“Girls can do steer riding and rough stock events … if they want it bad enough, they shouldn’t let anything stop them.”
This is the advice pro-ranked junior steer rider Teaghan Bertamini has for other young women interested in getting into the sport.
Fourteen-year-old Teaghan comes from Acme, in south-central Alberta and is sponsored in her pursuit of the sport by Davis Chevrolet, Split Arrow Apparel, Don Mills and her parents. Not surprisingly, Teaghan comes from a family with some rodeo experience.
Her dad Todd rode bulls when he was in college and she has an older brother who also went pro in steer riding.
She went to a school and tried steer riding herself three or four years ago.
“It just hooked me right away,” recalled Teaghan, who has been doing it ever since.
“You just have your adrenaline going. Once you get in that chute it’s like ‘Yes, you finally get to get on again.’”
When travelling around with her brother for his competitions, Teaghan also saw Bailey Schellenberg competing. Schellenberg was the first-ever female competitor in steer riding at the Canadian Finals Rodeo. Teaghan said she looks up to Schellenberg, who broke the barrier for young women.
Since Schellenberg and Bertamini came on the scene, rodeos have changed the name of the event from Boys Steer Riding to Junior Steer Riding, but it still doesn’t necessarily mean females are completely welcomed into the fold just yet.
When asked how her fellow steer riders treat her as one of the sole female competitors in the sport, she says when she rides in amateur rodeo it is more friendly, but in the professional events, the other competitors don’t seem to talk to her much.
“I walk alone,” she said.
“It doesn’t really bother me, I’ve gotten used to it by now. I just stay focused on my ride.”
Ranked 14th in Canada among about 20 steer riders, Teaghan rode in the 94th Williams Lake Stampede on Thursday, June 30.
She scored 76.0 for her efforts, tying with Glen Erickson for second place in the event, and taking home a payout of $620.80.
Teaghan said after watching the video her mom and someone else took of her ride, she was pretty happy with how it went.
“She really blew out of there,” said Teaghan of her steer.
She lost her one foot and said she had to reset it quickly to stay on.
Junior steer riders age out at 15 years old in Canada, so then Teaghan will have to make the decision whether to go on to bull riding or ladies cows where that event is offered.
Last September she went to Utah for a junior bull-riding event.
While she had fun getting on her first-ever bull, she was bucked off and didn’t score, but hitting the dirt does not appear to have deterred her one bit.
“It was a great learning experience. It was super fun.”
She was preparing for another three-rodeo weekend when she spoke to the Tribune, with events in Teepee Creek, Carstairs and Hardisty through the weekend.
Read more: PHOTOS: Thursday night rodeo action kicks off Williams Lake Stampede Weekend
ruth.lloyd@wltribune.com
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