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After a two-year hiatus due to COVID-19, the Bill Pickett Invitational Rodeo (BPIR) returned to Oakland, California, for a two-day showdown at the Rowell Ranch Rodeo Ground. Just as exciting as the barrel racing and lassoing are the looks that the athletes and spectators wear, and they didn’t disappoint this year.
Named after the pioneering cowboy and performer, Bill Pickett (he invented the technique of “bulldogging,” a stunt that features the rider grabbing a steer by the horns and wrestling it to the ground), the BPIR is a fourth generation family-run organization. It is also the longest touring Black rodeo, traveling across the United States from Denver to the DMV.
Since the rodeo kicked off in 1984, it’s always visited Oakland, a city with a long history of celebrating Black cowboys and their contributions to the Old West. “Oakland was home of BPIR’s founder Lu Vason for most of his life,” says president and CEO Valeria Howard Cunningham of her late husband. “He loved this city and wanted it to be part of his legacy.”
The rodeo is now led by Cunningham who, along with a sisterhood of “strong, smart, rodeo-wise Black women” continues to challenge public perception of who has a place in the arena. “Everyone has seen the cowboy in movies, books, and commercials, but now you see more cowgirls being portrayed in those sectors,” says Cunningham. “What BPIR does is highlight our Black cowboys and cowgirls.”
Over the years, the rodeo has added two new competitive events for women alongside Ladies Barrel Racing: Ladies Steer Undecorating, where contenders take turns racing alongside the cattle in order to remove its ribbon, and Ladies Breakaway, the classic lassoing of a calf running at top speed. “These events not only entertain but allow our girls to compete for the Ladies All Around Championship.” Each year, the BPIR also awards a series of regional scholarships for students looking to further their education on top of separate funding made available for books and calf roping—essential to rodeo training.
With the recurring trend of cowboy boots on the rise yet again, who better to show us how to marry grit and flair than the cowgirls and cowboys themselves? Saddle skills aside, the ladies of BPIR know how to make a fashion statement. Colorful boots fitted with shiny spurs and intricately embroidered Western yokes can be seen in both the arena and bleachers, where attendees rally the contestants on. “The cowgirls always have a swagger to their wardrobes wherever they go,” says Cunningham. Of course, rodeo style is as susceptible to change as anywhere else but Cunningham promises you’ll never catch a cowgirl without their hat and buckle. This year, pink wide-brimmed hats and turquoise-embellished buckles were crowd favorites.
Photographer Gabriela Hasbun, who recently published a collection of portraits from the BPIR rodeo, stopped by Rowell Ranch this past weekend to capture the cowgirls and cowboys in all of their glory for Vogue.
