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Maddi Borland of Paicines has quickly become one of the standout young competitors in California’s rodeo queen circuit, stacking up titles that reflect both her equine skills and her poise under pressure.
After earning the crown for Queen of the California State High School Rodeo District 4, the 17-year-old Borland went on to win the statewide competition, becoming the 2025–26 California State High School Rodeo Queen—the top title available to any youth competitor in California under the California High School Rodeo Association (CHSRA).
The competitions have tested her in every facet of the sport: precision horsemanship patterns, public speaking, modeling, interviews, and written rodeo-knowledge exams. Each win has expanded her role as an ambassador for California rodeo and positioned her to represent the state on the national stage.
Growing up on the Bar SZ Ranch in Paicines taught Borland a love for and dedication to horsemanship through daily repetition, responsibility and a deep familiarity with the animals she grew up with. The years of training led to the next level of representing not only her rodeo queen efforts but her way of life when she attended State Ag Day on the Capitol steps in Sacramento on April 21.
“It’s a day where lots of different people involved in agriculture in California come together and present what they do in their businesses,” Borland told BenitoLink. “There’s so many different people, including senators and congressmen, who come to see what agriculture in California looks like and how different water issues and weather patterns and everything are affecting agriculture in our state.”
She said CHSRA had a booth at the Capitol “from many different districts to help promote the sport of rodeo and talk about what high school rodeo is in California, specifically.”
Because she’s grown up on a working ranch, Borland has primarily attended school online.
“The live classes were very structured and allowed me to be able to travel in rodeo and work on my family’s ranch,” she said, adding that even though her reign as queen will end in June, during the finals in Bishop, she has had the opportunity to represent CHSRA during her travels around the country.
“My first appearance was at our local rodeo during the San Benito Saddle Horse Show, which was really fun,” she said. “My next appearance was in Wyoming. My mom and I traveled there for the National High School Rodeo Finals, where I competed. I came in second runner-up, which was super cool. There were 56 girls that were competing from three different countries.”
She said the competitions were not only fun, but offered her unique opportunities to network and make new friends.
“I went to Colorado again for the NHSRA midwinter meeting and learned more about the association, the volunteers, and members behind the organization and what really goes into planning and producing all of our different events, and what goes into each state’s rodeo organizations,” she said. “We were able to help South Dakota start their youth leadership program.”
She said her work in South Dakota involved talking about the youth leadership positions and their roles throughout the year, and hopefully, encouraging the adults and the kids to form their leadership board.
“We’ve even had some follow-up conversations with them, so that’s been really encouraging to be able to help them,” she said. “I’m approaching the end of my year, which is such a bummer, but I really enjoyed it and I’m looking forward to a couple more appearances before I hand on the crown to the next queen.”
Though she will soon no longer be queen, her love of ranching continues, she said, adding that growing up at the Bar SZ Ranch, where the Borland family became YouTube personalities, was far removed from the traditional ranching experience.
“We had a hospitality business, so a bunch of people from across the state, the nation, and even around the world would come to visit us,” she said. “We would talk to them a little bit about agriculture and what really goes into producing cattle to feed America and what really goes into your farming and ranching. And why it’s so important to really make sure that we prioritize these ranches in California and make sure that we don’t continue to develop and lose those ranches.”
Moving on, Borland said she wants to continue cattle ranching.
“That’s something that my family’s been very passionate about,” she said. “I’ve also gotten to start in horse training, so I’ve trained horses for myself, but I’ve slowly started working with other people and taking in younger colts. That’s where I find my passion.”
Meanwhile, she continues to compete in barrel racing, breakaway roping, team roping and cutting. She also wants to promote rodeo queen competitions and tell girls who are coming up through the circuit to understand that what they’re doing is important.
“It’s an important job because they’re representing the sport of rodeo by not only going to rodeos but to schools and local community events or special-needs rodeos, trying to be the connection between the fans and the contestants in order to bring more perspective about what rodeo really stands for,” she said. “This is our livelihood and our lifestyle. We love our livestock and we care for them all year round. Our horses are our partners, and rodeos are such an important part of our lives we want to share that with people who aren’t as knowledgeable of what rodeos are. We want to educate them a little bit more about what it truly means to be a rodeo athlete and what goes into these different rodeos.”
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