By Lily Weinacht
By the time Ashley Watson was crowned the 2014-2015 CSHSRA Rodeo Queen, she had held at least four royalty titles, but the role of a high school rodeo queen was by far her favorite. “It was a big honor to represent that title,” says the 18-year-old from Montrose, Colo. “It was more demanding than any other title I’d held, but I liked that, and the opportunity to compete for a National title was amazing! Nationals went really well – speech and modeling were my favorite – and meeting all the different queens there was awesome.”
Ashley handed her crown down to the 2015-2016 CSHSRA Rodeo Queen, Kayla Boelsterli, in May before finishing her final year of high school rodeo. She competed in barrel racing and pole bending, and she enjoys both events equally, depending on the day her horses are having. “ My pole horse is still young, so she either has a really good day or a bad day, but when she has really good day, poles are my favorite,” Ashley explains with a laugh.
Both of Ashley’s parents, Brian and Amber Watson, grew up competing in rodeo. Her dad rode bareback broncs and her mom tied goats and ran barrels and poles, in addition to holding several rodeo queen titles. “My family has a lot to do with my motivation to rodeo, and it’s growing in my heart as well. Every other sport has to do with a ball, and in rodeo, just you and your horse are the team. I also want to keep going with rodeo because my grandma recently passed away. I’m working toward my goals in honor of her because she was so supportive and proud of me.” Ashley adds, “My mom has been my inspiration for a long time, and I also look up to whichever queen is the current Miss Rodeo America. As for barrel racers, I really look up to Fallon Taylor.”
Ashley is well into her first semester at Colorado Mesa University in Grand Junction since she graduated from Montrose High School this spring. “I’m trying to graduate from undergraduate school with a 4.0 GPA so I can go to law school,” she explains. In between school, she works at a learning center, but much of the rest of her time is devoted to being at her family’s home in Montrose with her horses. “My barrel horse is Breezy, and when I first got her and started competing, I didn’t realize she had trust issues. I worked with her a long time to take her walls down and get her to trust me, and because of that, we have a really good bond. My pole horse is Sugar, and she’s still pretty young, but she tries really hard for me. She was also my queening horse and we had an amazing pattern at Nationals!”
When she’s not with her horses, Ashley enjoys spending time with her older sister, Courtney, and her niece, and she also enjoys anything outdoors. “We went hiking in Colorado National Monument this summer, and I also like to read. Since I moved to college, I’ve made a lot of friends, and we’ll go roller skating in Grand Junction.”
After she finishes her first semester of college, Ashley plans to start college rodeoing in the spring. “Rodeo is something that will always be a part of me,” says Ashley. “I’d like to get my pro card after college, but I wanted more experience college rodeoing first. It would be really cool to make it to the CNFR – that would be a dream come true for me!”
