Life as a rodeo queen is part of the college experience for Danielle Thompson.
California University of Pennsylvania sophomore Danielle Thompson is traveling the United States to promote one of her favorite hobbies — rodeo.
Thompson, a secondary education major and captain of Cal U's equestrian team, won the Miss Rodeo Pennsylvania pageant in November 2017.
Now she's balancing her schoolwork, extracurricular activities and rodeo queen responsibilities.
"I wanted to find a college that was close to home, so that I could continue riding and competing with my horses," says Thompson, whose family farm is in Elizabeth, Pa.
"Cal U is the best option for me because it is close to home and offered secondary education as a major. My college experience has been everything I could have wanted."
A rodeo queen is only as good as the horse that she rides. Thompson credits her American Quarter Horse, Dennis, for allowing her to develop as an equestrian.
"Dennis is my main horse, my go-to. I give him a lot of credit because he let me learn, and that's helped me to succeed. He was the first horse I did rodeo on."
Thompson also rides with the Cal U Equestrian Club, a student organization dedicated to everything horse-related.
"The equestrian team has two components, an English Hunt Seat Team and a Western Team," explains Dana Turcic, the club's adviser.
"Both teams take lessons with trained coaches and attend shows at other universities. In addition to the showing team, we have members who participate in recreational trail rides and various events throughout the year."
Although she's just begun her reign as Miss Rodeo Pennsylvania, Thompson already served a full-term as a rodeo queen. She was the Western Pennsylvania Youth Rodeo Association Queen for 2016-2017, a role that led her to the Miss Rodeo Pennsylvania pageant.
Pageant contestants compete in four categories: horsemanship, speech, modeling and answering rodeo-related questions.
"I won the speech and horsemanship categories," Thompson recalls. "My favorite category was horsemanship, because I rode someone else's horse and had to perform a pattern. It was a challenge, because you weren't allowed to warm up or ride the horse beforehand."
"I felt confident in my performance, but you can never be too self-assured. I was ecstatic to win the title."
During her term as Miss Rodeo Pennsylvania, Thompson will compete for the national title of Miss Rodeo America this December in Las Vegas, Nev.; travel to First Frontier Days in Cheyenne, Wyo.; and participate in community service projects.