Rodeo queen from Ridgefield in the pink

Major challenges don’t seem to slow down Shyanne Chandler and her family.

Chandler, the 2018 rodeo queen at this year’s Vancouver Rodeo, will be decked out in pink as she rides and greets fans, because it’s “Tough Enough to Wear Pink Day,” promoting breast cancer awareness. Chandler has an aunt who has survived three different types of cancer and is in remission now, she said — so wearing pink to honor her aunt will be very special for both of them, she said.

Chandler, 21, is a longtime rider and all-around athlete with a real competitive streak, she said. She graduated from Ridgefield High School with a volleyball and softball scholarship to Lower Columbia College, and she was rocking the sport courts and playing fields — until she broke her hip while giving her all during a softball game.

“I was sliding into second,” she said.

That stopped all her activities, but not for long. “I was really angry and frustrated,” she said. “I couldn’t do anything, I couldn’t work out. I thought riding wasn’t going to be an option anymore.” But that turned out not to be true. Chandler started rebuilding from the ground up. “I got a little colt and I’m recovering,” she said.

She still feels her hip pop in and out, she said, and riding is not entirely painless; after she rode in the Rose Festival Parade a few weeks ago, she said, she didn’t walk so much as stagger around. Sometimes — when she’s not being judged in an event — she gets up and down from her colt on the improper side because that’s easier. At age 21, she may already be looking forward to a hip replacement, she said.

All of that speaks to Chandler’s main theme as rodeo queen, an honor she’s been working toward for years: “Never give up on your dreams,” she said. “Don’t let anything get in the way of your dreams. Nothing is impossible.”

If you’re as stubborn as she is, that is.

Chandler’s dream is to be a pediatrician, because she loves children about as much as she loves horses. “What’s most important is making a difference in someone’s life,” she said. “I love being able to impact kids’ lives through sharing our Western heritage.”

Riding and dancing

The Vancouver Rodeo started July 4, but it’s still underway today and Saturday with a full schedule of events. Both days get going with a $5-a-plate Cowboy Breakfast from 7 to 10 a.m. Then, gates reopen at 5 p.m. with free pony rides for children and plenty of time to visit vendors, buy food and just take in the Western atmosphere. The real show begins at 7 p.m. with all the fun you’ve come to expect after nearly a half-century of the Vancouver Rodeo: judged events including bareback bronc riding, saddle bronc riding, and bull riding; timed events including calf roping, steer wrestling, team roping, steer roping, and barrel racing.

The youngest cowgirls and cowboys (under age 8) can take part too, in the mutton bustin’ and pee wee barrel racing events.

The rodeo itself ends at 9 p.m., but the day still isn’t over. Stick around and dance to the tunes spun by Glenn Hadduck, aka DJ Glenn, a mobile disc jockey and the host of “Hillbilly Highway” on KMUZ, a community radio station in the Salem, Ore., area. The Vancouver Rodeo Dance Party starts at 9:30 and runs until 11:30 p.m.