Like A Rhinestone Cowgirl

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Many years ago, I worked with a gay man who was totally and completely into the rodeo scene.  He and his partner would go to as many rodeos as to they could in the summer befriending rednecks who had no idea they were gay.  In fact, many funny situations would arise out of the fact his partner was not up on “straight men” talk.  The funniest was the embarrassing mistake he made while talking to a man sitting next to them.  The man was commenting on the tits of a woman walking by them, and his partner thought he was talking about a bull’s horns.  He made a comment about not wanting to get poked in the eye with one of those.  Ah, the irony of that statement.

He lived outside of Portland in rodeo country, and when talking about his neighbors, he often described the women based on whether or not they kept up with rodeo princess hair.  After these comments from him, I started noticing what he was talking about while at the Rose Parade.

For this rodeo queen, I was struck by two things.  The first was her belt.  Where does one find a belt like this?  And, second was the gear on the horse.

A bit of a closer look – rhinestones.  Go ahead and sing a few bars if the Rhinestone Cowboy song pops into your head.  It seems appropriate to me.

This queen has a few things going for her.  First, she has her perfect mane of blonde hair.  My friend and former coworker would agree that this is perfect rodeo hair.  But her poor horse.  Look at the crown of pink roses on its head.  I think this is the horse that was done with being decorated in roses.  He kept shaking them off as she passed.  Oh, and I wonder if her three crosses on her chaps are a personal statement or one of the county rodeo.  It made me wonder.  I don’t care either way – just found it interesting.

Again, this one has the hair sprayed to perfection.  It didn’t even flap in the breeze.  And that poor horse. I guess this was the year of the crown of roses.

Another good rodeo queen.  Are you noticing a pattern here?
Oh, and her horse….look what it had on its hooves:

Feathers.  FEATHERS!!

She had stars as her theme.  Notice her chaps and earrings. She was the tamest of all rodeo queens as far as flashiness goes.  But, perfect hair again.

Then there was this crew:

DJ, my 9-year-old, commented about the pink on the tails and manes.  She even thought it was too much.  And, that’s saying something since she still loves pink.  She also liked their gold hooves.

Growing up in an area where horses are working animals, not real-life versions of My Little Pony, I feel sorry for the animals.  I can’t help it.  While I know it doesn’t hurt them or anything, I place this firmly in the category of dressing up the dog.  I can’t do that either.  I mean, they aren’t toys.

And, I’ve heard that it is common at these rodeos to have a segment where they make the rodeo court work.  Kind of a way of poking fun at how pretty they look.  A “let’s see what the queen and her court do when asked to get their hands dirty”.  I won’t go into the list of why I have a problem with that game.  Let’s just say it starts with the assumption if they are pretty, they must not be hardworking despite the fact they clearly know how to manage a horse.  I’m sure you can take on my list of issues from there.

Oh, and I have to say, that Derek decided that all of the girls in the parade needed help with their waves. He kept shouted “elbow, elbow, wrist, wrist, ladies!!!”

I love Derek!

4 Comments Add yours

  1. Just me... says:

    I have to admit.. I love the horses all decked out in finery for special occasions.. Flowers, feather, rhinestones.. I just think it’s gorgeous!! However, if the chick riding atop the animal is doing so only as ‘pretty’ then the horse should toss her off and find someone worthy!!
    No, I don’t dress up my dog. Only a sweater when it’s cold and then only so she doesn’t freeze!! :):)
    And I think Derek would be great fun to hang with as well!! ‘Elbow, elbow, wrist, wrist..’ Hilarious!!!

  2. It’s kinda like dressing up the dog…

    except the dog would have *none* of it! lol

    Those pics are just…well, amazing! If I ever find a belt like that, I’m sending it your way!

    (I’m here from Dana’s)

  3. Emmy says:

    Just Me – Derek is very fun to have around. I should video tape one of his death scenes that he has in response to DJ being a drama queen. They are hilarious!

    Real Live Lesbian – Welcome! Glad you stopped by! I have to admit that my dog did have to wear a t-shirt after he had surgery. He actually didn’t mind. And, if I were to get one of those belts, I would definitely wear it once! 🙂

  4. I think the horses are crying about looking like that.

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