From bulls to broncs in Manawa
By Holly Neumann
Women’s ranch bronc riding is now a sanctioned event at Manawa’s Mid-Western Rodeo in Manawa, opening up more opportunities for the riders who participate.
Among the contestants at this year’s rodeo, held June 29 to July 1 was Weyauwega native Allysa Spierings.
Spierings was a bull rider for eight years and has been training horses her whole life.
“I was working down in Missouri one day and I had a colt crack in half and all the boys started hooting and hollering and pitching their hats and making it all worse,” she said. “I was in a 16-inch flat slick rope saddle and I managed to stick him all the way through his little temper tantrum. Those boys came up to me and said, ‘You gotta hang up that bull riding stuff and start riding broncs.’”
Now in her third season of riding broncs, Spierings’ biggest accomplishment has been winning the Women’s Ranch Bronc Riding World Finals in 2022.
“When I get into the chute, it’s an instant adrenalin rush and a little bit of fear,” she said. “Every time you climb down into that bucking chute, you may be nodding your head for a 16-point horse or 22-point horse, you just don’t know,” she said. “Either way, you are shaking your head to what could be a life-or-death situation.”
Spierings ended up in the top spot following competition on the Mid-Western Rodeo’s opening day.
“Competing close to home in nerve-racking,” she said. “My dad is here to watch me. I still have to watch the video, but I am happy I made it to the pick-up man and blessed to be ready to ride again in a day or two,” she said.
Spierings finds humor in responses she gets from people when she tells them what she does.
“A lot of old men look at me and tell me that I am too pretty to be doing something like this,” she said. “I tell them they are too old to be saying things like that. I think it evens out.”
Following the Mid-Western Rodeo, Spierings headed to the U.S. Finals.
“I am hoping to cover some bucking horses and enjoy the ride,” she said. “Me and my traveling partner are sitting in first and second going into the World Finals in a week or so and I’m hoping to get another championship.”