{"id":39062,"date":"2025-08-08T12:11:48","date_gmt":"2025-08-08T17:11:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/unitedresourceconnection.org\/cannon-ball-nd-58528\/the-youngest-rodeo-queen-kendrie-owens\/"},"modified":"2025-08-08T12:11:51","modified_gmt":"2025-08-08T17:11:51","slug":"the-youngest-rodeo-queen-kendrie-owens","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitedresourceconnection.org\/cannon-ball-nd-58528\/the-youngest-rodeo-queen-kendrie-owens\/","title":{"rendered":"The youngest Rodeo Queen, Kendrie Owens"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/span><\/div>
\"Kendrie<\/a><\/p>\n

Kendrie Owens crowned Hereford Heaven Round-Up Club rodeo queen<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

SULPHUR, Okla. \u2013 Kendrie Owens, 5, made her rodeo pageant debut and brought home the crown June 21, at the 78th annual Hereford Heaven Stampede Open Rodeo. She was the youngest contestant in the pageant.<\/p>\n

Kendrie, a Chickasaw citizen, has been fascinated with pageants and horses since she was old enough to walk. She has found a way to combine her love for both through rodeo pageantry.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe has competed in beauty pageants,\u201d Dakota Owens, Kendrie\u2019s mother, said. \u201cBut this was her first rodeo pageant.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kendrie\u2019s interest in rodeo pageantry began after watching her older brother\u2019s friend, Reighna Dawn Newberry, compete at past rodeos.<\/p>\n

\u201c(Kendrie) told me, \u2018I have a horse. I love pageants. I want to do it,\u2019\u201d Dakota said.<\/p>\n

Kendrie\u2019s family got to work making her dream come true.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe had to become an active member in Round-Up Club,\u201d Dakota said. \u201cWhat that means is, you have to attend a certain number of meetings, and you have to be active in the sense of \u2014 when you go to these meetings or you go to their play dates \u2014 you have to be present.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Hereford Heaven Round-Up Club is a Murray County community based group promoting western heritage, rodeo culture and horse-related events.<\/p>\n

Kendrie was also tasked with finding sponsors and selling rodeo tickets. In order to qualify for the pageant, a queen candidate must raise a minimum of $2,000 for the club.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe queen at this competition was determined based on your ticket sales and sponsorships, and then you have to be able to complete the pattern fully as well,\u201d Dakota said.<\/p>\n

With the help of her family, Kendrie actively sought out sponsors in the area. She visited businesses and campaigned throughout the community.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m that mom where I\u2019m like, \u2018If this is what you want to do, you are going to do it. It\u2019s not going to be me or your dad,\u2019\u201d Dakota said. \u201cShe went out and actively talked to people and met people in the community. She received a lot of compliments for that.\u201d<\/p>\n

She raised more than $4,000 in sponsorship donations and ticket sales \u2014 the highest amount the club had ever seen a queen raise.<\/p>\n

The next step was learning her rodeo patterns with the help of her horse and rodeo partner, Soba.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe had to run a specific pattern in the arena, which took quite a few hours and nights,\u201d Dakota said. \u201cBeing 5 years old and trying to memorize that and still control a 1,700-pound animal \u2014 it took her a bit. But once she had it, she was able to knock it down.\u201d<\/p>\n

With her sponsorship money raised and her rodeo patterns learned, Kendrie only had one last step: compete.<\/p>\n

\u201cFriday night went off without a hitch,\u201d Dakota said. \u201cShe hit all of her turns. Soba was enjoying it just as much as she was \u2014 getting all the attention and praise. They were unstoppable.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, the second night of the rodeo proved to be a bit more difficult.<\/p>\n

\u201cOn Saturday, we went out during the day to load her horse,\u201d Dakota said. \u201c(Soba) went to step into the trailer, misstepped and tore up her back left leg.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dakota said the family worked together to doctor the leg in time for the rodeo, but Soba was injured too badly to compete that evening.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s hard for any rodeo person to go to a rodeo without their partner,\u201d Dakota said.<\/p>\n

Thankfully, Kendrie was still able to compete with a friend\u2019s horse. However, being so young, the traumatic change was jarring for her.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe president (of the Hereford Heaven Round-Up Club) told Kendrie, \u2018If you want, you can just walk into the arena,\u2019\u201d Dakota said, referring to Kendrie being unable to ride her own horse during the show. \u201cKendrie said, \u2018No, that\u2019s not what a queen does.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Through her nerves, Kendrie was able to perform her second night of rodeo activities with a breeze.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was all smiles and waves,\u201d Dakota said. \u201cIn the stands, you would not have noticed that she was even having issues. She kept her composure. She kept her cool. It was a big moment for her.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kendrie was crowned rodeo queen of the 78th annual Hereford Heaven Stampede Open Rodeo that night. She received a beautiful crown, a glittering sash and a shiny belt buckle.<\/p>\n

As excited as she was for her win, Kendrie had more pressing matters to attend to.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe turned and looked at me with tears in her eyes, and she said, \u2018Mama, I just want to go see my horse,\u2019\u201d Dakota said.<\/p>\n

With that, the Owens family loaded back into their vehicle to head home and check on Kendrie\u2019s wounded equine pal.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs soon as we got home, she went running up to the pasture and took her crown, sash and buckle to show to Soba,\u201d Dakota said. \u201cShe snuggled up to her and went to crying. She had won, but it wasn\u2019t with her partner.\u201d<\/p>\n

The following day, a vet visited the Owens residence to get Soba the medication she needed.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe\u2019s going to make a full recovery, which made my daughter finally breathe a sigh of relief,\u201d Dakota said.<\/p>\n

The pageant win was exciting for Kendrie, but it was most special to her parents. There was a time when they did not believe Kendrie would be able to participate in events such as this.<\/p>\n

When Kendrie was only 1 year old, she suffered with a brain infection after contracting the rhinovirus.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe went from running and playing and laughing and talking to almost being a newborn again,\u201d Dakota said. \u201cShe couldn\u2019t eat, she couldn\u2019t drink, she couldn\u2019t sit up. She couldn\u2019t walk or talk.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dakota and her husband Josh spent more than a week at Oklahoma Children\u2019s Hospital OU Health with Kendrie as she slowly recovered.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe doctors told me I could have lost her that week,\u201d Dakota said. \u201cFor her to be walking and talking, and just being a kid is a godsend. It\u2019s a miracle every time I see her get on that horse.\u201d<\/p>\n

With yearly check-ins with her neurologists, Kendrie continues to defy the odds. At only 5 years old, she is a basketball player, a cheerleader, a pageant princess and a rodeo queen. Kendrie loves to read and is excited to attend Sulphur elementary as a kindergartener in the fall. When she grows up, she would like to be Miss Rodeo USA.<\/p>\n

Kendrie\u2019s journey to becoming a rodeo queen is a testament to her determination, her family\u2019s love and the strength it takes to get back in the saddle even when challenges arise.<\/p>\n

The post The youngest Rodeo Queen, Kendrie Owens<\/a> first appeared on Native Sun News Today<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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<\/span><\/div>

Kendrie Owens crowned Hereford Heaven Round-Up Club rodeo queen SULPHUR, Okla. \u2013 Kendrie Owens, 5, made her rodeo pageant debut and brought home the crown June 21, at the 78th annual Hereford Heaven Stampede Open Rodeo. She was the youngest contestant in the pageant. Kendrie, a Chickasaw citizen, has been <\/p>\n

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