story by Curt Hineline, general manager of Oakland Independent/Lyons Mirror-Sun
Sometimes it is not the one with the loudest voice that will be heard. For Lindsay King, her quiet voice needed to find a platform. She has found that platform through rodeo.
Lindsay King, 2012 O-C graduate, has been crowned as the 2018 Miss American Cowboys Rodeo Association (ACRA) Queen. The ACRA is an Amateur Rodeo Association that is affiliated with the International Professional Rodeo Association (IPRA). The contest took place near Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Lindsay is not the first from her family to wear a rodeo crown. Her sister Desiree was at one time the Hoot Gibson Memorial Rodeo Queen. “I always thought that was neat for her to go out and do something so different from what my family did,” Lindsay said. “I never specifically wanted to be a rodeo queen myself but always loved what they represented: the sport of rodeo, the American cowboy, the western way of life and a genuine desire to be kind to absolutely everyone. I have never talked very loud and so I started to realize that I am someone that needs a platform to be heard and being a rodeo queen is one way to do that.”
For this particular honor, Lindsay competed over four days in several categories including: modeling, speech, rodeo performances, two horsemanship classes – one on her horse and one on someone else’s which they had to draw for; an interview and written exam. According to contest officials, they were also judged on appearance and personality in all those categories.
Lindsay, the daughter of Terry and Sally King of Oakland, was announced as the ACRA Queen after the final rodeo performance on Sunday December 3, 2017. She placed 1st in horsemanship, the interview, written exam and was Miss Congeniality.
Lindsay said that Rodeo has always been the background music of her life, something she thought about doing but just never fully committed to it. “It was actually my mom’s fault that horses were a part of my life” Lindsay said. “I think at some point every little girl falls in love with horses. For some it is just a phase, for me it’s my life. We had some family friends who owned a dude ranch (Tip Top Guest Ranch) in Colorado, we went up there what seemed quite frequently when I was younger. I would say that is where I truly caught the horse bug and it has just grown every day since then. It was up there at the ranch where I first started riding horses by myself, Tater and Dude were my all-time favorites.”
This opportunity is seen as both an honor and a job by Lindsay. “It’s more than just horses and hairspray, it’s being the face of the ACRA and IPRA at every event I go to. A rodeo queen’s job is to serve, not to be served. I am there to help the stock contractors, rodeo contestants and fans any way that I possibly can. I love rodeo and helping people, that’s what this title means to me and I am excited for the coming year!”
In addition to being the Queen, Lindsay was awarded a new saddle, buckle, jacket, crown and horse trailer. She will be traveling this summer to rodeos in Oklahoma, Missouri, Kansas and Arkansas.
Lindsay graduated from Oklahoma State University in May 2016 with a Bachelor’s degree in Animal Science, Ag Communications and a minor in Philosophy. She will graduate from the Master’s program in Animal Science at OSU in May.
Upon graduation, Lindsay plans to become a full-time horse trainer. “Everything is very much wide open at the moment,” she said. She also plans to compete to become Miss Rodeo Oklahoma or even Miss Rodeo USA in the coming year.
Lindsay hopes her story will help others realize that they should always be prepared to stick their neck out and do something new. “We can’t grow as people by doing the same things over and over again. We are all capable of so much more than we think, the mental block we put in front of ourselves is generally our greatest challenge. It’s been really great to see so much support coming from my hometown for this honor, it makes me proud to be from Oakland!”
