Rodeo queen seeks to inspire youth

Ask Sisters Rodeo Queen Cassie Sanders, 22, what she likes most about her job and the answer, given without hesitation, is: "It's all about the kids."

The rodeo parades and grand entries are fun, but there's just something about seeing the look on a child's face when the rodeo queen kneels down to say hello and give a hug that eclipses the rush of giving the queen's wave.

When Cassie graduated from high school in Bend, she was a shy bookworm who had never ridden. Her mother bought a horse on a whim, and when he turned out to be rather badly behaved, they took him to trainer Kitty Lauman of Prineville. Lauman, a former Sisters Rodeo Queen, took Cassie under her wing, teaching her about horses in exchange for work around the training barn. Cassie ended up working for her for five years.

Lauman encouraged Cassie to think about being a rodeo queen. Once Cassie got the riding part down, she set about learning the other aspects of rodeo royalty, namely public speaking and rodeo facts and history.

In addition to representing the Sisters Rodeo, she'll be vying for the title of Miss Rodeo Oregon later this month at the St. Paul Rodeo.

Cassie doesn't let the fact that she is deaf affect the way she lives her life. While she admits she was painfully shy, she is also adamant that it had nothing to do with her disability.

"It was just my personality," she said.

Leaning new skills and being challenged didn't change her personality, but enabled her to see a bigger scheme.

Her other horse interest is cowboy mounted shooting, and she's a founding member of the Lone Pine Rangers, a club based out of Prineville, where Cassie now lives. She's training her four-year-old mare, Boots, in the sport.

In the meantime, Boots will carry Cassie around rodeo arenas and in parades this summer. When the rush of the grand entry is done, she'll wait patiently while Cassie meets the children.