NSW Mid North Coast resident Lana Jones has been crowned as Australia's 2021 Rodeo Queen after initially entering the competition on a whim.
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Ms Jones said the win has come as a lovely surprise.
"I did not expect it at all," she said.
"It was definitely overwhelming but it's a pretty cool experience."
Ms Jones, of Wauchope, has enjoyed being involved in the horse industry from a young age, as her dad rode bulls overseas and her mum trained horses.
The annual Australian Rodeo Queen Quest was originally founded in 1992 and seeks to promote young women into the sport.
Ms Jones first entered the competition when she was aged in her 20s, after returning home from working overseas at Saskatchewan in Western Canada.
She decided to enter the competition one last time in March 2020 before she hit the age cut off of 34.
The coronavirus pandemic impacted how the competition ran and for the first time in history all the components were conducted online.
It also made fundraising over 18 months a challenge too, as events weren't able to take place.
There was a fundraising requirement of $5000 for the not-for-profit competition.
"We managed to get over the line despite the challenges," Ms Jones said.
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However the competition being online did come with some benefits, in helping Ms Jones balance commitments to her family and training to become a nurse.
"It made it easier to manage my personal life," she said.
Ms Jones has three children Lane, 6, Grace, 3, and Dallas, who is nearly 2.
Her daughter, two-year-old Georgia Grace Lawson died in a tragic accident on the family farm just outside Wauchope in July 2015.
Ms Jones is encouraging her children to get involved in rodeo. Her two older children have their own horses.
She emphasised the competition is not a beauty contest where people are judged by how they look.
"It's more about who you are and what kind of role model you want to be," Ms Jones said.
Ms Jones encourages women to get involved in rodeo and said nothing should stop them from doing something they want to do.
The major prize of the competition is a 21 day overseas trip to the Calgary Stampede in Canada, Dallas Fort Worth, Denver, Cheyenne Frontier Days and Los Angeles.
Ms Jones said the family is hoping to travel overseas in July 2022.
For more information or to follow Ms Jones' journey, please visit the Lana Jones Australian Rodeo Queen Facebook page.