Michelle Herrera hasn’t spent much time relishing the second place prize she won Sept. 12 at the State Fair Parade.
“It gets me a little more nervous, to be honest,” the 2010 Rio Arriba County Rodeo Queen said about winning second place in the queens and royalty category in the annual State Fair Parade in Albuquerque.
Herrera, 18, of Chamita, is set to compete next week at the fair to be the 2010 New Mexico State Rodeo Queen, a title that comes with a $4,000 scholarship, a horse trailer and the requirement to represent the state at rodeos around the country.
Entrants from Rio Arriba County took three top prizes for their floats at the annual parade this year. In addition to Herrera, the Rio Arriba County Mounted Sheriff’s Posse won first place in the Sheriff’s Posse Riding Group category and the Jicarilla Apache Tribe Royal Court was awarded the top prize in the category for queens and royalty younger than 18.
Johnny Salazar, a captain with the County Sheriff’s Posse, said the 12-member search and rescue team’s performance on horseback was well rehearsed.
“We’ve been in the parade the past 20 years,” Salazar said.
Herrera, a freshman studying animal science at the University of New Mexico, said she received a plaque for her second-place finish. Herrera qualified for the state rodeo queen competition by winning the County’s rodeo queen competition in June.
During the competition for state rodeo queen, which will be held Sept. 23 through Sept. 26, Herrera said she will be judged on several performances, including a two-minute speech, a personal interview with the judges, and a routine she performs on horseback.