Cowboys and cowgirls delight rodeo crowd at Fuji Fairgrounds

Submitted by Brett Fisher on Sat, 08/06/2016 - 9:40pm
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By Brett Fisher

With some help from Mother Nature, bulls and broncs kicked up plenty of dust Saturday night at Fuji Park Fairgrounds in Carson City, putting a little bit of Nevada on an exclamation point at the Wild West Rodeo.

Breezy conditions with occasional gusts stirred up dust clouds at the fairgrounds, adding a natural challenge to the cowboys and cowgirls showcasing their skills on horse and bull back.

There were bulls -- big 2,000-pounders -- along with spirited bucking broncs and barrel racers to round out the evening.

But perhaps the most unique Nevada story of the night was bull riding competitor Amanda Essary.

A lady bull rider? In Nevada? Yes, and yes.

Essary, who grew up in Gardnerville and graduated from Douglas High School, was the only female bull rider at Saturday night's Wild West Rodeo.

She is one of a very select few active in the sport, too.

Finding a woman who rides bulls is extremely rare, so the fact that a native Northern Nevadan can be counted among very exclusive ranks is noteworthy for the Rodeo State.

But the 30-year-old bull rider looks beyond her gender and considers herself an athlete competing in a sport she loves.

"I love pushing myself to be the best I can be and never giving up," she wrote on her Facebook page.

Essary, who now resides on a ranch in Silver Springs, has competed in bull riding for about two years, her mother Daria Essary said Saturday night.

In addition to bulls, Essary also climbs on the backs of steers and rides them out of the chute.

For the record, Essary isn't just another cowgirl trying to break into a predominantly male sport. She's a veteran rodeo athlete, her mother said, who has roped calves and wrestled steers in competition, too, over the years.

Essary has not only placed in bull and steer riding at major rodeo events around the region, she's won several in the past two years.

Her most recent blue ribbon was earned June 25 at the De Golyer Bucking Horse and Bull Bash in Fallon, where she topped the field in the women's steer riding event.

She has also been crowned a double champion twice this year in the women's bull riding and steer riding competitions. First at the AGRA Phoenix (AZ) Rodeo and then at the Palm Springs (CA) Hot Rodeo in May.

Last year, Essary won bull and steer riding championships in Las Vegas and the Bay Area, California. She topped 2015 with the IGRA Women's Bullriding Circuit crown.

In her first year of bull riding competition, Essary won the women's steer riding event at the Canadian Rockies International Rodeo. She was then later crowned the 2014 IGRA Women's Steer Riding World and Circuit Champion.

Her talent has attracted multiple corporate sponsors that are riding her success throughout the competitive circuit.

The bottom line here is that bull riding isn't just for boys anymore. Girls can do it, too, and win.

"I couldn't dream of a better life," Essary wrote on her Instagram page.

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