with friends who have horses and trail riding. I don’t just have to compete all the time. Just riding them normal, trail riding and being with [my horses] is fun.
“I’ve trained both of my horses and it’s nice to show I can control these big animals [Barbie weighs 1,000 pounds; Drifter, 1,200 pounds] and have them develop different skills and be able to compete. And they work hard because they want to please me. Barbie’s very competitive.”
She said a lot of the people she hangs out with at the barns are people whose main interest is horses.
“They’re my friends and they are all rooting for me. They are also looking to see how I do because the nationals is new territory for New York State. Even my friends at school are rooting for me, even though they don’t know that much about rodeo competition. But that’s what I’m known for at school: horses.”
As for training her horses, Kelsey said, “I like to train with them two or three times a week an hour at a time for each of them. I don’t like to have them train too much because I don’t want to get them sick of it. I want them to like doing it. They do.”
Kelsey said she does not want to become a professional horse trainer or be involved in the horse business.
“A lot of people think that,” Kelsey said. “But when I go to college I want to study something like architecture. I’ll always work with horses, but I’d like to keep that on the side just to enjoy . . . for fun.”
