Photo by Deb Gau Title holders and candidates in the Miss Rodeo Minnesota Pageant competed in horsemanship events Wednesday at the Lyon County fairgrounds.

MARSHALL — Preparations for the Lyon County Fair were kicking into high gear on Wednesday morning. While the midway was being set up and livestock were being moved into barns, a special fairtime event was taking place at the Second Chance Arena.

Royalty and candidates for the Miss Rodeo Minnesota Pageant were getting ready to saddle up and head into the arena. It was all part of the pageant, explained current Miss Rodeo Minnesota Kendra Klosterman.

“This morning, we have the horsemanship competition for the Miss Rodeo Minnesota Pageant,” Klosterman said. While the event might look like a beauty pageant, she said, “We are first and foremost cowgirls. So, you have to know how to ride.”

Pageant candidates will compete in different events through Friday in Marshall. In addition to horsemanship, the candidates did two sets of interviews on Wednesday, and took impromptu questions during the steak feed at the Lyon County Fair. Other events include a fashion show today, and speeches on Friday.

There are different age levels of the pageant, including Miss Rodeo Minnesota, Miss Teen Rodeo Minnesota, Junior Miss Rodeo Minnesota, and Sweetheart Miss Rodeo Minnesota. On Wednesday, the pageant also had visitors — the current Miss Rodeo Iowa and Miss Rodeo South Dakota.

During Wednesday’s competition, candidates showed their skills working with horses in the rodeo arena.

“What’s interesting about our pageant is that we ride horses that aren’t ours, and that we have never ridden before. So we jump on, not knowing anything about the horse, and we go and complete a pattern,” Klosterman said. A pattern is a sequence of actions that the rider and horse must complete, like moving in certain directions, turning, stopping or changing speed. “They tell you what to do in the sequence, so you have to know what order to do them in, and execute them properly.”

Later, the candidates also did rail work, which involved riding along the outer edge of the rodeo arena. Contestants were asked to put their horses into different gaits, stop, and change directions. Halfway through one round of competition, Miss Rodeo Minnesota candidates even stopped to swap horses with each other.

“When you are at a rodeo, you don’t know what’s going to happen,” the announcer explained. Changing horses helped simulate the conditions at a rodeo event.

Through it all, the girls taking part in the pageant were cheering for each other.

“It’s so fun to see these young girls so passionate about horses, and the Western industry, and they find so much joy in talking with others,” Klosterman said. “And they look up to us older girls, and it’s super fun to be that person for them.”

Klosterman grew up on a family farm near Breckenridge and showed horses around Minnesota.

“Not everyone gets that opportunity,” she said. “And I want to share that joy with others, so after college I was like, ‘I want to represent the industry that I feel very passionate about.'”

Klosterman and Miss Rodeo Iowa Micah Barnes said the connections to other people and the agriculture industry were a big part of what they loved about being in the Miss Rodeo pageants. Barnes grew up in a stock contracting family, and her grandfather Bob Barnes founded the Barnes PRCA Rodeo. She’s also been a rodeo competitor and helped put on rodeos.

“To me, it’s more than just Saturday night entertainment. It’s a way of life,” Barnes said. “I thought, what better way to grow our fan base and create more appreciation for this than to be a spokesperson for it?”

“Rodeo is a family sport,” Klosterman said. “It’s great people working together, promoting good values.”

“We get to travel around the United States meeting new family, basically,” Barnes said. “It’s a really great blessing.”