The second day at the Miss Rodeo America Pageant started with the Horsemanship portion of the competition. Family and friends of all 28 contestants were at South Pointe equestrian center to cheer on their favorite state queens. As a whole, the group did a fine job. It took several hours for for both go-rounds. Supporters for Chris Wade, our representative from the Beehive State, drew in a collective worried breath when Chris entered the arena on the roan she drew for the first g0-round. That horse had decided he simply didn't want to move forward into the arena. It took Chris nearly a minute to coax the horse, through hand, weight and leg cues, to enter the arena and start his lope down the right side of the arena. The crowd burst into spontaneous applause when Chris, seemingly unfazed by the ornery horse, broke into a lope on the correct lead. From there, Chris, who wore the purple-and-gold shirt and Wrangler pant outfit made for her by her mother, Tami, did a phenomenal job on this horse, which clearly didn't really want to be in the arena. Chris looked confident, didn't lose her patience and stuck with it throughout the ride. We were so proud of her. She did a great job. The second-go round was exciting to watch. Several other contestants had already done really nice jobs so the pressure was on Chris to do a nice job too. We were all surprised at how rapid she entered the arena -- on a sprint down the middle of the arena. She cranked the horse to a nice stop, backed him straight down the middle and then started at a nice clip to the right. Chris executed two flying lead changes during her pattern. You could tell she was having fun -- but she told us later that her legs were killing her. It took quite a bit of leg strength to get that sorrell -- named Floyd -- to properly execute the pattern. Chris told us that later one of the other contestants told her, "Chris, you really rocked Floyd's world." Chris has told us several times how friendly all the other contestants have been, and it seems like they are all having a very good time. This year's bunch are very pretty, and it's been a delight to get to know all their friends and families who are here to support them. We were able to eat lunch with Chris, and she seemed very upbeat about the two go-rounds of horsemanship and the Fashion Show rehearsals. In the evening, we attended the get-acquainted party. We were able to sit with some very nice folks from Mississipi, eat some great food and dance to some music. Red and Cindy Wilk, the couple from South Dakota who judged the Miss Rodeo Utah Pageant several years ago and have been so nice to Chris throughout the years, sponsored the dinner. They also gifted all the girls beautiful rings made of Black Hills Gold. Chris loved it -- and it meant a lot coming from the Wilk family.
