<img height="1" width="1" style="display:none" src="https://www.facebook.com/tr?id=192888919167017&amp;ev=PageView&amp;noscript=1">
Friday, March 29, 2024
March 29, 2024

Linkedin Pinterest

Saddle up for a rowdy ride at Vancouver Rodeo

Vancouver’s annual event is the queen of them all for Rodeo Queen Ali Diegel

By Scott Hewitt, Columbian staff writer
Published: June 30, 2017, 6:05am
12 Photos
Barrel racer Hope Lutrell of Carlton, Ore., rounds the final barrel during a Vancouver Rodeo session in 2015. The Vancouver Rodeo is four evenings of classic contests for cowboys and cowgirls.
Barrel racer Hope Lutrell of Carlton, Ore., rounds the final barrel during a Vancouver Rodeo session in 2015. The Vancouver Rodeo is four evenings of classic contests for cowboys and cowgirls. Photo Gallery

Camas kid Ali Diegel has been horseback riding since before she could walk.

Her dad’s favorite animal is anything that’s been barbecued, she said, but her mother and her aunt are totally “horsey people.” They used to show their own, and they started propping Diegel up on horseback when she was still an infant, she said.

Being a rodeo queen has always been a dream, Diegel said, but for a while she was deeper into a more typical modern-kid passion, soccer. “It was all soccer for years,” she said, until she was informed — at the ripe age of 14 or so — that her knees were already badly messed up.

“Indoor soccer is really hard on growing girls’ joints,” she said. “I was told it wouldn’t end well for me.” Which cleared the way for Ali to realize “where my heart truly lies. I really love horses,” she said.

Queen for a year

You’ll be able to catch Diegel, 18, in action this weekend the 47th annual Vancouver Rodeo, where she is Miss Vancouver Rodeo Queen for 2017.

If You Go

• What: 47th annual Vancouver Rodeo, featuring: 300+ participants competing in speed and rough-stock events, plus mutton bustin’ for young riders.

• When: Gates open 5 p.m. for pony rides; program begins 7 p.m.; June 30, July 1-3.

• Where: Clark County Saddle Club, 10505 N.E. 117th Ave., Vancouver.

• Admission: $10 to $25; $8 to $23 for seniors, military and ages 7-12; free for 6 and younger. Parking $5.

• Contact: 360-896-6654 or www.vancouverrodeo.com

That means she is the “spokesmodel for our local rodeo” — which, she said, is the best attended local rodeo she’s seen. And Diegel has seen a lot; she’s spent every single weekend since she was crowned last November traveling to one regional rodeo or another to check out those scenes, and to publicize Vancouver’s annual event. That will continue through the rest of this year, she said. (When The Columbian caught up with her by phone on a recent Friday, she was appearing at a rodeo in Edmonds.)

It’s a major commitment — and Diegel sounds committed.

“You get out of it what you put into it,” she said. “It’s super fun and I really like that I am representing a sport” that’s a throwback to yesteryear, and not exactly growing. “A lot of people don’t know what rodeo is.”

Bustin’ warnin’

What is rodeo? It’s a sport that was born out of the specialized herding and handling skills developed by cowboys in America and elsewhere. “Rough stock” events, such as bareback or saddle bronc riding and bull riding, are judged by experts and scored according to various performance standards; other events, such as cattle roping, steer wrestling and barrel racing, are timed.

The Vancouver Rodeo has “all your typical rodeo events, and it’s a really fun experience,” Diegel said — adding that there’s also a beer garden for grown-ups who want to have that kind of fun.

Children, meanwhile, can enjoy free pony rides starting at 5 p.m., when the gates open, as well as a petting zoo. When the main program begins, at 7 p.m. each night, kids can still take part, trying out some entry-level competition of their own.

That’s mutton bustin’, which means riding or racing sheep. It’s open to young cowgirls and cowboys between 3 and 8 years old and weighing less than 50 pounds. And it’s always spelled with an apostrophe instead of a final g.

Warnin’: Mutton bustin’ can be the gateway drug to a lifelong passion for rodeo sports.

King and Queens

Most horses are larger than most desks. Diegel has plans to stick with the former and stay away from the latter.

The Camas High School graduate, who expects to earn her associate degree from Clark College this summer, plans to become a large animal chiropractor and massage therapist. “It’ll keep me in that world, and I won’t be behind a desk,” she said.

Even before she was chosen as the 2017 Vancouver Rodeo Queen — for which she had to model, give a speech, answer interview questions, take a knowledge test and show off her horsemanship skills — Diegel was racking up the equestrian honors. She was a regional team captain with Washington High School Equestrian team and the Northwest Youth Rodeo Association Queen for 2016. And in June, she and her favorite horse, a big bay called King Bucks (K.B.), won the Rose Festival Grand Floral Parade’s Vern Hulit Award for Excellence in Preparation, Organization and Presentation.

“That was a really big honor,” she said.

Competition is always keen between Rodeo Queen hopefuls, Diegel added, but that doesn’t mean there’s any bad blood.

“Of course we all hope when we go into the competition that we’ll be the one — but everyone is civil and supportive. It’s pretty sweet.”

Speaking of sweet, there’ll be free dancing with a DJ after the rodeo program is over.

Loading...