Snohomish teen-ager wins Northwest rodeo honors
By Leslie Moriarty
Herald Writer
SNOHOMISH — When Kate Fleming was a little girl, her father took her to several rodeos to watch the bull riders and the clowns. In his early days, he’d been both.
Maybe that’s where Fleming got the idea that being a part of the rodeo circuit would be fun. And this year’s been a crowning year for her. Fleming, 18, was chosen as the Pro-West Rodeo Queen recently during finals of a professional rodeo in Idaho Falls, Idaho.
"It’s a great opportunity," she said. "Being a rodeo queen means I get to share something I really like with the rest of the world."
Fleming graduated from Snohomish High School last year and is getting a two-year associate degree at Everett Community College. She plans to attend Washington State University and study for a career in alternative equine medicine.
Fleming was 10 when she rode her first horse.
"My dad just threw me on the crazy horse and everything happened from there," she said.
The family moved from Oregon to Snohomish about six years ago, and when she turned 13 she got her own horse.
Fleming decided to call that horse Beau, and she still rides him today. But because he isn’t a fast horse, she decided not to enter the competitive rodeo events. Instead she decided to become a part of the rodeo royalty.
"My horse has the heart," she said. "But he’s just not fast enough to race."
In 1999, she competed to be a queen for the first time at the Darrington Rodeo.
Although each competition for queen is different, most include a showmanship event in which contestants show that they can control a horse through a number of movements, including figure-eights and sliding stops.
They compete riding their own horse, then on another horse with which they are not familiar.
Competitions include giving speeches on topics chosen by judges and impromptu questions.
To earn the Pro-West title, Fleming had to do that and more. She had to also submit a portfolio showing photographs of her as she was growing up, evidence of her 4-H and FFA involvement, and other educational work she has completed.
And then there’s the calf chase.
"On horseback, we have to chase calves out of the area after they are caught, roped and released," she said. "It shows our arena sense."
Fleming was also a rodeo queen at the 2000 Bullriders’ Challenge in Monroe. She usually competes against about half a dozen other girls to earn scholarship money.
Being Pro West queen is a big honor.
"I’m representing an entire association," she said, with members in Washington, Oregon, Idaho and parts of British Columbia.
Although she won’t get her crown until November, Fleming has begun her work for the association. She travels and teaches about rodeo events and about the association.
"It’s a great job," she said. "At the rodeos I attend, I get to mingle with the crowd and be a role model for the kids."
But the real honor, she said, is being part of the rodeo circuit.
"It’s the real American sport," she said. "It’s a great family sport, and I’m just glad to be a part of it."
You can call Herald Writer Leslie Moriarty at 425-339-3436
or send e-mail to moriarty@heraldnet.com.
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