Kaitlynn Norman, this year’s Miss Limestone Sheriff’s Rodeo Queen can still remember the day she decided she wanted to get her hands on the rodeo queen crown. She was 7 years old and sitting in the stands at the local rodeo with her parents when that year’s rodeo queen struck up a conversation with her.

“She was so kind and told me what it was like to be part of the pageant,” Norman said. “She inspired me.”

From that day forward, Norman, 19, begged her parents, Darrel and Nancy Norman, to buy her a horse so she could enter the county’s junior rodeo queen pageant. This went on for years until she finally wore them down.

Just after her 15th birthday, her parents made a deal with Norman. If she got a job she could get a horse. Not one to drag her feet, she landed a lifeguard position at Point Mallard Water Park in Decatur and spent her summer saving up for her first horse and tack.

“When I bought her, I didn’t know what I was getting into,” Norman said. “She was green broke but she didn’t know a whole lot, so I had to start with the basics to train her.”

After about a week and a half, Norman was finally able to ride her new horse, who she named Trixie. The horse was her constant companion throughout high school as she learned the ins and outs of riding and horsemanship.

Norman continued to polish her pageantry skills, winning the Senior Miss Limestone Rodeo Queen title in 2015, while a the same time completing her cosmetology degree at the Limestone County Career Technical Center. The summer after she graduated in 2017, Norman passed the state barbering and cosmetology boards and started working at Southern Roots Salon in Ardmore.

For the last few months, Norman has spent every moment outside of the salon preparing for the May 18-19 rodeo queen pageant.

“It was a title I wanted for so long, so I spent months studying and riding,” she said. “I studied current events, government, equine science, politics and practiced answering personality questions.”

In addition to participating in the weeklong events leading up to the main show, rodeo queen contestants competed on both Friday and Saturday, showing off their riding skills and demonstrating their knowledge of horsemanship. On Friday, Norman and the other contestants took a grueling 157-question written test and then had to nail a series of interviews with four judges who are horse experts.

The next day, Norman got the chance to show off her riding skills by following a reigning pattern, and her oratory skills by speaking on the topic of rodeo’s respect for the flag during the rodeo luncheon.

In the end, Norman clearly impressed the judges, wining the overall queen title, most photogenic, best speech and the Martha Legg spirit award.

“I actually told my mother if the only award I won at the entire pageant was the Martha Legg award, I would have been happy,” she said. “I know Mrs. Martha personally and absolutely love her. She is a character and can make absolutely anyone laugh.”

Legg has long been a staple at the Limestone County rodeo, having served as a pageant mentor and judge for decades. She is also credited with bringing the Miss Limestone Sheriff’s Rodeo national recognition.

Norman said when she heard she had been selected as queen she was “tickled” and couldn’t wait to start training for the Miss Rodeo USA Pageant that will take place in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, at the beginning of next year. Norman plans on riding as many different horses as she can in preparation for the upcoming national competition.

“You never know what you’re going to swing your leg over (when competing),” she said. “The more familiar I am with different types of horses and their temperaments, the better prepared I will be for the draw horse I’m given at the Miss Rodeo USA competition.”

Knowing she wouldn’t have much time to ride Trixie anymore, she made the painful decision to sell her a few days after winning the rodeo queen crown.

“I didn’t want her to go to waste,” she said. “I wanted her to get somebody who could ride her consistently and work her to her full potential. It broke my heart that I didn’t have time to ride her anymore.”

In the months leading up to the national competition, Norman will devote her time to training and promoting the rodeo by volunteering at community events like the Limestone County Council on Aging bingo tournament, held Friday at the Limestone County Event Center.