The drive to Kalispell is one that I know like the back of my hand. I could do it backwards with my eyes shut and still tell you where all of the passing lanes and little towns are. Fortunately for all of the other drivers out there, I made this trip facing forwards with my eyes open…
This was the first time that I had ever been to the Kalispell fairgrounds, but it reminded me of Missoula and Hamilton with the way everything was planned out, so I felt right at home. When I first arrived, all was well. That was until I couldn’t find my horse or its owner. Then I ran into the first Miss Teen Rodeo Montana for 2006, Kaitlyn Tracy. She immediately hooked me up with all of the right people and got me back on track. My horse was a huge palomino with an easy going personality. My next problem was getting a saddle. Thankfully, I ran into an old friend from Missoula who recently moved to Kalispell. He and a few of his buddies came to watch the rodeo that night, but I recruited them to help me find a saddle. It turned out that my friend lived right down the road and he had a saddle in his room. So they ran off to get the saddle for me while I waited nervously. When they finally got back, I had just enough time to throw the saddle on and do a couple circles on the track to warm up my trusty steed. For my queen buzz, my trusty steed got pretty nervous and we didn’t move much faster than a trot. It turns out that he really needed a couple circles in the arena with all of the scary flags before doing a buzz. As I carried the Montana flag into the arena, he spooked and didn’t quite get why he had to go in the arena. But we worked it out, even with my horse on the verge of a nervous breakdown.
After grand entry, I finally got the chance to meet the Kalispell Royalty. Miss Rodeo Northwest Montana Elise Anderson, Princess Sidney Meyer, and Little Miss Trinity Williams. They were all very fun and welcoming from the get go; little did I know it would lead to the most fun and interesting rodeo weekend this year!
The next day, Elise and her family invited me to spend the day at their place on the lake. We had a blast canoeing and then getting our arms practically ripped off going tubing. My arms felt like noodles even after a quick ride! But I couldn’t resist going for another. After that, it was a relaxing cruise around the lake, which was good for my white legs!
Have you ever had anyone ask you a question in a way that makes you think they’re up to something? This was definitely one of those times when Trinity and Elise asked me what I was doing the next day before the rodeo. I wasn’t going to be doing anything, so I said so and they both got huge smiles on their faces. And that was how I got myself into a round of pig wrestling! It was the rodeo queens vs. the pig in a pen of slop, mud, and water. And the idea was to catch the pig as fast as possible, and put him tail end first into a plastic barrel that had been cut in half. (Just to let you know how slippery it was, I almost fell flat on my face with the first step I took into the pen!) But we were all ready for it in our pink t-shirts and pig tails when the whistle blew, and we tackled the pig like old pros! We had a game plan that Trinity and I would grab his belly, Elise would get his head, and Sidney would grab his tail end. When we finally caught the pig, he squealed like crazy and was squirming all over the place. But we still managed to put him into the barrel in under 40 seconds! And by the time we got out of there, we were a sloppy mess from head to toe! From there we were off to hit the shower and clean up a little before the rodeo. Unfortunately, we didn’t have as much time as we would have liked so it was in and out as quick as possible.
At the rodeo that night, I was honored to carry Old Glory, and my big palomino seemed to like it too. Half way through the program were two events that were completely new to me, the Wild Pony Riding and the Indian Relay Race. The wild pony riding was when a team of kids had to catch a wild pony coming out of the chute, then two would mug it and the third would hop on for a wild ride for as long as possible. And after that was the Indian Relay Race, which I think is even better than traditional racing! This was when a team of 2 or 3 people brought out three horses to the track without ANY tack except for a bridle. Then the rider would hop on the first horse bareback, and wait for the whistle to blow. Then the 7 to 9 horse and rider pairs would make one lap around the track. When they made it back to the start line, where the other team members were standing with the second and third horse, they would jump off horse number one and swing onto horse number two. The process repeated one last time as the riders would switch for horse two to horse three to make the final lap. And remember that all of these horses have on only a bridle or halter! It was fun and action packed, and I can’t wait to go back next year.
Until next time, I wish you all the best!
God Bless,
Jennifer Marshall
MTRM 2008
