Dressed in a sparkly, hot-pink, button-up shirt with jeans, cowboy boots and a silver belt buckle, Hollister resident Megan Ford looked every part the queen as she stood beside her horse in a field of yellow flowers.
Ford, 20, is this year’s Miss San Benito Rodeo. The rodeo enthusiast has been riding horses since before she could walk. She competed in her first rodeo at age 4. After years of watching friends and an older cousin compete for the queen title, Ford finally earned it herself.
“I was just so excited,” she said in a recent interview. “I’m just ready for this next week to happen so we can show our county what we do, our lifestyle.”
The young woman, who laughed and smiled easily, grew up on a ranch in Morro Bay before becoming a Hollister resident and a San Benito High School graduate. Ford still enjoys helping with the family’s Ford Cattle Company operations in San Benito County.
The horse standing beside her in the field of yellow flowers last week was “Spatz,” a 17-year-old Bay Quarter Horse. Ford has owned him for 15 years.
“I saved my money and I bought myself a horse and a truck,” she said.
Ford made the purchase with savings from years of raising animals through the high school’s Future Farmers of America program, she said. Today, the young queen cares for two horses and three dogs, works two jobs and attends school. Most days start at 5:30 or 6 a.m. but some start earlier, such as days when she opens Java Express—a local coffee shop off Cushman Street in Hollister—and has to be to work at 4:45 a.m.
While she works, Ford is studying nursing at Gavilan College and plans to transfer to California State University, Monterey Bay to finish her bachelor’s degree. The change in schools won’t mean an end to her connection with horses, though.
“Oh, no, never,” Ford said. “I’d definitely make the commute. I have to ride my horse everyday.”
As a child, Ford participated in the rodeo stick-horse races, foot races in cowboy boots and contests to see what horse and rider looked the best.
Now, Ford’s favorite part of the event is the team roping because she competes with her father against other families she has known for years, she said.
“I like the family roping the best because I get to rope with my dad,” Ford said.
Ford’s father also helps her “bedazzle” her shirts, including the hot pink one she wore last Friday.
“You can get these type of shirts anywhere, but they don’t have the bling on them so I just do it myself,” she said.
Since earning her queen role, Ford has been busy with speaking engagements at Rotary Clubs, the Lions Club, the Elks Lodge and even a county board meeting. She also has made visits to the weekly farmers markets.
“Just being able to represent this county where I grew up, that was just the best part about winning,” she said.
