Cody tween outrides ‘Rodeo Girls’

The stars of the prospective new reality series “Rodeo Girls” lost to a local pre-teen barrel racer last week at the Cody Nite Rodeo.

Cody native Anna Allshouse, 11, won the event June 13 in 16.90 seconds.

“Winning felt great,” Allshouse said. “My horses have grown so much and they’re working harder this year.”

Also entered in the event were pro-circuit barrel racers Marvel Murphy, Barbra West and Darcy LaPier, all adults, from A&E’s new reality show “Rodeo Girls.” A crew was filming in Cody last week.

Murphy placed 8th with a time of 19.30, West was 14th in 22.13 and LaPier finished last, 24.62 seconds.

Not only were the rodeo stars beaten by Allshouse, they also were outrun by other local barrel racers, including Pam Vanek and Michelle Sauerwein, both adults.

Vanek placed 6th, beating all three of the “Rodeo Girls” stars. Sauerwein was 12th and beat West and LaPier.

Many local barrel racers and rodeo fans were skeptical about the reality of this reality show.

“I heard them out here (at the rodeo grounds) paying guys $100 on Thursday night to flirt with them and buy them drinks,” Sauerwein said of the camera action.

Vanek said she knows a guy who was “bribed” to take the ladies out.

“He said they (film crew) told him to go up to the girls and ask them to dance in a cowboy way like, ‘I wanna take you for a swing,’” Vanek added.

Along with how they were enticing the cowboys, some onlookers also did not appreciate the way the “rodeo girls” acted in public.

“Marvel was sitting near the stands, cussing like a sailor with a cigarette hanging out of her mouth,” Sauerwein said.

People also were concerned about how the show might portray the sport.

“This is a joke,” barrel racer Vanek quoted a friend’s post on Facebook. “They are making it into something it’s not ... this saddens me to see our sport portrayed in this manner.”

In the current ProRodeo Qualification 2013 standings, West is ranked 226 and Murphy is 267 of 382 racers. LaPier does not appear in the rankings.

“The girls who are at the top aren’t out partying in the bars every night,” Cody barrel racer Teresa Bullock said. “There’s no time – they are professional athletes.”

During the Jackpot Race at the Stage Stop Horse Hotel on Sunday, people who volunteered as extras and barrel racers were not happy about the results.

“They rigged the clock so they (‘Rodeo Girls’) would win,” Anna’s father David Allshouse said.

Jen Lewis was in first throughout the Jackpot Race but Barb West, who was last to run, won.

“We were all kind of predicting that whoever they had run last was going to win,” Bullock said. “We watched (West) come off the last barrel and she was at a high-14, low-15. The clock stopped at 16.31 and she wasn’t even across the line.”

Some extras who volunteered for the show left the arena questioning reality TV.

“This is not reality at all,” Vanek said.

(EDITOR’S NOTE: Concerning skepticism expressed about the timing at this jackpot race, owner Paul Vail of the Stage Stop Horse Hotel “swears no one rigged the clock.”

The event east of Cody was filmed June 16 for the projected A&E reality show, “Rodeo Girls.”

Vail and his wife Elizabeth expressed “disappointment” about negative comments they’ve heard about the event.

“There are always people who want to ruin good things that happen (in Cody),” Vail added. “This (film crew) brought many people to Cody and all that (some) people want to do is put it down.

“I worked hard putting this race together.”

Vail says A&E’s visit to Cody and the race were meant to have a positive, not negative, impact on the community.

Terry Dolan, who also helped host A&E’s visit, said it was positive for Cody.)