It was three simple words Vernon's Bella King turned and whispered to friend Macey Freemantle of Kamloops after King was announced as the All-Around Cowgirl at the B.C. High School Rodeo Association's finals rodeo in Quesnel in June.
"That ain't real," said a stunned King, 17, a Grade 12 graduate in June of Vernon Secondary School. "I think they made a mistake."
Oh no, they didn't.
In the last B.C. rodeo of her high school career, King placed second in team roping with partner Cooper Seelhof of Horsefly, B.C. (King was the header in the pair, meaning her job was to rope the steer's horns and turn it around for her heeler partner to rope the heels); third in cutting (a Western-style equestrian competition in which a horse and rider work together before a judge or panel of judges to demonstrate the horse's athleticism and ability to handle cattle); third in her favourite event, breakaway roping (where a person on horseback ropes a calf around the neck, with the roper’s rope “breaking away” from the saddle once the calf is far enough away from the horse. The calf is neither thrown or tied); and fourth in barrel racing.
All of that while overcoming a final season full of horse issues. Her cutting and breakaway horses came up lame prior to Quesnel, and there were some problems with her team roping horse. She had to borrow a horse for the provincial breakaway competition.
"I mean, I had no idea," said King of capturing the All-Around title. "I didn't think I had a chance."
For her efforts, King won a saddle gift certificate, a new pair of cowboy boots and a $1,000 scholarship, which will come in handy as she heads to New Mexico Junior College (NMJC) in Hobbs, NM, in August to join the Thunderbirds' rodeo team. She'll study sciences with a lean toward heading to veterinarian school.
King's results at Alex Fraser Park in Quesnel also qualified her for the same four events at the National High School Finals Rodeo July 14-20 in Rock Springs, Wyoming.
"I went to that rodeo last year in cutting," said King. "I thought I did pretty good. I finished in the top-25 out of more than 100 entrants. I'm excited to be going back."
King got hooked on rodeo from a young age, from visiting the Interior Provincial Exhibition rodeo in Armstrong every summer to the point her mom, Jodi, put her into lessons. She also loved visiting her grandfather.
"He always had horses around," said King, who raved about the support from her mom and dad, Derek.
"They're very important to me," she said. "They've followed me to every rodeo since I started, and they're there when there's help to be needed."
With a full scholarship in her saddlebag to NMJC, King can concentrate on competing. Following college, she looks to turn professional competing in breakaway roping and barrel racing.