On a hot morning in late August of 2026, 18-year-old Kenzie Garcia climbed into a metal chute containing a steer, or castrated bull. She was nervous but determined to improve her skills as a chute dogger, or steer wrestler, one of the rough stock events common to pro and amateur rodeos. And she was getting plenty of advice.
“Remember, you’ve got to keep your feet,” explained one rodeo veteran. “You’re letting your feet get behind you; keep your feet with it.”
“Take it slow, pull its nose up,” said another.
The goal of chute dogging is to walk a steer ten feet to a line in the arena, and then wrestle it to the ground. The fastest time to get the steer on the ground with all four legs pointed in the same direction wins. At this practice session, Garcia successfully dogged a steer for the first time.
Leaping up from the dirt, she ran to hug her coach, Daniel Byrom, tears and a wide grin illuminating her face.
“I’ve been to four rodeos, and I’ve been working really hard to chute dog and to get my steer down, and today was the first day I was able to do that. So it feels great,” Garcia told the Daily Yonder.
At most rodeos, chute dogging and other rough stock events are only for men, while women traditionally compete in timed horseback events like barrel racing and pole bending. But the 34th annual Zia Regional Rodeo in Santa Fe, New Mexico, has different rules, because it’s put on by the New Mexico Gay Rodeo Association and is part of the International Gay Rodeo Association (IGRA) Circuit. At gay rodeos, men and women compete on equal footing in all events, including rough stock and timed events, as well as special camp events unique to the gay rodeo circuit.
Kenzie Garcia chute dogs on the first day of the Zia Regional Rodeo. In most traditional rodeos, chute dogging and other rough stock events only allow male competitors. (Photo by Anya Petrone Slepyan/The Daily Yonder)
This gives female athletes like Garcia a rare opportunity to compete in traditionally male rodeo events.
“This rodeo is so good at including everyone, no matter who you are, where you come from, what you look like,” Garcia said. “And even just being a woman in this [event], it’s so different, it makes you feel really strong.”
For years, Garcia has accompanied her mother to gay rodeos around the country. This year, she’s finally old enough to compete. To help hone her skills in chute dogging and other events, she’s been participating in the public rodeo schools that precede many of the gay rodeos, including New Mexico’s. These schools help newcomers and veterans alike to improve their rodeo skills, and support the International Gay Rodeo Association’s goal of creating accessible and inclusive rodeo for everyone.
Rebuilding the Gay Rodeo Circuit
The first gay rodeo was held in Reno, Nevada, in 1976 as a fundraiser for a nursing home. Fifty years later, gay rodeo has its own association and competition circuit, with hundreds of regular competitors and several thousand members, according to Brian Helander, president of the IGRA.
Since he began competing in 1995, Helander has seen significant changes on the circuit. The HIV pandemic caused devastating losses among the gay rodeo community, as it did in LGBTQ communities around the world.
“Prior to the newer medications, we lost a lot of our competitors, and our officials, and our administration people also,” Helander told the Daily Yonder.
Miss Leather Rodeo 26’ enjoys the festivities from the stands. In addition to sporting competitions, the Zia Regional Rodeo also elects rodeo royalty, who are responsible for overseeing events and fundraising for the organization. (Photo by Anya Petrone Slepyan/The Daily Yonder)
The IGRA responded by raising hundreds of thousands of dollars over the years to support those diagnosed with HIV and AIDS. Now, according to Helander, the community has rebuilt itself, with philanthropic efforts extending to issues like women’s health and benefitting local organizations, gay and otherwise.
“We’ve spent the last ten or 15 years recovering from that, and we have recovered from that,” Helander said. “We have a tremendous interest in Gay Rodeo these days.”
Brian Contratto from Austin, Texas, is one of the younger members helping to grow the circuit. Now in his third year as a competitor, he says he’s drawn by the opportunity to learn from older participants.
“This historical association is 50 years old, it survived AIDS, it’s got old gay guys and [lesbians] that ride horses and have stories going back to the ’90s that they’ll regale you with,” Contratto told the Daily Yonder. “Intergenerational access to queer people of all ages, I think that’s even special in its own right. You don’t get that in a lot of spaces.”
Contratto competes primarily in rough stock events, including bull riding, steer riding, and chute dogging, and camp events like goat dressing and wild drag race (goat dressing requires teams of two to put a pair of underwear on a goat, while wild drag race involves getting someone dressed in drag on the back of an uncooperative steer). He takes all of the competitions seriously, but is especially passionate about bull riding.
Brian Contratto traveled from Austin, Texas to compete in the Zia Rodeo. His favorite events are steer and bull riding. (Photo by Anya Petrone Slepyan/The Daily Yonder)Brian Contratto traveled from Austin, Texas to compete in the Zia Rodeo. His favorite events are steer and bull riding. (Photo by Anya Petrone Slepyan/The Daily Yonder)
Contratto rode his first bull a couple of years ago, at a time when he was struggling with depression. He found that the physical intensity of being on a bucking bull helped him reconnect with his body, and became hooked on the challenge and excitement of the sport.
“That feeling is intoxicating. It’s fun to do something that’s difficult, but feel like you can get better. And every time is a little bit less scary,” Contratto said. “And it just sounds impossible, right, you’re just like I’m thirty-something years old and I just started bull-riding, but that’s what I did and I think it’s pretty cool.”
At the Zia Regional Rodeo, Contratto covered a bull for the first time, staying on for the full eight seconds. He was excited about winning his first individual belt buckle, but said the most meaningful part was sharing his experience with his close friends who he met on the circuit.
“It’s an individual sport in some sense, but it’s nice to share those moments of complete, overwhelming joy with people that have been with you through some of the hard things that make doing this meaningful,” Contratto said.
Competition and Camaraderie
Gay rodeos are competitive sporting events with devoted participants and spectators. But the sense of community and camaraderie, especially among direct competitors, is tangible. And it’s just as true for veteran gay rodeo participants as it is for rookies.
Rodeo newcomer Harry Children drove five hours from Colorado Springs to compete in chute dogging, flag race, and camp events. This was only his second time participating in the rodeo, and he didn’t win any buckles this time around, but he already feels like he’s a part of the community.
“I showed up at the first rodeo I went to with no experience, and I had three people getting me ready in the chute and giving me pointers. And afterwards, everybody was telling me ‘great job,’ even though I didn’t do good,” he told the Daily Yonder. “It was the best experience I’ve had as a newcomer in any kind of sport of community or anything.”
Children grew up in Lubbock, Texas, and has attended plenty of traditional rodeos put on by the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA). And while gay rodeos and PRCA rodeos offer many of the same spectacles, Children says they have a very different feel.
Harry Children (left) and his teammate wrestle a pair of underwear onto a goat as part of the goat dressing contest, one of the classic gay rodeo camp events. (Photo by Anya Petrone Slepyan/The Daily Yonder)
“I’ve been to plenty of big PRCA rodeos, and they’re a lot of fun. But everyone fits their archetype, and everyone wants to act a certain way and look a certain way. If you don’t wear the right thing, people can tell you’re an outsider, and you just don’t see that here,” he said.
Competitors and spectators dressed in a range of styles, from traditional workwear and spangled chaps, to full drag.
“It’s very freeing to be able to come to a rodeo, and you can take and leave whatever you want,” Children said. “It’s truly rodeo without the expectations, and to me, it’s been incredible to be able to show up and just be who you want to be.”
That flexibility and support has allowed Kenzie Garcia to thrive as she pursues her passion of chute dogging.
On Saturday, the first day of the competition, Garcia didn’t manage to get the steer to the ground before the allotted minute was up. But on Sunday, she walked the steer across the line and wrestled it down in just four seconds, winning the fastest time of the day among women.
The audience cheered and clapped, but the grandstand was drowned out by the screams and shouts that came from behind the chutes – the celebration of Garcia’s fellow competitors.
“My whole rodeo family screamed at the top of their lungs for me. It was the best feeling ever, just knowing you have so much support and love around you, and people who want to see you succeed in something you’re passionate about,” Garcia said.
This year’s World Gay Rodeo Finals are being held from October 22-25 in El Reno, Oklahoma.
The post For Fifty Years Gay Rodeos Have Celebrated ‘Rodeo Without Expectations’ appeared first on The Daily Yonder.
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