When not in class, Harmony Latham, a senior marketing major, spends her time promoting professional rodeos as the newly crowned Miss Rodeo USA.
What is Miss Rodeo USA? It’s one of the most intriguing national pageants.
Latham is the ambassador and face of the International Professional Rodeo Association (IPRA), a group that sanctions about 300 rodeos throughout Canada and the United States. What did it take for Harmony to get there?
As the saying goes, this is not her first rodeo.
The pageant is a cross between the two worlds of rodeo and beauty pageants, which according to Harmony and her family, are things that she has been passionate about all her life.
Being on horseback is something that she and her younger brother Garrett have been doing since before she could even walk. So, to combine the two things she loves—beauty pageants and horseback riding—was perfect for her.
“This is a dream Harmony has had for a very long time. I think [she] went after this title because of the opportunities it would present her to help others,” said Blake Robertson, a senior business management major and close friend of Harmony’s who helped her prepare for the pageant.
“She studied constantly, and all of last semester she was still a full-time student at APU. She was studying on top of her work here for horse knowledge, memorizing patterns, the speeches she had to memorize, getting ready for press interviews to learn about the whole International Pro Rodeo Association,” said Garrett Latham, junior business management major and Harmony’s younger brother.
Harmony also had to be in peak physical condition in order to be healthy and strong throughout the competition. Horseback riding is a pretty dangerous sport after all.
Although Harmony had all of these qualifying factors, she knew there were also many other girls that she competed with who could offer their own charms and strengths to the pageant.
“You still have to have a life to live, and you have to have a backup plan if you do not win,” Harmony explained. “I planned spring semester as if I was coming back, however, and had my leave of absence ready to send pending the win.”
When the girls finally went into the pageant, it was a week-long process of interviews, modeling, runways, horsemanship, and speeches, all without being in contact with their families at all.
It was quite a nerve-wracking experience when they reached the end of the week, not knowing where they stood and having no idea whether they even placed.
“They just start naming fourth runner up, third runner up, second runner up, first runner up… and by that time you’re like, ‘Well, I either won it all or didn’t place,’ ” Harmony said.
She recalled the feeling of performing as Miss Rodeo USA for the first time.
“The feeling of walking into a blacked out arena with the spotlight on you in front of all of the fans will be one I hold dear for forever,” she said.
Harmony will be traveling across the country to rodeos and towns throughout the year, helping promote local rodeos and gain more supporters.
She’ll be talking to many school-aged children, helping them realize that “rodeo is the sport that supports the backbone of America and brings the ranching, agricultural and western lifestyles that we embrace to the public eye.”
“When Harmony sets her mind to something, nothing can hold her back from achieving her goal,” Robertson said.
If you would like to follow Harmony’s year as Miss Rodeo USA, visit her Facebook page “Miss Rodeo USA 2016 Harmony Latham” and her Twitter and Instagram at Miss Rodeo USA, as well as her blog on missrodeousa.com.