No horsin’ around

Rayna Rogers may be giving up her title as Mariposa County Rodeo Queen in a few weeks, but the real work lies ahead.

Rogers, 24, has entered the 2027 Miss Rodeo California contest and will be competing this fall for a chance to go on to the national competition.

“I feel like this has been a long time coming,” said Rogers. “I have been competing in pageants for 17 years.”

She will be competing Nov. 5-7 in San Luis Obispo, but there’s a lot to do in preparing for such a big competition.

“It’s about as big as you can get,” said Rogers.

Should she win the contest, Rogers would go on to compete for the national title in Las Vegas.

But first things first.

A deep history

Rogers is certainly a natural for being in rodeo pageants.

“My background is very extensive,” she said.

Her mother competed, as did her grandmother and, incredibly, her great-grandmother.

She got into competition early in life, then joined 4-H “as soon as I was old enough.” Since then, her life has revolved around horsemanship and rodeo pageantry.

The national competition is tied together with the PRCA, or Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association, the largest rodeo sanctioning body in the world.

That is not lost on Rogers.

The national rodeo queen is the “spokesperson, the face of the PRCA and the connection between the general public. A liaison.”

In simpler terms, she says the person gives “cowgirl advice.”

But it goes well beyond rodeos or horses or pageants.

In her emails, Rogers closes with a phrase: “Always hold your head as if you wear a crown.”

She found that phrase will studying creative writing and it just stuck.

“I thought that was really cool and I just like it,” she said.

To her, it means “being true to yourself and having integrity. ”

That’s a major part of competing, and life in general, for Rogers.

The money side

But the other part of competing is something everyone can relate to: financial.

As part of vying for the state crown, Rogers is now selling raffle tickets as well as advertising for the state rodeo program.

It’s an important aspect of the competition so she can use every tool possible in her quest to be the California rodeo queen — and possibly beyond.

Rogers is currently selling $5 raffle tickets for the chance to win a two-night stay for two guests at the Madonna Inn. To use during their stay, the lucky winner will also receive:

• $100 credit for Gold Rush Steakhouse

• $50 credit for Copper Cafe

• $50 gift shop credit

She is also selling advertising space in the program for the state competition.

Anyone can purchase a 1/2 page or full page advertisement including a personalized message, to be printed in this year’s Miss Rodeo California pageant program. Email raynarogers425@gmail.com and she will provide you with the ad order sheet, detailing price packages and ad options. All payments and artwork must be submitted by Sept. 15.

Rogers is also a photographer and graphic artist, so she can help with designing the ad, as well.

You can email her or call her at (209) 677-9019. Rogers said she accepts nearly any type of payment, from Venmo to personal checks to cash.

The reining queen

As the current Mariposa County Rodeo Queen, Rogers has also been quite busy mentoring the current contestants and much more.

She’s also had an extremely busy year.

She gives a lot of praise to the Mariposa Friends of the Fairgrounds, the group which sponsors the queen contest locally.

Rogers, who lives just up the road in Jamestown, was a rodeo princess in 2017, so she’s been around Mariposa for a long time.

“I love Mariposa so much,” she said. “I feel like I have been a part of the community for about 10 years now.”

She called Mariposa “so welcoming and supportive. It’s really been a great experience.”

And it’s not over yet. In fact, things are really ramping up for Rogers and the ladies who are competing in the current competition, during which a winner will be crowed this weekend ahead of the fair.

A major part of what Rogers does, now that she has so many years doing competition, is mentoring the contestants who are competing this year.

“Mentoring is really huge to me,” she said. “It is something I want to continue to do. I want to be able to help other girls compete for titles.”

She said it’s not just about titles or rodeos, either.

“It builds life skills,” said Rogers.

The skills which are learned are many and varied, she said. Those include public speaking, interview skills and more that “can be applied anywhere in life.”

She learned it herself, saying she is now “much more confident in job interviews.”

Rogers said being involved in rodeo royalty also has a major educational aspect, not only with scholarships that are part of the competitions, but also in those important life skills.

“It gives them the tools to continue to study and apply it to a career,” said Rogers.

That’s another thing she recently learned when, before appearing at a rodeo competition, she was asked to do a radio interview at a station in Sonora.

She was invited by the station and enjoyed the experience.

“It was interesting to me,” she said, “because I have a bachelor’s degree in communications and I would like to do broadcasting one day.”

She even has a lofty goal: Working on the Cowboy Channel, which covers everything rodeo, horses and Western culture, which is one of the focuses of the upcoming state contest.

Bittersweet

Since she has been around rodeo since basically being born, Rogers knows it’s a big undertaking.

“Rodeo queening takes a village and your village is never big enough,” she said.

Doing competition takes a lot of funding, as well. There is the price of fuel, wardrobes, lessons, caring for horses and the list is almost endless.

Yet for Rogers, some of that likely will be forgotten when she has to give up her Mariposa County crown and hand it off to the next queen.

“I think it’s going to be a bittersweet moment,” she said. “I’m excited for the next rodeo royalty court.”

That may be true, but she knows it starts a new chapter in her life.

“I will immediately be jumping into Miss Rodeo California,” she said.

Though she said the board which operates that contest is “good about answering questions,” she still has to “find my own coach.”

She’s already reached out to one state rodeo queen as well as a national queen.

They will likely be key in guiding her through the process of competing in the California contest.

It’s not an easy ask.

The competition lasts three days.

On the first day, all of the contestants are basically sequestered from their families, she said. They are only in the company of the three judges, including private interviews, written tests and even meals.

Day two is more interviews and the horsemanship competition.

Day three includes speeches, a fashion show and the eventual coronation of the winner.

It’s a lot.

Not to mention a big point in this day and age: they are not allowed to have their phones for the entire competition.

“They want us to feel as much like Miss Rodeo California as possible,” she said. “They want to see you are self sufficient.”

She’s not sure how many will be competing. Though the fields have been smaller in recent times, including only three a few years ago, last year there were nine. Rogers has heard there might be seven this year, but that has yet to be determined.

She’ll likely know at least some of them.

“You are traveling with the same group of girls all year,” she said about being a local queen who travels the state circuit. “It really does feel like a sisterhood.”

She’s also quick to point out the size of California.

“This state is massive,” she said.

That means rodeos take place from the Oregon border to the Mexican border.

But should she win the state crown and then go on to win the national crown, it would mean traveling across America.

First things first

Before all of that, though, there is the current business at hand of doing the 2026 pageant in Mariposa County.

She assisting with rehearsals and, of course, will be there for the coronation, one in which she will give up her crown.

“I want to make sure the new queen has the right tools,” she said. “That’s what I am passionate about.”

She also understands it is a competition which results in winners.

“The difficult thing is there is only going to be one winner,” said Rogers.

She said all of those involved have been great to work with over the past months.

“They are passionate about it and it’s great to see how they have blossomed over the summer; it’s really fantastic.”

So how did she feel when the announcement was made last year?

“I was so relieved,” she said. “I’m a horrible perfectionist when I compete.”

Rogers said she was “less worried” about realizing she had just won the pageant and it was more like “thank God it’s over. I can finally breathe.”

That’s probably good advice to herself considering what lies ahead for Rogers over the next few months.