{"id":61667,"date":"2023-12-13T13:25:50","date_gmt":"2023-12-13T21:25:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/?p=61667"},"modified":"2023-12-13T13:25:50","modified_gmt":"2023-12-13T21:25:50","slug":"high-school-rodeo-an-antidote-to-bullying-in-californias-rural-north-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/?p=61667","title":{"rendered":"High School Rodeo an Antidote to Bullying in California\u2019s Rural North"},"content":{"rendered":"
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By<\/span>Peter Schurmann<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Participants in high school rodeo say the patience and courage that come with caring for and training horses can help curb the impulses that drive bullying.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Above: Stella Aleman, 13, on her horse, Ice Baby, during a high school rodeo tournament in Corning, CA. Stella says the world of high school rodeo provided her with a supportive community after being bullied in school. (Credit: Manuel Ortiz)<\/em><\/p>\n

Leer en\u00a0espa\u00f1ol<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

It\u2019s tournament day in Corning, a small town an hour north of Sacramento. Hooves and boots slosh through the mud on a rainy Saturday as over 100 competitors prepare for a series of events, from roping to cutting to pole bending and rough stock.<\/p>\n

Thirteen-year-old Stella Aleman beams, her eyes aglow as she sits astride her horse, Ice Baby, amid a scrum of giddy cowgirls.<\/p>\n

Radiating confidence, you\u2019d never guess that just weeks prior she\u2019d been the target of a vicious bullying campaign. \u201cI was being bullied for riding horses, people calling me horsey girl or cowgirl. People would yell \u2018yee haw\u2019 around me, thinking it\u2019s funny,\u201d she recalls. \u201cIt made me feel like I wasn\u2019t normal. It made not want to do this anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stella\u2019s mother, Andrea Aleman, is a registered nurse in Clear Lake, 60 miles to the south in Lake County. \u201cIt was very, very tough,\u201d she says, tears welling up as she describes her daughter\u2019s struggle over recent months. The threats became so constant Stella had to be taken out of school and placed in independent study. The local police eventually got involved. \u201cMy daughter is very small \u2026 they were threatening to beat her up.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bullying can leave lasting scars, for victims and perpetrators alike, impacting grades, graduation rates, even employment and career opportunities later in life. In the worst cases, it can lead to severe depression or suicidal ideation.<\/p>\n

Over 30% of students in California\u00a0reported being bullied at least once<\/a>\u00a0between 2016-2020, according to data from the\u00a0California Healthy Kids Survey<\/a>. And while race or sexual orientation are\u00a0often motivating factors<\/a>, in Stella\u2019s case she was targeted because of her involvement in rodeo.<\/p>\n

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More than 100 teens gathered during a recent November weekend to compete in the California High School Rodeo Association\u2019s Dist. 2 tournament. Dist. 2 encompasses counties from Marin and Sonoma, just north of San Francisco, to Humboldt and Del Norte in the far north. There are nine districts statewide. (Credit: Manuel Ortiz)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

A year-round lifestyle<\/h2>\n

Despite its popularity \u2013 43 million Americans identify as rodeo fans, according to the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association \u2013 rodeo remains a niche sport among California\u2019s youth. The California High School Rodeo Association (CHSRA) counts some 800 members statewide.<\/p>\n

The cost \u2013 up to $10,000 a year per horse in California \u2013 the commitment and time needed to properly care for and train the animals, and the travel that comes with participating in state and national tournaments are just some of the limiting factors.<\/p>\n

Yet if their immersion with rodeo sets them apart, the irony is that the high school rodeo community sees itself as rooted in a tradition that grew out of the cattle ranches that have long been a mainstay, even defined, much of California\u2019s rural economy, especially in the north. Far from being outliers, the people here \u2013 young and old \u2013 will tell you they are holding on to something precious, a bulwark against an ever-encroaching, hyper-digital urban world.<\/p>\n

For the past 10 years Marco Luna has served as president of CHSRA District 2, which stretches from Bay Area adjacent counties Marin and Sonoma to Humboldt and Del Norte in the far north (there are 9 districts total across California). A retired cop and the son of Mexican immigrants, he spends his time tending his ranch in Humboldt when he isn\u2019t shepherding rodeo families to and from competitions.<\/p>\n

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Marco Luna, president of CHSRA Dist 2, lays down the rules of the tournament. He says rodeo is a year-round \u201clifestyle,\u201d requiring commitment and dedication. (Credit: Manuel Ortiz)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Unlike seasonal sports like basketball or baseball, he says, rodeo is a year-round \u201clifestyle,\u201d requiring commitment and dedication.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s the daily feeding, the brushing, the training, the bonding. The horses \u201chave to be your friend,\u201d he stresses, a relationship Luna describes as \u201ctherapeutic\u201d for the young people involved. Recognizing its value, colleges like Cal Poly Humboldt are now considering adding rodeo to their athletic program, Luna says.<\/p>\n

\u201cSome kids struggle in school, in life, in family life, and this is their way out,\u201d he continues. \u201cThese kids build those bonds with these animals and then they go out and compete.\u201d<\/p>\n

A culture of caring<\/h2>\n

Efforts to curtail or prevent bullying abound in California, many of them focused on education and awareness around the harms that bullying can cause. For Luna, the magic of high school rodeo comes through the connection kids share with their horses, and the values that extend out from there, values he believes can help curb the impulses that drive bullying in the first place.<\/p>\n

Competitors sign codes of conduct, they sign social media contracts, they have to keep their grades up. Fall short on any of these and they can\u2019t compete. \u201cWe want them to go out there and become good public citizens,\u201d says Luna.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s that culture of caring that prompted Gracelyn Minic-Hayes, 16, to spearhead a Blue Up day tournament in honor of National Bullying Prevention Month in October. \u201cI was cyber bullied pretty heavily by anonymous accounts, which means I have no idea who they were,\u201d says Minic-Hayes, this year\u2019s District 2 queen, adding she was targeted because of a minor speech impediment.<\/p>\n

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Gracelyn Minic-Hayes, 16, this year\u2019s Dist. 2 queen, helped organize a Blue Up Day event in October in recognition of National Bullying Prevention Month. (Credit: Manuel Ortiz)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Things got so bad, she says, that she began to feel anxious walking into school, unaware of who was targeting her. \u201cBut I knew that when I walked into the rodeo, everyone just loved you. There was no bullying here.\u201d<\/p>\n

Minic-Hayes is aware that kids like Stella are being bullied because of their involvement with the rodeo. \u201cWe\u2019re different and we\u2019re weird and our views don\u2019t line up with theirs,\u201d she says, which is partly why she pushed for the Blue Up day event. \u201cAt the end of the day, bullies are just trying to knock you down. But here you can learn, and you can grow, and you can be you. And I just thought, some of our kids in our district might need a reminder.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018My best friends\u2019<\/h2>\n
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Stella and her horse, Ice Baby. (Credit: Peter Schurmann)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Stella hops off Ice Baby and takes her foreleg in her hands. The contrast is striking, this powerful animal towering over a diminutive teen who with practiced confidence gently rubs her down before taking her muzzle in her hands and planting a kiss. Ice Baby leans in for another.<\/p>\n

Weeks earlier Stella\u2019s Instagram account of some 3000 followers had been shut down after someone complained of animal abuse. Animal rights activists have long pushed for a statewide ban on rodeo. Los Angeles appeared set Tuesday to join San Francisco and Pasadena in\u00a0banning rodeo events<\/a>\u00a0within city limits.<\/p>\n

In Stella\u2019s telling, the school bullies and activists become almost synonymous with a world that sees her passion as something to ridicule or take away entirely.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was very hard to get over it,\u201d she says. \u201cThen I realized, it doesn\u2019t matter if other people are bullying me, because I got a big old family here. It\u2019s really helped me get through it.\u201d<\/p>\n

She adds, \u201cThese horses are like my best friends.\u201d<\/p>\n

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(Credit: Manuel Ortiz)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
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(Credit: Manuel Ortiz)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
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(Credit: Manuel Ortiz)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
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(Credit: Manuel Ortiz)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

This resource is supported in whole or in part by funding provided by the State of California, administered by the\u00a0California State Library<\/a>\u00a0in partnership with the\u00a0California Department of Social Services<\/a>\u00a0and the\u00a0California Commission on Asian and Pacific Islander American Affairs<\/a>\u00a0as part of the\u00a0Stop the Hate<\/a>\u00a0program. To report a hate incident or hate crime and get support, go to\u00a0CA vs Hate<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

ByPeter Schurmann Dec 5, 2023 Participants...<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-61667","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ca-local","category-education"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61667","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=61667"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61667\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":61668,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61667\/revisions\/61668"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=61667"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=61667"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=61667"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}