Rosanna Pace at the Miss Rodeo Texas pageant just after being crowned on June 21, 2012.
By Brian Simmons –
“It was a dream of mine that came true,” Pace said. “It was 10 years in the making.”
The Miss Rodeo Texas pageant is an annual scholarship contest in which participants are judged based on horsemanship, a speech, interviews and modeling. Pace’s victory came after a long year of studying, practicing, working out and speech therapy. After failing to win in 2011, Pace, who would be 23 and in her last year of eligibility the next June, was told her voice was what needed improvement.
In 2009, Pace was walking her mare through a gate when the horse spooked, knocked Pace down and ran over her, hitting her in the jaw. Pace’s jaw hurt, but she didn’t see a doctor immediately and figured the pain would go away eventually. She started overcompensating when she talked and developed a lisp.
The issue wasn’t obvious to the people around Pace at first as she worked toward the Miss Rodeo Texas title. After the 2011 competition, her first try at the pageant, Pace went right to work with a speech therapist. “She was 110 percent dedicated,” said Avery Scott, Pace’s friend and the Miss Rodeo Texas 2008 winner. “Losing that first year made her drive to win so much more. She spent all her free time working to win. The speech pathology was extra on top of everything else the other girls had to work on.”
Pace was working on a master’s degree at Texas A&M and student teaching at the time as well. “I had to overcome the speech problem if I wanted to win,” Pace said. “It’s something I still concentrate on. It’s something that’s always going to be a bit of a problem.”
Pace’s dream of winning Miss Rodeo Texas started when she entered the Junior Fair Queen contest at the Fort Bend County Fair and Rodeo in 2002. She didn’t win that year, but came back to grab the title in 2003. Two years later, she was named Fair Queen.
The horsemanship portion of the Miss Rodeo Texas pageant came naturally for Pace, who has had a passion for rodeo for as long as she can remember. It was the fashion and modeling that was a challenge.
“When I first started, I didn’t have a clue,” Pace said. “I had to learn how to do the hair, the makeup and how to model. I had to work on the speeches and interviews.”
In the interviews at the Miss Rodeo Texas pageant, judges asked contestants questions in three different categories: horsemanship, personality and appearance. The participants were also asked what the pageant calls “extemporaneous questions.” Pace was quizzed on everything from professional rodeo knowledge to how many times a horse’s heart beats per minute.
As Miss Rodeo Texas, Pace represented the state at the Miss Rodeo America pageant at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas in December. The pageant was in conjunction with the National Finals Rodeo. The whirlwind event took place over seven days, during which contestants’ cell phones were confiscated and contact with the outside world was non-existent. The 31 participants, who each won their respective state competitions, tested, interviewed, performed dance routines, gave speeches and rode horses. Pace took the third runner-up spot and was pleased to finish in the top five. “That was the hardest and most rewarding experience I’ve ever had,” she said.
Each year’s Miss Rodeo Texas, who wins $15,000 in scholarships, a trophy saddle, a trophy buckle and fur and mohair jackets among other prizes, spends most of her year-long reign on the road, making appearances at rodeos, fairs, schools and civic events. Pace plans to rack up 40,000 miles by June. The Foster High School graduate is scheduled to appear every day during the San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo and then make stops at the Houston and Austin rodeos as well throughout February and March.
Carrying on the tradition of Miss Rodeo Texas, Pace promotes the sport of rodeo and her love for Western heritage wherever she goes. “I’m just a simple girl,” Pace said. “All of a sudden, you’re a celebrity. I hope I inspire others to follow their dreams.”
Growing up in Fort Bend County, Pace always wanted to be around horses and the rodeo. When she was two years old, Pace’s mother signed her up for ballet. The young girl cried for a pony instead, received one and started barrel racing two years later.
She showed animals at the Fort Bend County Fair and Rodeo for years and always looked up to the Fair Queen. Pace won that title herself on her first try in 2005 and even rode a horse while carrying the American flag that year, something she had to convince people she was able to do.
Seven years later, Pace returned to the county fair as Miss Rodeo Texas. “It was great to get to see people who knew me as a little girl,” Pace said. “I was able to say, ‘I did it, and it was because of you.’ I said I would come back as Miss Rodeo Texas some day. I wouldn’t be where I am without this community that is involved in agriculture and horses and without the FFA and supportive teachers I had.”
Pace is just nine hours away from finishing her master’s degree in curriculum and instruction. She already has a bachelor’s degree in communication from Texas A&M. While she had to move to San Antonio and take a year off from school to carry out her duties as Miss Rodeo Texas, Pace plans to take classes again in the fall and then return to Fort Bend County and teach junior high or high school.
“When I go into schools, I tell kids that education is the key to life,” Pace said. “You’ll have endless opportunities in life. I tell them, ‘Find your passion – what you want to do for the rest of your life.’”
Pace also wants to get her Women’s Professional Rodeo Association card and to continue barrel racing. She recently started taking up breakaway roping as well. “I live, breath and eat rodeo,” Pace said, “I can’t imagine life without it.”
Pace plans to stay involved in pageants by helping girls who have the same goals she did 10 years ago. “I had a lot of former Miss Rodeo Texas winners encourage me,” Pace said. “I want to inspire people and show them that through hard work, you can accomplish anything.”
Scott continues encouraging Pace as she goes throughout the year. “I told her to enjoy every minute of it,” Scott said. “In some ways, it’s a long year, but when it’s over, you feel like you didn’t take in all those special moments. So I told her to make sure she does.”
Pace’s reign as Miss Rodeo Texas 2012 ends in June, but the memories of this Richmond girl’s time representing the state and Western heritage will last a lifetime.