Raised on Ranch Work, Crowned in Rhinestones: Western Stampede’s Rodeo Queen

Behind the glitz and glam is a woman who grew up feeding horses twice a day, cattle ranching every summer, and doing every chore imaginable on a ranch, inside and out.

Addie Bowler calls West Jordan home for most of the year, where she and her family train horses on fourteen acres. But where she truly forged her skills was on her family ranch in Mountain Valley, Wyoming.

"We would feed the horses two times a day, and ride them to keep them in shape, especially for the horse training," Bowler said. "Over the summer we would bring all the cows together from Wyoming and doctor them, count all the new calves, sell and ship them."

Her grandfather taught her to care for the cows and horses. Her grandmother, a rodeo queen herself in 1960, taught her to ride. Her parents taught her everything else.

"It… taught me how to work hard because it required a lot of heavy lifting and working together with other people," she said. "When I look back at my childhood, that's my happiest place. It's when I was working on our land with our animals, with my family."

Rodeo royalty competitions are about showing skill on horseback, and intellectual and emotional connection to the horse.

"I was always around the animals and learning to listen to them. They can't talk but there's body language and different ways that they communicate with us. It taught me how to listen and be present and be curious about all of the different creatures on this earth."

Even with her incredible experience, she hesitated when it came to competition. "I saw rodeo queens my whole life," Bowler said. "It seemed like something that didn't apply to me because they looked so put together."

But work and skill are what make excellent royalty. She has been around rodeo and ranch animals her entire life. She started volunteering at the Western Stampede when she was 14, running flags, sorting livestock, organizing and dusting off mutton busters and even singing the national anthem. She was exactly what the West Jordan Western Stampede was looking for this year.

"A rodeo queen is not supposed to look a certain way or be a certain mold," she said. "It's not about being perfect, or looking perfect, but just showing up as you are, and even more, doing the work."

For the next year, Bowler is the face and advocate of the West Jordan Western Stampede Rodeo.

"I'll be visiting schools and fundraising events," she said. "I go around to all the rodeos in Utah and show that West Jordan loves rodeo and supports all these wonderful rodeos we are so blessed to have in our state. I'm also here to represent the city that I grew up in, and I love, and that has given me such a wonderful opportunity."

Beyond a bucking bronco and the guts to stay on, or glitter on a show horse, rodeo is a celebration of skill.

"Rodeo began as a way to celebrate [the skills it takes to ranch] by turning it into a competition," Bowler said. "Ranching communities would get together and put on rodeos with these specific events to show off their ranching skills and give them a chance to win money and bring the whole community together."

In all her photos and in the arena, you will either see her performing with Yankee or SC. Yankee, a palomino, loves the show and the sparkle. "He loves all the attention and people petting him and saying, 'He's so pretty.' I started putting glitter on him, to make sure he was fine with it, but he was more than fine with it."

With a little more glitter on Yankee, and Addie Bowler sharing her accomplishments and skill on horseback, they will share the love West Jordan and the Western Stampede have for rodeo throughout the state for the coming year. We are proud to be represented by a well-polished and expert rodeo rider and queen.

By Erin Dixon