{"id":21114,"date":"2023-12-06T13:36:27","date_gmt":"2023-12-06T20:36:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peninsula360press.com\/?p=21114"},"modified":"2024-07-06T13:20:08","modified_gmt":"2024-07-06T20:20:08","slug":"high-school-rodeo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/peninsula360press.com\/en\/high-school-rodeo\/","title":{"rendered":"High School Rodeo: Antidote to Bullying in Rural Northern California"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Peter Schurmann. Ethnic Media Services<\/a>. Translation by Pamela Cruz.<\/strong><\/p>\n

High school rodeo participants say the patience and courage that comes with caring for and training horses can help curb the impulses that lead to bullying.<\/b><\/p>\n

\"High
Above: Stella Aleman, 13, on her horse, Ice Baby, during a high school rodeo tournament in Corning, CA. Stella says the high school rodeo world provided her with a supportive community after being bullied at school. (Credit: Manuel Ortiz)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It\u2019s tournament day in Corning, a small town about an hour north of Sacramento. Helmets and boots squelch through the mud on a rainy Saturday as more than 100 competitors prepare for a series of events, from roping to cutting, pole bending to cattle braving.<\/span><\/p>\n

Thirteen-year-old Stella Aleman smiles and her eyes sparkle as she rides her horse, Ice Baby, amid a group of giddy cowgirls.<\/span><\/p>\n

Radiating confidence, you\u2019d never guess that just weeks earlier she\u2019d been the target of a cruel bullying campaign. \u201cI was being bullied for riding horses, people calling me horse girl or cowgirl. People were yelling \u2018yee haw\u2019 around me, thinking it was funny,\u201d she recalls. \u201cIt made me feel like I wasn\u2019t normal. It made me not want to do this anymore.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Stella\u2019s mother, Andrea Aleman, is a registered nurse in Clear Lake, a town 60 miles south in Lake County. \u201cIt was very, very difficult,\u201d she says with tears in her eyes as she describes her daughter\u2019s struggle over the past few months. The threats became so constant that Stella had to be pulled out of school and placed in independent study. Local police eventually stepped in. \u201cMy daughter is very young \u2026 they were threatening to beat her up.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Bullying can leave lasting scars for both victims and perpetrators, affecting grades, graduation rates, and even future employment and career opportunities. At its worst, it can lead to severe depression or suicidal thoughts.<\/span><\/p>\n

More than 30 percent of California students reported having been victims of bullying<\/a> \u200b\u200bat least once between 2016 and 2020, according to data from the California Healthy Kids Survey<\/a>. And although race or sexual orientation are often triggering factors<\/a>In Stella's case it was for her participation in the rodeo.<\/span><\/p>\n

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More than 100 teens gathered over a recent November weekend to compete in the California High School Rodeo Association (CHSRA) District 2, which spans counties from Marin and Sonoma, just north of San Francisco, to Humboldt and Del Norte in the far north. There are nine districts across the state. (Credit: Manuel Ortiz)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A year-round lifestyle<\/b><\/p>\n

Despite its popularity (43 million Americans identify as rodeo fans, according to the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association), the equestrian sport remains niche among California youth. The California High School Rodeo Association (CHSRA) has about 800 members statewide.<\/span><\/p>\n

The cost (up to $10,000 per year per horse in California), the commitment and time required to properly care for and train the animals, and the travel involved in participating in state and national tournaments are just some of the limiting factors.<\/span><\/p>\n

Yet if their immersion in rodeo sets them apart, the irony is that the high school rodeo community sees itself rooted in a tradition that grew out of the cattle ranches that have long been a mainstay, even a defining one, of much of California\u2019s rural economy, especially in the north. Far from being outliers, people here \u2014 young and old \u2014 will tell you they\u2019re holding on to something precious, a bulwark against a hyper-digitized and increasingly encroaching urban world.<\/span><\/p>\n

For the past 10 years, Marco Luna has served as the president of CHSRA District 2, which stretches from the Bay Area-adjacent counties of Marin and Sonoma to Humboldt and Del Norte in the far north (there are 9 districts total in California). A retired police officer and son of Mexican immigrants, he spends his time tending to his ranch in Humboldt when he's not shepherding rodeo families to and from competitions.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Marco Luna, president of CHSRA Dist 2, sets the rules for the tournament. He says rodeo is a \u201clifestyle\u201d that is practiced year-round and requires commitment and dedication. (Credit: Manuel Ortiz)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Unlike seasonal sports like basketball or baseball, he says, rodeo is a year-round \u201clifestyle\u201d that requires commitment and dedication.<\/span><\/p>\n

There\u2019s the daily feeding, the grooming, the training, the bonding. The horses \u201chave to be your friends,\u201d she stresses, a relationship Luna describes as \u201ctherapeutic\u201d for the young people involved. Recognizing its value, universities such as Cal Poly Humboldt are now considering adding rodeo to their sports program, Luna says.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cSome kids struggle in school, in life, in their family environment, and this is their outlet,\u201d he continues. \u201cThese kids build those bonds with these animals and then go out and compete.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

A culture of care<\/b><\/p>\n

California is rife with efforts to reduce or prevent bullying, many of them centered on education and awareness about the harms bullying can cause. For Luna, the magic of high school rodeo comes through the connection kids share with their horses and the values that spread from there \u2014 values he believes can help curb the impulses that lead to bullying in the first place.<\/span><\/p>\n

Competitors sign codes of conduct, as well as social media contracts, and must keep their grades up. If they fail to meet any of these, they will not be able to compete. \u201cWe want them to go out and become good public citizens,\u201d Luna says.<\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s that culture of attention that prompted 16-year-old Gracelyn Minic-Hayes to headline a Blue Up Day tournament in honor of National Bullying Prevention Month in October. \u201cI was cyberbullied by anonymous accounts, meaning I have no idea who they were,\u201d says Minic-Hayes, this year\u2019s District 2 queen, adding that she was targeted because of a minor speech impediment.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Gracelyn Minic-Hayes, 16, this year's District 2 queen, helped organize the Blue Up Day event in October, in recognition of National Bullying Prevention Month. (Credit: Manuel Ortiz)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Things got so bad, she says, that she started feeling anxious walking into school, not knowing who was attacking her. \u201cBut I knew when I walked into the rodeo, everyone just loved you. There was no bullying here.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Minic-Hayes is aware that kids like Stella are being bullied for their rodeo involvement. \u201cWe\u2019re different, we\u2019re weird, and our views don\u2019t match up with theirs,\u201d she says, which is partly why she pushed for the Blue Up Day event. \u201cAt the end of the day, bullies are just trying to tear you down. But here you can learn, grow, and be yourself. And I thought some of our kids in our district might need a reminder.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cMy best friends\u201d<\/b><\/p>\n

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Stella and her horse, Ice Baby. (Credit: Peter Schurmann)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Stella jumps off Ice Baby and takes his front paw in her hands. The contrast is striking: this powerful animal towers over a tiny teenager who, with practiced confidence, gently rubs her before taking his muzzle in her hands and planting a kiss on it. Ice Baby leans in for another.<\/span><\/p>\n

Weeks earlier, Stella's Instagram account, which had about 3,000 followers, had been shut down after someone complained about animal abuse. Animal rights activists have long pushed for a statewide rodeo ban. Los Angeles appeared poised Tuesday to join San Francisco and Pasadena in banning rodeos. ban rodeo events<\/a> within the city limits.<\/span><\/p>\n

As Stella says, school bullies and activists become almost synonymous with a world that sees their passion as something to be ridiculed or removed altogether.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt was really hard to get over it,\u201d she says. \u201cThen I realized that it doesn\u2019t matter if other people bully me, because I have a great family here. It really helped me get over it.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

And he adds: \u201cThese horses are like my best friends.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

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Credit: Manuel Ortiz<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"
Credit: Manuel Ortiz<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"
Credit: Manuel Ortiz<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

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Credit: Manuel Ortiz<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

EMS' Stop The Hate initiative is made possible by funding from the California State Library (CSL) in partnership with the California Commission on Asian and Pacific Islander American Affairs (CAPIAA). The views expressed on this website and other materials produced by EMS do not necessarily reflect the official policies of CSL, CAPIAA, or the California government.<\/em><\/p>\n

You may be interested in:<\/strong> To be or not to be: Spanish, Spanglish, English, young Latinos in the US face another bullying<\/a><\/em><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Por Peter Schurmann. Ethnic Media Services. Traducci\u00f3n Pamela Cruz. Los participantes en el rodeo en la escuela secundaria (high school) dicen que la paciencia y el coraje que conlleva cuidar y entrenar a los caballos pueden ayudar a frenar los impulsos que provocan el bullying. Es el d\u00eda del torneo en Corning, un peque\u00f1o pueblo […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":21121,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,14,311],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-21114","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-community","8":"category-cover","9":"category-norcal"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/peninsula360press.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21114","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/peninsula360press.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/peninsula360press.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/peninsula360press.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/18"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/peninsula360press.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21114"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/peninsula360press.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21114\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21127,"href":"https:\/\/peninsula360press.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21114\/revisions\/21127"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/peninsula360press.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21121"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/peninsula360press.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21114"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/peninsula360press.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21114"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/peninsula360press.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21114"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}