Recreation
Cowgirls make their mark
By Michael Tsai
Advertiser Staff Writer
With apologies to Tom Robbins, even cowgirls get the black and blues.
Cory Lum • The Honolulu Advertiser
That was abundantly clear at the Hawai'i Women's Rodeo Association's Ninth Annual All-Girls Rodeo held at Kualoa Ranch last month. Forty-five women from O'ahu and the Big Island competed in 12 events, including the notorious wahine calf mugging.
Ryanna Cambra, 16, brings down a calf during the wahine calf mugging portion of the Ninth Annual All-Girls Rodeo at Kualoa Ranch.
Cari Leiva, a 20-year-old from Nanakuli, used to compete in all the events but has of late been focusing all of her efforts on mugging.
"It's a big adrenaline rush," she said. "The first time I tried it, I got trampled very badly, but I was so pumped up I got right back up. Everybody was cheering and it just felt great."
For the spotless of boot, wahine calf mugging involves a pair of women teaming to bring down and tie up a 250-pound calf. One partner rides and ropes, the other wrestles the calf under control.
"They say 250 pounds, but some of those calves are a lot bigger," Leiva said.
"You can't hesitate," she said. "Once you charge them you have to grab their ear or their muzzle or their nose, hold them close to your body, step in close and drop them. I kind of have an advantage, I have more weight to push back."
The event is every bit as difficult and dangerous as it sounds. The day of the rodeo, Leiva sported a six-inch rope burn mark on her neck.
"That's the dangerous part, when the cow wraps around you and you get stuck in the ropes," Leiva said. "One time I hurt my leg. The cow jumped up and whacked my knee totally to the side."
It was Leiva's mother, Jojo Kea, who was sporting the knee brace during the rodeo. In true cowgirl style, she didn't let her injury keep her from competing in eight events.
Cory Lum • The Honolulu Advertiser
It was Kea who started the family down the rodeo path when she inherited a horse from a friend leaving for the Mainland. That eventually led to five more horses, as well as steers, cows and goats.
Tish Duarte, a 17-year-old cowgirl from Hawai‘i Kai, competes in pole bending at Kualoa Ranch.
"Mom started with rodeo and she kind of pushed me," Leiva said. "At first, I thought she was nuts. I didn't want to get dirty.
"We had never been around horses before and I was kind of scared," she said. "But you get used to it. Now we're hooked."
"We" includes Leiva's 15-year-old sister, Justine Robello, and her 2-year-old brother, Justin Robello, who has already shown an interest in riding.
The All-Girls Rodeo featured "girls" of all ages demonstrating all levels of horsemanship and rodeo skills.
Sunset Beach resident Debbie Porter, 37, has been competing in rodeos since she was 11 years old. She and partner Casey Smith won the wahine calf mugging event with a time of 21 seconds.
Judy Miura, 40, grew up riding horses but has only been competing in rodeos for a year. At the All-Girls Rodeo, she handled the on-horse duties while partner Melissa Au initiated the takedown of the calf.
"There's a lot of factors because the horse has its own mind," Miura said. "It's not like driving a car. Even though there may be things that they're trained to do, there's no guarantee they will at the time you want them to."
And, for the record, the 'Aiea veterinarian said she's satisfied that the animals used in the rodeo "are not inhumanely treated."
Cherish Perry, a seventh-grader at Highlands Intermediate, has only been riding horses for a year but she's already competed in seven rodeos. In addition to barrel racing, goat tying and poles, Perry and friend Tricia Ching and their horses were also vying for the day's best dressed award.
Ching, 14, said she started riding a couple of years ago and learned rodeo from her father and brothers. Not all of her Pearl City High School classmates can relate.
"They're shocked that we have horses," she said. "Some of them don't even know there are horses in Hawai'i."
Indeed, many of the competitors said many acquaintances are surprised to learn that Hawai'i has rodeos, much less all-women rodeos.
"It makes me feel special because there aren't many people in the world who will do this kind of sport," Leiva said. "People never think that there's a woman's rodeo and there are girls who go out there and wrestle cows."
