Oregon High School Rodeo Queen Chelsea Leonard has loved horses since she received riding lessons for Christmas when she was 5 years old. Five years later she met Rocky, a quarter horse so shy he sometimes hides behind her when encountering new people or animals, but who runs to greet her.

“We clicked at first sight, and he's been my best friend for the last eight years plus,” Leonard said.

Together, Leonard, and Rocky rode to success when Leonard was crowned queen in Prineville last June. This month, the two are practicing for the rodeo season over which Leonard will preside.

Leonard, 18, of Roseburg, has got eight rodeos to attend and 3,000 miles to travel between Feb. 24 and June, when a new queen will be crowned.

Leonard and Rocky compete in two events — barrel racing and pole bending, in which they weave around six poles.

Leonard's equestrian skill was one of the factors on which she was judged in the queen competition for the Oregon High School Rodeo Association.

During the pageant last June she was also judged on carrying flags, an interview, a written test, a two-minute speech, an onstage question, modeling, appearance and scholastic achievement. The Oregon High School Rodeo Association is a nonprofit organization which organizes rodeo competitions for high school students.

For some competitors in the Oregon High School Rodeo Association, the rodeo is nearly a profession, and they hope to make it one once they graduate, Leonard said. But that isn't the case for her, she said.

“It is one of my greatest passions of my life,” Leonard said. “I just don't have the intense background of it being the only passion in my life.”

For the second year, Leonard is editor-in-chief of Roseburg High's student newspaper, the Orange R, and hopes to make journalism her profession.

She was also a finalist in the 2012 Distinguished Young Women of Central Douglas County competition and is a member of the National Honor Society.

Leonard's mother, Kimm McArthur, 43, of Roseburg, said she has no passion for horses herself, but said she's glad her daughter does.

She said the rodeo association wants the girls involved in the queen pageant to be good students and good riders, not just to wear a sash and wave to the crowd.

“These girls are really in the rodeo,” McArthur said. “They're really getting dirty. It's nice to see them getting so diverse.”

She said the rodeo is a positive activity that keeps kids out of trouble.

“That horse has been her date for many a Saturday,” she said.

The first rodeo of the season will be hosted by the Umpqua Valley Rodeo Club Feb. 24 to 26 in Eugene. The club has members from Cottage Grove to Grants Pass.

Leonard will offer advice at a clinic that weekend, teaching girls interested in competing for the crown what the pageant is like.

• You can reach reporter Carisa Cegavske at 541-957-4213 or ccegavske@nrtoday.com.