Cowgirl gets her rodeo on

Wearing jeans and a cowgirl hat, 23-year-old Allannah Bell can often be found with her horse Mary practising barrel racing for the Rodeo Queen Quest 2020 competition.

Ms Bell has been involved in rodeo for at least a decade.

She started steer riding and barrel racing when she lived over east.

“When I moved to WA, I kept going with steer riding and moved into novice bull riding and then got my horse Mary going with barrels,” Ms Bell said.

“I’ve lived up north on cattle stations for a couple years and did it up there as well.

“I’ve never liked going slow around a ring or doing dressage — I like going fast.”

Ms Bell moved to Narrogin with her mother in 2012 and has continued pursuing her passion, leading her to run for the national Rodeo Queen Quest.

“My friend pushed me to run and I just followed her advice ... it’s pretty exciting,” she said.

“I’m taking part to promote the sport of rodeo and trying to get more young girls involved in the rough stock side of it. Not many girls do steer or bull riding and it’s awesome to see when girls do get involved because it’s a very male-dominated side of rodeo.”

The Australian Rodeo Queen Quest was founded in 1992 after recognising a need to promote young women in rodeo.

Entrants take part in planned promotions and a rigorous schedule over the course of one week to be judged on personality, appearance and horsemanship.

Ms Bell said she would practise her horsemanship as well as raising $5000 by next September when the competition kicked off.

“I’ve raised a total of $600 so far and if I’m successful, I go over to the Gold Coast for a week of judging and that’s where I get judged on my horsemanship, how I ride, personality and appearance,” she said.

Ms Bell said she planned to hold wood and gas bottle raffles in the winter with the help of her sponsor, Narrogin Valley Stockfeed.

At the end of the week, the points will be tallied and on the final night, the woman with the best score will be announced as the 2020 Rodeo Queen of Australia.

The major prize includes a 21-day trip to the Calgary Stampede in Canada, Dallas Fort Worth, Denver, Cheyenne Frontier Days and Los Angeles.