In the American West, the rodeo is not a piece of folklore for passing tourists. It’s a sport like any other and an economic activity: each year, some 5,000 competitors share more than 60 million dollars (54.7 million euros) in prize money for their prowess in bronco riding, horse riding savages without a saddle; for their exploits in steer wrestling, the lassoing of a calf over 200 pounds; or bull riding, the most dangerous event, which sees cowboys trying to stay on the back of a raging bull for at least eight seconds.
Women have their own competitions. They are rodeo queens (“queens”) or princesses, which requires a great mastery of riding. They compete in calf lassoing events or horse races around barrels. For teenage girls, it’s often a way to brighten up a dull day-to-day life, as shown in the documentary Rodeo Girls. The competitions then provide the opportunity to get out of isolated ranches, to rub shoulders with the outside world, with fashion, with country-style glamor… Cowgirls dream of Las Vegas, where the junior rodeo championships take place every year.
The directors, Justine Morvan and Kévin Noguès, followed three young Texan girls, aged 9, 12 and 15. The youngest, Naia, is an ace in the goat tying test. We never tire of seeing her, a rope between her teeth, jump off her horse at a gallop to seize the goat, turn it over and tie its legs. The eldest, Jessi, is a lasso champion, whom the local university Howard College wishes to enlist. “How many girls?” Jessi asks. Seven, the team coach replies, immediately making it clear how “managing the personalities of the girls is difficult for him”, especially if they are “competing” against each other…
A family matter
The documentary thus shows a slice of the daily life of American teenage girls, in a world attached to the land and animals, far from urban landscapes and its revolts. With an anti-journalistic bias: no commentary, no identification of places or heroines or their families.
We guess that the action is located in West Texas, a state larger than France, where oil coexists with livestock. Sometimes, we distinguish signs. An oil pump, crosses, lots of crosses around 12-year-old Shelby: We’re in the heart of the Bible Belt, which designates the heavily religious (and conservative) Southern states. The parents of the three riders are unwavering supporters, the coaches of tough guys. “You’re a little sore. Take a nice hot bath,” the bull riding trainer advises as Shelby, in tears, complains that she can no longer move her leg.
Rodeo is a family, community affair. “I’m not doing that,” Jessi proclaims. It’s who I am. It’s a lifestyle. Shelby’s father is proud of his daughter, who barely fell and immediately got back into the saddle. He himself was almost killed by a bull in 1973, when he was 12 years old. Shelby carries the weight of the legacy. “I feel like it’s going to help me to do something that girls don’t want to do,” she explains between falls.
