Local Cowgirl Named 2024 Rowell Ranch Rodeo Queen

photo courtesy of Darrell Lavin/ lavinphotos.com

2024 Rowell Ranch Rodeo Queen, Phoebe Bruns 

Castro Valley native Phoebe Bruns attended her first Rowell Ranch Rodeo before she could walk. This month—18 years later—she will be celebrated as the 2024 Miss Rowell Ranch Rodeo Queen. 

“I’ve come full circle,” Bruns told the Forum. “I used to attend the Queen’s ball with my friends when I was five, and now these lifelong friends are coming to support me. I’ve looked up to so many of the Rodeo Queens in the past. Now, it’s my turn to inspire the next generation.” 

For the last 11 years, Bruns has been competing in and out of the California equestrian circuit. She started her riding career after her parents bought her first pony, Annie, for her 10th birthday. Two years later and many inches taller, Bruns began riding Disco. She bought her last horse, Karlos, when she was 15, which carried her through the English-style equestrian competition of Hunter-Jumpers.

“It’s a slower pace and more elegant than Western Rodeo, which is more driven by how fast you can go,” Bruns said. “Each horse taught me to trust my talents and how to be in the competitive world.”

The Bruns family moved to Castro Valley shortly before Phoebe was born. Her father got involved with the Rowell Rodeo Board to integrate into the Castro Valley community. 

“We’d wake up on the Saturday morning of Rowell Rodeo and go to Apple Creek Farms to see the horsemanship competition,” Bruns said. “I made so many friends at the rodeos over the years.”

Bruns will graduate from Castro Valley High School this May with a seal of biliteracy in American Sign Language (ASL). While a Trojan, she joined the ASL Club and “Link Crew,” a program for upperclassmen to help incoming freshmen acclimate to high school life.  

In August, Bruns will attend Montana State University to fulfill her childhood dream of becoming a firefighter.

“My grampa was a battalion chief in Santa Barbara,” she said. “I also have a cousin in Arizona who just retired from their fire department. I always wanted a job that wasn’t behind a desk.”

Bruns’ first official appearance as Rowell Ranch Rodeo Queen will be the Livermore Rodeo. She’ll spend the rest of her tenure traveling to dozens of other Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PCRA) events and visiting schools as an ambassador of both Rowell Ranch Rodeo and Castro Valley. She says she hopes to inspire other young women to get involved in rodeo and achieve their goals. 

“One of the things I am looking forward to is meeting the 5-year-old Phoebes along the way,” she said. “I remember how I was star-struck, and now I want to be one of the girls they look up to.”

Rowell Ranch Pro Rodeo fans can meet Phoebe from May 17 to 19. 

Visit www.rowellranchrodeo.com to learn more and to purchase tickets.  Tickets are also available at the gate on the day of the performance.