Multi-Generational Princess
Sitting about five feet off the ground, Emily’s slim frame holds a relaxed posture as she is rocked back and forth with each of Dewey’s trots. Her blonde hair grazes her shoulders under the brim of her wide-brimmed cowboy hat. A crescent shaped shadow dips over her indigo eyes revealing only her pink lip glossed lips exposed. Her smile, which normally stretches the width of her face, is replaced by a blank stare of concentration.
“She calls him her, ‘fire-breathing dragon,’” says Emily’s Mom, referring to Emily’s horse Dewey.
She explains that each race could go either way depending on Dewey’s mood. “It’s either gonna be really good or the funniest home video,” she says with a light-hearted attitude.
Wendy’s body language reads a separate emotion all together. Dewey is a young horse and this is only Emily’s sixth run with him. Wendy’s hands are tightly wound behind her back; her eyes are attentively staring at the start gate where Dewey and Emily will soon emerge.
Along the eastern side of Oregon sits Pendleton. It’s a sleepy town eleven out of twelve months of the year and the economy of the town is built upon rodeo. The grounds of the Pendleton Round-Up sits in the center of town towering above like the Colosseum in Rome. These grounds are sacred to Pendleton residents.
Emily pulls tightly on the reigns. Holds her breath.
“Come on, Dewey!” she exclaims as they exit the shadows like a bullet from a barrel and charge into the light.
A thundering pulse tears across the arena with loose dirt flying off the hooves of the young stallions hooves. Dewey tightly winds his body around each white and brown-freckled barrel. Knocking his head back, his teeth gleam as he curls his lips up. Emily’s form is that of stone. Her relaxed arms guide Dewey through the horseshoe-shaped course and they both lean forward stretching themselves across the finish line.
The time reads 18.85 seconds.
Wendy looks disheartened but says, “I’m never disappointed, I just want her to stay on the horse.”
Emily Jayne Sorey, 19, studies Special Education at Blue Mountain Community College up on the hill looking down on Pendleton, OR. Emily is a second generation Pendleton Round-Up princess, but her path to this prestigious role came with a price.
Almost one year ago, during her senior year of high school, Emily fell from Dewey during a practice at home. The fall resulted in a compound fracture in her spine. She remembers getting up from the fall and seeing every stitch and jewel from her jeans perfectly imprinted in the dirt after pulling herself up.
Her doctor demanded her to stay horse for up to six months and fitted her with a back brace. Emily was devastated by the news and quickly reached out to every family member to find one who would allow her to ride, but was unsuccessful.
“It was awful.” Wendy said as tears filled her eyes. “It was truly the hardest parenting moment I’ve ever been through. Ever.”
Emily recounts sneaking on Dewey only three months after her brace was fitted. “My dad was furious. He was on the verge of tears.” Emily said. Her cheeks flush as she painfully recounts the anger she felt towards her dad.
“I was telling him, ‘Nobody is riding him, so if someone rides him then I won’t.’” She said. “After that, he always rode Dewey”
Even through the injury, no matter how painful it was, Emily was determined to get back on her horse. She couldn’t lead him to believe that she was afraid of him. Past all the physical struggles Emily dealt with, her mental focus was stronger than ever and she was determined to get back in a rodeo.
“There’s times of heartbreak in the sport of rodeo, but I wouldn’t trade anything for it.” Emily said.
Going to her first competition after the injury was a powerful moment for both Emily and Wendy. “When she ran at Hermiston, it was amazing,” Wendy said clasping her hands together as if to pray. “And everyday it got faster and better. Her confidence builds with everyone of those runs.”
Driving up the gravel road to the Sorey’s ranch, four dogs approach the car sounding the alarms that visitors approach. An RV, two cars, a trailer, and a tractor litter their driveway.
Forced to wiggle through the front door I try to navigate through the sea of animals. Amidst dogs, cats and cowboy boots I am doused with the overwhelming feeling of home. This is a place where lazy Sundays never become manic Mondays. I cast my eyes across the living room cluttered with cowboy hats, reflective belt buckles, and photos chronicling the Sorey family history. Whether graduating from high school or roping a calf every picture frame is filled with pictures of the Sorey children reflecting the whole-hearted support each one of them receives from their parents.
When speaking with Wendy she emits that love even in her words, “I’m always going to be their number one fan.”
Every few feet I stumble upon a new Pendleton Round-Up memorabilia token. Posters dating back to 1986 are hung on the oak wood walls, old Pendleton whiskey bottles are used as flower vases, and a brown and white calf skin is draped over the couch.
The Sorey family is rooted within the rodeo community. “Rodeo has been our livelihood,” Emily says. “It’s something that has always been there.” Emily’s biggest role model was her Aunt Jill who served as a princess in 2003.
The Sorey family vowed to compete in rodeo and has never regretted it. “We’ve allowed our children to do whatever they wanted to do whether its baseball, football, basketball… and the one thing they’ve stuck with is riding their horses.” Wendy says smiling.
“You know people waterski, snow ski, travel around the world and our choice of hobby is to rodeo.” She says.
The rodeo tradition goes back to Emily’s grandfather, Bob Sorey, who owned a breeding farm that focused on the raising of rodeo horses. “My brothers and I always thought it was so cool to get that horse that Grandpa would want to put his brand on”, Emily explains.
“It’s just that much more meaningful to have that… brand on our mare.”
The Soreys’ are a unit where nobody is ignored, that includes the horses. From buying to breaking in the horses, the Soreys’ were a collective unit.
“My little mare…Lucy, we got her when she was really young.” Lucy is currently Emily’s calf roping horse. “She she’s kind of like our little angel. My grandpa thinks the world of her.”
Emily explains the connection she has with all of her horses. “Our horses aren’t just four-legged animals… the teamwork and the bond between you and your horse, it’s not just on or the other out in the arena. It has to be both of you. Together.” Emily says.
The Pendleton Round-Up is the oldest rodeo in Oregon starting in 1910 with 7,000 spectators. In September, Emily will continue the legacy within her family and become a second-generation Pendleton Round-Up princess.
To become a rodeo princess, an application process is completed followed by interviews about their involvement within the rodeo community. The true component to become a Pendleton princess is the commitment to the rodeo community.
“I haven’t opened these in years,” Emily’s mom, Wendy says.
Old leather photo books with embossed gold are pulled out of the backseat of the pickup as two small Chihuahuas follow behind. The 1986 Pendleton Round-Up bumper sticker spans the cover and she lifts the cover open to reveal stories lost in time.
Peeling the pages open of her Pendleton memorabilia, newspaper cutouts, stickers, and handwritten notes trickle out page by page. Her tone changes an octave as she reminiscences on her days as a Pendleton Round-Up princess.
Sifting through black and white photos, Emily listens closely to the stories she has memorized since childhood.
“I still stay in contact with the girls on my court. In fact, Emily just went and visited my queen,” referring to, Ellen, who held the rodeo queen title in 1986.
Now that it’s Emily’s turn to serve as princess, Wendy is excited for her to have her own unique experiences. “I’m excited for her… I was the first in my family to be Round-Up royalty, so it was an honor and a privilege to represent the rodeo that I loved,” she says. “She is so much more a part of the rodeo because she competes.”
Emily echoes those positive feelings about her time on the court so far. “I get to go places that I wouldn’t be going if it weren’t for the Pendleton Round-Up court.”
The title of Pendleton Round-Up princess stretches wider than Eastern Oregon. The court was invited to have a meet and greet with the Portland Rose Festival court and Emily saw just how much young girls look up to who she is and who she represents.
“You walk around and little kids come up to you and you’re a real-life princess and a real-life cowgirl all in one’” she says, “It kind of makes you look back to when you were that age and that you looked up to them… I think that’s one of the biggest honors.”