Ashley Polson, 2026 Miss Rodeo USA, arrived Monday in Statesboro and visited the Bulloch County Agricultural Complex, signaling that the 15th annual Statesboro Kiwanis Rodeo is about to begin. Polson will carry the American flag into the arena on horseback to start each evening of the rodeo, Thursday, Friday and Saturday, April 23–25.
Gates open at 5 p.m. each of those days, for access to pre-rodeo activities, vendors, food-truck and family-friendly attractions before the main rodeo begins at 7:30 p.m. Nine Line Apparel is presenting sponsor for this year's rodeo, which is stocked by Hedrick Rodeo Company of Madisonville, Tennessee, as all 14 previous Kiwanis rodeos have been.
Another part of the tradition is the arrival of Miss Rodeo USA, whose participation seals the Statesboro rodeo's status as an International Professional Rodeo Association, or IPRA, sanctioned event.
Polson, 21, who grew up in Fort Worth, Texas, and now makes Louisville, Kentucky, her home, competed in the week-long annual pageant in Guthrie, Oklahoma, where she was crowned Miss Rodeo USA in January.
Twice national queen
But that was hardly her first rodeo — so to speak — as a national rodeo pageant queen. During the International Finals Youth Rodeo in 2021, Polson competed in the inaugural Miss Teen Rodeo USA Pageant and finished as third runner-up, only to return and win the pageant in 2022, becoming the second-ever Miss Teen Rodeo USA. Now she is the first person to have held both the Miss Teen Rodeo and Miss Rodeo USA national titles.
A notation on the IPRA's website states that a Miss Rodeo USA typically "will travel an average of 100,000 miles across the United States and Canada representing the International Professional Rodeo Association."
While rodeo is culturally a "Western" form of competition and Miss Rodeo USA winners have as often as not come from Oklahoma and Texas and some from as far west as California, a look at the travel itinerary shows that the IPRA is frequently represented in the Southeast and especially Georgia.
"I'm busy basically every weekend going to different rodeos, and I sometimes even have rodeos during the week," Polson said, "and I spend a lot of my time here in Georgia. I think I've been in Georgia for four rodeos already, and I haven't been traveling that long yet."
Lots of Georgia rodeos
The IPRA's Miss Rodeo USA webpage carries a "2026 initial calendar" for Polson's appearances, with the notation "events being added daily." These started with the coronation reception in February. After a March 5–7 event in Oklahoma, the next two were in Georgia, and Polson confirmed that she took part in the IPRA rodeos March 20–21 in Albany and March 23–29 in Brunswick. Then she was at the April 13–18 rodeo in Evans, Georgia, near Augusta, just before traveling to Statesboro.
Her future scheduled Georgia appearances include IPRA rodeos in Newnan and Hiawassee in May and at tiny Shady Dale in Jasper County in early June, then at Gainesville in September and Conyers in October.
But her possibly still incomplete itinerary also includes events in Tennessee, Alabama, Kentucky, Texas, Missouri, Oklahoma again, Arkansas, California, Arizona, Nevada and at Saint-Tite in Quebec, Canada.
When Polson was growing up in Texas, her parents weren't involved in agriculture, other than keeping a few cows and chickens, she said. But her grandparents and great-grands had all been farmers and ranchers in other states.
"Growing up, I always knew I wanted to ride horses," she said. "I started riding when I was 5 years old, started off by showing horses, and then I high school-rodeoed quite a bit. I ran barrels and poles and tied goats, so that's where I got involved in the rodeo community and rodeo queen world."
Equine industry scholar
At age 16 Polson began her college education at West Texas A&M University and was 19 when she graduated with a 4.0 GPA, attaining a Bachelor of Science with equine industry & business as her major, as well as double minors in animal science and agricultural business & economics.
While a student, she competed on the university's Western Horsemanship and Hunt Seat equestrian teams in the Intercollegiate Horse Show Association.
After graduation, she spent the summer of 2024 working as corral manager for Swain Mountain Outfitters at Glacier National Park, leading trail rides. She confirmed these details from the biography found on the Miss Rodeo USA website.
She has moved to Kentucky to pursue a career in the horse breeding industry.
During her travels this year representing the IPRA, she is expected to talk to people about rodeo and aspects of agriculture.
"This week as a lot of my job before the rodeo happens, I'm promoting the rodeo, talking with sponsors, talking with rodeo fans," Polson said. "I go on the news and on the radio to build awareness and get a lot of fans coming out."
After unfurling Old Glory at the start of each show, Miss Rodeo is expected to carry sponsor flags on horseback between events. She has been assigned Blue, a horse supplied by Hedrick Rodeo owner Danny Hedrick. Blue also works as a "pick-up" horse to carry thrown rodeo competitors to safety.
During the rodeo, Polson will also answer questions from fans, take pictures with children and sign autographs.
Asked about her individual platform as national rodeo queen, she shared a personal message about her faith.
"My platform is called 'Be the Light,' it's based on the Bible verses Matthew 5:14–16 …, and all throughout the Bible it talks about how Jesus is the light …. and that's basically my platform, to share the love of Christ with everyone and encourage them to do the same," she said.
After getting a look at the Bulloch Ag Arena, she said she liked it, as the first "covered" but not enclosed venue where she has participated in a rodeo.
"A lot of times it's a fully indoor arena or a fully outdoor arena, so it's really nice that it's covered, but you still get the nice outside air," Polson said.
The rodeo's IPRA competition events include bull riding, barrel racing, bronc riding, steer wrestling and calf roping. Some local fun events, such as the wheelbarrow race for teams (with blindfolded "drivers") and the children's calf scramble are also part of the entertainment.
Since moving the event to the Ag Complex in 2021, the Kiwanis Club of Statesboro has reported growth in the funds raised and in the number of attendees.
Only advance tickets
Funds raised at the Statesboro Kiwanis Rodeo and the Kiwanis Ogeechee Fair are dispersed back into the community in Bulloch and surrounding counties. The funds support a variety of causes, but the Kiwanis mission is centered on benefiting children and youth.
No tickets are sold at the gates. To purchase tickets in advance online, go to https://statesborokiwanisrodeo.com. Or paper tickets can be purchased at one location, in-store at McKeithen's Hardware, 58 Independence Way, just off Fair Road.