Women carry rodeo's past into the future at Bay Area's Cow Palace

Women of Rodeo, an annual celebration of female athleticism, breathed new life into the Old West over the weekend at the Cow Palace in Daly City.

The competition Saturday evening featured fast-paced events including barrel racing, breakaway roping, and bronc and bull riding, along with a livestock show, a cowgirl happy hour featuring specialty drinks and a vintage neon display. 

The Diablo Ladies, a Livermore-based rodeo drill team, also entertained the crowd with equestrian maneuvers.

The event served as the kickoff to Grand National Rodeo season, which featured a junior livestock show this weekend and returns Friday and Saturday for the main event with riding and roping competitions, barrel racing and family entertainment.

The Cow Palace launched Women of Rodeo in 2023 as a competition for cowgirls and to honor those who have contributed to the venue through art, production, equity and promotion. The first Women of Rodeo program honored horsewoman Sheila Varian, who won the Cow Palace’s 1961 Reined Cow Horse Championship. 

Kelsey and Erin, members of the Diablo Ladies equestrian drill team, attend Saturday’s Women of Rodeo at the Cow Palace in Daly City. (Giselle Garza Lerma/For the S.F. Chronicle)

The event, which normally draws about 2,500 spectators, has since grown to attract elite female athletes from around the region. This year, each of the women’s events had a $3,000 purse, and winners had a path to qualify for the Premier Women’s Rodeo world championship next May in Fort Worth, Texas. While Saturday’s event showcased all-women competitions, it also featured a men’s bull riding competition.

The Cow Palace event is produced by Flying U Rodeo, which has run the venue’s Grand National Rodeo for decades. 

Women have shaped rodeo for decades as athletes, organizers and athletes. Prairie Rose Henderson was the first female bronc rider and one of the first female professional athletes, competing from around 1900 to the 1930s. By the 1920s, cowgirls were regularly competing in demanding events, including bronc riding, trick riding and relay racing. 

In 1948, women formed the Girls Rodeo Association, now the Women’s Professional Rodeo Association, to set rules, organize competition and support contestants. It is the oldest women’s professional sports organization in the nation, with 3,000 members spread across the U.S., Canada and Australia. The association manages more than 1,500 events annually, with prize payouts exceeding $5 million.