roancowgirl - Tumblr blog

roancowgirl · 7 days

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roancowgirl · 18 days

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Wanted to share some art I recently finished up!

The New Mexico Gay Rodeo Association held a poster contest and I decided to enter with the only medium I’m decent at, which is leatherwork. Unfortunately it didn’t win, but it did place top three!

It took me about 40 hours, and is fully hand carved leather with acrylic paint for color. Overall I’m pleased with how it turned out, and am excited to put it on my wall. I’m thinking I’ll build it a leather frame.

The floral pattern is by Jim Linnell, used with permission

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roancowgirl · 24 days

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ARE YOU QUEER/LGBTQ?

AND/OR DO YOU LIKE COWBOYS?

Yeah… thought so…

I need your help!

I'm a college student working on a creative research project about the queer history of the west and the modern day perceptions and uses of the cowboy as a symbol by queer people. I'm consolidating this information with the tropes and imagery of the western genre, particularly film.

This form is a part of my research because I'm interested in more personal and specific feelings about these topics.

There is no requirement to answer all of the questions and any personal info (preferred names or contact info) will be kept out of the final artwork and writing I do as they are options provided in case you are open to potential follow up questions.

If you wish to keep up with updates on my project or see posts about it then please follow my social media below. You can also contact me through these if you have further questions.

Art Instagram (best way to keep up with my art)

Tumblr

Discord: sunrae117

PLEASE SHARE!!!

If you know others who may be interested in answering this, please go ahead and share this document with them or simply reblog it. The more responses, the better. Thank you for your time and participation!

#boost #lgbtq+#yeehaw!#western #queer #westerns #cowboy #cowboys #lgbtq community #art #queer cowboy #rural #lesbian #trans #transgender #gay #gay rodeo

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roancowgirl · 2 months

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Hi yes I heard rodeo. First off, gay rodeo is the best rodeo and I can’t fully express how much the IGRA means to me. I’ve been a competitor in ranch bronc(they no longer do bareback bronc, that was swapped in 2017) since 2022. As someone who rides bucking horses, I think eventers are more insane and you get major props for launching yourself at a solid object.

Rodeo history is actually fascinating once you start to dive into it, tbh the entire history of cowboying is. We think of it as a linear line to where we are today and the diversity we have in both industries, but in reality we backslid and are slowly clawing our way back to where it was. Historically, cowboys weren’t white men like we think of today, they were black men(a lot of them freed slaves), indigenous folks, hispanic folks, etc. Cowboys were also queer af, but that is up for debate on if it was self identified queer folks.

With rodeo, it was also more diverse than we typically see today, though certainly wasn’t without the abhorrent racism of the time and all that goes with that. There’s a book called Red White Black: A True Story of Race in Rodeo that I highly recommend for further reading on this subject. The tl;Dr of how rodeo(and cowboying) became so white washed stems from manifest destiny, and has had an impact we’re still dealing with.

That doesn’t mean BIPOC or queer folks went away! They ended up forming their own associations, such as the Bill Pickett rodeo and the All Indian Rodeo Cowboys Association. Then the International Gay Rodeo Association in the mid 80s. Aside from the IGRA, I don’t feel qualified to speak on the Bill Pickett or AIRCA, but they absolutely deserve a mention and to be looked at.

Now onto women. You’re absolutely right that it’s a male dominated industry and always has been, but we can’t forget about the women through history bc they’re cool af and I can rant about them all day(like I’m not currently doing so). There were women helping to run the ranch, especially if it’s a family operation and they had three girls and one boy. Someone still needs to help feed and brand cattle in order to keep the place running. Keep in mind, these women still dressed according to the times and were doing this in dresses. Major props to them bc I couldn’t imagine doing that. Some women would wear split dresses to make life easier, but that varied widely as these ranch women didn’t communicate with one another and styles could take a few years to get around.

Women in rodeo is my favorite topic and these were some badass ladies competing at a time we don’t typically associate with women in rodeo. The first woman that we know of to compete in bronc riding was Annie Shaffer at Fort Smith, Arkansas in 1896. There may have been women before her, but those ladies were unfortunately lost to time. By 1901 women had their own division in saddle bronc, and had other events added! There was bronc riding, trick riding, and in some rodeos a relay race.

There were also a few women that roped, some doing tiedown, along with steer wrestling and steer and bull riding. I don’t have too many specifics on these ladies unfortunately, but I do know that women ropers did compete but were mainly entertainment. Which, it’s worth noting, rodeos have changed a lot. Now we go for the rodeo, in the early 1900’s you went for the entertainment and a side of rodeo.

All of these women became celebrities bc it was fascinating to the public that women were able to do all these things that men do. Unfortunately, women in rodeo came to an end around the early 1940’s, with 1941 being the big turning point. There’s a few reasons for this, one being the war, the other being less women competing(mostly due to the war).

There‘s other factors that contributed as well, mainly being politics. Women were held to different standards, especially in saddle bronc. Men were allowed one rein to hold, women were allowed two. Women also had the option to ride with their stirrups hobbled, meaning they were tied to the cinch. This made for an “easier ride” as their legs stayed wrapped around the horse. However, the chance of hanging up skyrockets when you ride hobbled, as you have to fall up in order to get your foot out.

Bonnie McCarrol is one of the more well known saddle bronc riders, partly bc she was a hell of a rider and partly bc she was killed in Pendleton in 1929. Pendleton was funny, and misogynist. In most rodeos hobbling stirrups was optional, at Pendleton it was required. So Bonnie rode hobbled, and that’s what killed her. She was thrown from her bronc Black Cat, was knocked unconscious, then was drug around the arena and flipped on. It was a horrific death and imo was murder. Her death fanned the flames of misogyny directed towards women in rodeo and helped to shuffle them out by the early 40’s.

Since then, the gender divide has remained and has deepened, and women have found their own space in rodeo. In 1942 the Girls Rodeo Association(GRA) was formed and ran until 1981. Around this time is when barrel racing started to make it’s way into the acceptance as a professional event. The GRA held all women rodeos that had all your usual events a rodeo would have. In 1981 they changed their name to the Women’s Pro Rodeo Association, or WPRA.

The WPRA still holds all girls rodeos, but they’re unfortunately few and far between and only a small number of women compete in them. There’s better payouts at the WPRA events that run in the PRCA rodeos, though those are limited to barrels and breakaway.

We’re still fighting an uphill battle to claim our place in rodeo, but we’re making progress and women’s events are making a comeback. Women have started competing in ranch bronc in recent years, and have formed their own associations and circuits to compete. There’s Women’s Pro Bull Riding(WPBR) as well, and we have a lot of women in the western industry that are advocates and are doing their best to bring women back into rodeo.

Anyways, I’m so sorry for the infodump but this is one of my special interests that my brain goes !!! At every time I see it. I’ll return to my corner like the goblin I am.

I did pull a few pics of women in rodeo, bc they’re cool as hell and these women are metal af to be doing what they were doing at the time they were.

The branding is the Becker sisters, 1894. The second is Bonnie McCarrol being thrown from Silver in 1915. I’m unsure of who the ladies in the third pic are, but you gotta appreciate their style.

tell us more about gay rodeo

Absolutely.

I'll preface this with the fact that rodeo is not my chosen horse sport. I did western gaming (like barrel racing, pole bending, ect) for a while when I was a kid, but I mostly do eventing now, which makes me about as insane as a person who gets on a bucking horse or bull, or more because I don't win any money, and some show jumping.

First and foremost, though, tell me rodeo is not camp as all hell. You can't. Rodeo is so fucking camp. There is, if you don't know, an International Gay Rodeo Association and they have been around since the mid-1980s and they oversee gay rodeos in the US and Canada. They do a lot of fundraising and awareness raising for the sport and Western American culture and work with regional organizations with similar missions to put on rodeos. They put on typical rodeo events, like bull riding, bareback bronc riding, team roping, and barrel racing, among others, but they also do some camp events.

The thing I really love though, is that it follows a tradition of queer people taking traditionally masculine things and making them our own. Traditionally and despite that fact that I think they're very camp, rodeos are a very masculine thing and place. Many of the events find their origins in ranch work or 'cowboying', like working cattle or training horses, which arguably have a very masculine tradition. Think about the myth of the cowboy and the early American West or the Wild West. I would argue that conjures a very masculine set of ideas. There's a contentious history of women in rodeo that I don't know very well, but in my experience, rodeo is very masculine.

I also think that gay rodeo is a really wonderful instance of queer solidarity or a good reminder that queer people exist in rural America and take part in the culture as much as anyone else. You also get to think about one of my favorite Willie Nelson songs, "Cowboys Are Frequently Secretly Fond of Each Other."

#aight I promise I’ll stop rambling #I just have big thoughts on rodeo 24/7 and the history is fascinating and not talked about enough #IGRA history is fascinating too #equestrian #horse #western #gay rodeo #horses #igra #lgbt #rodeo #lgbtq #women in rodeo #cowgirl

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roancowgirl · 2 months

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Hey y’all I’ve posted my discord server before but wanted to post it again now that the server is fully up and running. After years in the western industry I realized there’s no dedicated online space for folks in this industry and want to try to change that.

Queer Cowfolks is a space for anyone in the LGBTQIA2S+ community with an interest in the western horse world. Whether it’s riding, ranching, rodeo or just an appreciator of the lifestyle and culture- all are welcome to join regardless of experience or where you’re from.

Along with creating a safe space for folks to hang out, we also have channels for information on events and nonprofit organizations to help folks find a safe community in their area. There’s a master list for equine related organizations welcoming to LGBtQ+ folks as well as two event channels. One channel is for upcoming equine events such as gay rodeos, barrel races, trail rides, etc. The other is for fundraising events that benefit the organizations listed, such as: drag shows, softball games, bake sales, etc.

You can join via this invite link, if it’s not working please dm me so I can fix it. Join and come hang, we’d love to have you!

https://discord.gg/NDRkWFYj

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roancowgirl · 2 months

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Blue Book, 73 (4), August 1941, p. 46

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roancowgirl · 5 months

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Some sweet moments between Morgan & Spot

Pc: @bjuhlphotography

#I love this #photography #equine photography #equestrian #horses #horse #horsblr

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roancowgirl · 5 months

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You now understand football

The only thing ive learned from watching american football with my bf this past season is that my team sucks and it's 90% commercials

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roancowgirl · 5 months

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Y’all come join this server, it’s super cool! DM me for a link, I’d post the invite publicly but want to avoid TERFs and bots.

Howdy y’all! I made a discord server for queer folks in the western equine/rodeo industry to hang out.

It’s friendly to all queer folks, and allies interested in the queer side of the western industry. Please dm me if you’d like a link to join.

We have a section that’s still a work in progress for queer associations such as gay rodeo, along with a calendar of upcoming events that these associations put on. If you know of any queer organizations or events, such as rodeos, trail rides, barrel races, etc that you think could be added to the list, please dm me!

For those unfamiliar with queer folks in western spaces, here’s some articles. We’ve always been here and there’s space for us in the industry

youtube

Me and my gf at the gay rodeo in texas earlier this year

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roancowgirl · 5 months

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ok i finally understand where gen z gays on tumblr are getting insane ideas like "marriage equality was a waste of time and only of interest to rich white cis gays who wanted respectability" and "bob iger is pro-gay". it was fucking james somerton this whole time. "american GIs joined the european front purely out of envy for nazi bodybuilding" <<<< actual thing he said seriously in a video. and people were just like "yup sounds good" ?????

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roancowgirl · 5 months

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#gay cowgirls #gay cowboy #queer cowboys #horseblr #horses #equestrian #western #lgbt

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roancowgirl · 5 months

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Howdy y’all! I made a discord server for queer folks in the western equine/rodeo industry to hang out.

It’s friendly to all queer folks, and allies interested in the queer side of the western industry. The link can be found below. Stop by and hang out, we’d love to have you!

We have a section that’s still a work in progress for queer associations such as gay rodeo, along with a calendar of upcoming events that these associations put on. If you know of any queer organizations or events, such as rodeos, trail rides, barrel races, etc that you think could be added to the list, please dm me!

For those unfamiliar with queer folks in western spaces, here’s some articles. We’ve always been here and there’s space for us in the industry

youtube

Me and my gf at the gay rodeo in texas earlier this year

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roancowgirl · 7 months

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Damn cool horse here, Annie has been sitting for a little bit but still the same horse I stepped off of. We pushed the other horses around a little bit so they can get exercise, Ammar(the sorrel, my gf’s horse) is in rehab and needs to move out in a large area

#equestrian #horses #annie #horse #me #training #lgbt #lgbt equestrian #rodeo #western #igra #gay rodeo #texas gay rodeo association #international gay rodeo association

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roancowgirl · 8 months

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Calling all artists and fans of rodeo! The Texas Gay Rodeo Association(TGRA) is holding a contest to design their 2024 rodeo poster.

There’s a $200 prize and two tickets to watch the rodeo in Denton Texas

#art #art contest #lgbt #lgbtq #lgbtqia #texas gay rodeo association #TGRA #international gay rodeo association #igra #rodeo #gay rodeo #gay cowboy #queer #queer artist

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roancowgirl · 1 year

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There was a long break between calf roping and ranch bronc, so I spent my time split between the stands catching up with rodeo family and friends that came to watch, and behind the chutes with my buddies that were also competing in broncs. There were three of us competing, one of which was a rookie that had never rode a bronc. My buddy and I that had competed spent some time making sure his rigging was right, and giving him tips.

He was pretty damn cocky considering the fact that he had never dropped into a chute, and I gave him the advice that I could, especially that bucking horses don’t typically blow the same way a colt does(he was touting his experience riding), but decided he would figure it out. Broncs are good at humbling you, and humble him they did. He got the spiciest bronc in the bunch, and I don’t think he expected that little horse to turn out of the chute as fast as he did. He was sideways off the bronc and heading towards the dirt before the first jump. But I’m glad he tried it, and I really hope he hits another rodeo on the circuit, as he was really excited to try it.

My buddy that I competed against last year almost covered, but came off his bronc in the last second. If he had covered, he would’ve walked out with a buckle.

I rode last, and I can’t say I was happy with Saturday’s ride. I know I can ride better, but I have to give myself some grace because the last time I dropped into a chute was a year prior. Between last year and this rodeo, I had some health issues that still affect me, most notably a bad concussion. I had planned to make a couple rodeos and make a practice pen a regular thing that I go to, but life had other ideas.

I quit riding pretty early on, again, hadn’t sat on a bronc in a year and was honestly wondering how it would go since things had changed for me, but I had a good few jumps until I got ahead of my feet and came off his left side. As I came off it felt like my left foot was thinking about hanging up in the stirrup, so I twisted as I went down to make sure I cane loose. Bell stirrups aren’t likely to hang you up, but shit happens. Instead of risking a hang and getting drug, I twisted and broke my fall with my face. I had a mouthful of dirt that I was still spitting out an hour after, and it took me a few minutes to see properly due to how good my bell was rung. When I hit the ground, my helmet did it’s job and kept me from taking a dirt nap, but the visor smashed the bridge of my nose and broke/fractured it. Getting lawn darted off a bronc is just part of it, and I had a good headache for the rest of the day to remind me of my life choices

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roancowgirl · 1 year

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roancowgirl · 1 year

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IGRA Texas Tradition Rodeo 2023- Saturday Calf Roping on Foot

First thing was calf roping on foot. I can’t say I’m happy with how my go round went, I opted to nod rather than call to release my calf and learned the hard way that you’re better off calling rather than nodding. I had to nod twice, and the second time I was mad and didn’t expect them to actually see me. So I just threw my rope, and I know better, but I ended up throwing flat. I’m going to work on more reaction drills, as it’s also hard to see the calf coming out of the chute and quickly aim.

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