Showing your riding skills was one step on the road toward being crowned at the Miss Rodeo Minnesota pageant. In a pageant event Thursday, Mallory Boerboom demonstrated pattern riding in the arena at the Lyon County Fairgrounds. Boerboom is one of the candidates for Miss Teen Rodeo Minnesota.

MARSHALL — If you want to be rodeo royalty, you have to be adaptable. Mallory Boerboom learned that firsthand during a Miss Rodeo Minnesota pageant event Thursday morning.

Boerboom said she thought contestants might get a chance to get familiar with the horses before demonstrating their riding skills in the Lyon County fairgrounds arena. But that wasn’t the case.

“We don’t even get 10 minutes to practice. You gotta jump on,” said Boerboom, a high school senior from Wabasso.

Being able to ride different horses at different rodeos is one of the skills that come in handy for Miss Rodeo Minnesota, pageant title holders and candidates explained.

Riding demonstrations were just one part of the Miss Rodeo Minnesota pageant, which is being held in Marshall during the Lyon County Fair.

“We’re on our second day of the pageant,” said pageant director Kendra Klosterman. Candidates appeared at Wednesday night’s steak feed at the fair. After the riding event Thursday, candidates would also do interviews and take part in a fashion show, she said.

Pageant royalty will be crowned today at the fairgrounds.

“It’s really rewarding to work with these girls throughout the year,” said Kim Dolan, president of the Miss Rodeo Minnesota board of directors. Dolan said Minnesota is also very competitive at Miss Rodeo America. The last two Miss Rodeo Minnesotas have made the top 10 at the national pageant, she said. “So people think that Minnesota maybe isn’t a rodeo state, but that’s really not true. When our girls go out there, they get attention.”

Part of Thursday’s horsemanship event included riding in patterns in the arena. Each horse and rider had a sequence of actions they had to complete, like moving in a certain direction, turning or backing up. In between patterns, candidates were asked random questions to demonstrate their knowledge of horses.

Candidates cheered for each other, and offered encouragement. After the riding event, current Miss Rodeo Minnesota Izzy Guy offered tips on posture for waving and keeping eye contact with the crowd in the stands.

Candidates and current title holders said there were a lot of things that got them interested in being part of the pageant. Boerboom, who has been competing in rodeo for six years, said she wanted to represent the sport as she competed for the title of Miss Teen Rodeo Minnesota. She enjoyed getting into the arena Thursday. “I love the horsemanship, it was my favorite (event) so far,” she said.

Miss Teen Rodeo candidate Hailey Steffens said she also wanted to take on a new challenge by competing in the pageant. “I wanted to get out of my comfort zone,” she said.

“I kind of represent the agriculture side,” said Ella Smith, the current Miss Teen Rodeo Minnesota. Smith is from Windom, and has been active with showing livestock as well as riding. Smith said the camaraderie of the pageant was something she enjoyed. “I like meeting the new contestants. That’s my favorite. Everybody has their own personality,” she said.

“I actually did not grow up in rodeo either,” said Emma Jacobson, of Hanley Falls. “I got into horses probably like five years ago, and I started with lessons and everything.” Jacobson’s interest in rodeo grew, and now she is serving as the current Junior Miss Rodeo Minnesota.

“I started out in youth rodeo, and I absolutely fell in love with the sport,” Guy said. “I like to tell people that I am a rodeo queen because I love the sport so much.”

Guy said she also loved being able to help inspire younger kids to get interested in rodeo. “Sparking a dream in another kid is awesome,” she said.