CALS Rodeo Queen

Miss Rodeo Idaho Ashley Kerby will model a denim, button-up shirt she embroidered showcasing reasons why she’s proud to be a Vandal alumna when she competes at the forthcoming Miss Rodeo America Pageant.

For the past year, Kerby, ’22, of Kuna, who holds a bachelor’s in animal and veterinary science: pre-vet option, has worked full time visiting elementary schools, corporate sponsors of her sport, community events and rodeos throughout the country to promote the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association.

At every opportunity during her travels as rodeo royalty, Kerby has also made a point of touting the accomplishments of her alma mater and its College of Agricultural and Life Sciences (CALS).

“I’m a fifth-generation graduate. I have a long line of Vandals in my family, and I wanted to follow in their footsteps and continue the legacy and go to University of Idaho,” Kerby said.

The Miss Rodeo America Pageant will encompass a week of competitions and engagements, beginning Dec. 1 at the Southpoint Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. During one pageant event, contestants will have 45 seconds to present a personally designed Wrangler shirt featuring important tidbits about their state. Kerby’s shirt tells a story about U of I, with an emphasis on CALS.

The likeness of a mule represents Idaho Gem, which Kerby will explain was the first equine family member ever cloned. Researchers with U of I and University of Utah were responsible for the 2003 breakthrough. The fries and potato flowers she embroidered depict how the late J.R. Simplot, a U of I alumnus, was the patriarch of the frozen French fry industry, and how U of I supplies domestic and international seed potato farmers with disease-free germplasm and mini-tubers from its new Seed Potato Germplasm Laboratory.

A cow with a blue tongue signifies U of I’s efforts to develop a vaccine for a devastating disease of cattle, bluetongue virus. Pea vines depict U of I’s innovative research on pea farming. She included bees because U of I is a certified Bee Campus with a gorgeous arboretum. The scales of justice represent U of I’s law school.

“I get asked about my college experience and what I did prior to becoming Miss Rodeo Idaho all the time. I had an incredible four years of my undergraduate,” Kerby said. “I’m excited about that outfit.”

Kerby was raised in Meridian. She was involved in both FFA and University of Idaho Extension 4-H Youth Development throughout her childhood, starting by showing a rabbit with Cloverbuds, which is the 4-H program for 5- to 7-year-olds. She went on to do swine projects with FFA and horse projects with 4-H.

In high school, she job shadowed a veterinarian and chose her career path. She hopes to get accepted to Washington State University’s veterinary program following her time as a rodeo queen, unless she’s forced to delay veterinary school for another year due to winning Miss Rodeo America.

“I have always loved animals and I have a passion for horses and cows,” Kerby said. “I could never have enough animals.”

At age 13, Kerby began participating both in rodeo and rodeo queen pageants. Throughout high school, she competed with the National Barrel Horse Association.

She was enrolled in U of I from the fall of 2019 through December of 2022. During college, she participated in reining — a riding competition in which a rider guides a horse through patterns — as a hobby. She also participated in U of I’s Student Cattle Association, Pre-Veterinary Club and Kappa Alpha Theta sorority.

Kerby competed in her first Miss Rodeo Idaho Pageant in the summer of 2022, finishing as first runner-up. She won the title on her second attempt during the Snake River Stampede, hosted in Nampa in July 2023. The pageant required her to know the sport of rodeo in detail, select a variety of western outfits, design her own chaps and ride patterns on an unfamiliar horse with no warmup.

After winning the pageant, she spent six months observing the prior rodeo queen as Lady in Waiting, before receiving her crown in January 2024. As Idaho’s queen, Kerby has traveled as far away as Florida attending rodeos and serving as a rodeo ambassador.

The days are long, but she’s enjoyed meeting new people, especially elementary children during school visits. She reads horse-themed stories to some classrooms and answers rodeo-related questions in others. Girls often ask her about her horse, and if her secret identity is Cowgirl Barbie. The boys like to ask if she rides bulls or bucking broncos.

“Children’s imaginations are so fun,” Kerby said. “Some of them think we are real-life Disney princesses coming to their school.”

Kerby participated in her final rodeo of the season Nov. 1-2 in Heber City, Utah, for the Wilderness Circuit Finals.

Published in Catching Up with CALS