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Dickson Wins $5,000 Jerry Ann Taylor Award at Fort Worth

FORT WORTH, Texas (Feb. 8, 2015) –Kendra Dickson has been part of the Jerry Ann Taylor Award at the Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo every year since it was introduced.

The $5,000 award, which is presented by the Women’s Professional Rodeo Association (WPRA) and the National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame, is given to the best-dressed

barrel racer during the finals of the World’s Original Indoor Rodeo® on the final Saturday night of the Fort Worth rodeo. Jerry Ann Taylor, a 1986 honoree of the hall, was a flamboyant trick rider and roper who was known for her sense of style.

Dickson, who lives a little more than an hour’s drive from Fort Worth in Aubrey, Texas, won the inaugural $5,000 award in 2013.  Last year she missed qualifying for the barrel racing finals, but designed and created Jane Melby’s winning look.

“Two years ago, I wasn’t sure I would make the finals and I ended up finishing my outfit just before I ran,” Dickson said. She added that this year she started working on what she would wear a week in advance.This year Dickson was back in the finals herself, after winning sixth in the first round and splitting sixth and seventh in the progressive round. She finished fourth in the average and won more than $8,100 in the barrel racing.

“I was hesitant to start, because I didn’t want to jinx myself,” she said, “but my daughter and my assistant told me to go ahead and start working on it because I could always wear it for

another rodeo.”

She purchased a pair of black jeans for $17 at an outlet store, then added black and gold sequined, tiger-striped fabric to the jeans and her shirt. She also used accents of that fabric on her saddle pad, breast collar and hat. After breaking two sewing machine needles on the jeans, she and her daughter finished up using hand stitches.

“To say I was excited and very thankful to win this year’s award would be a huge understatement,” Dickson said.

She added that earlier during the 17-day run of the Fort Worth rodeo, she knew that if she was lucky enough to qualify for the finals and win the award, she needed to give the $5,000 to Rodeo For A Reason, a charity she co-founded as a ministry of equine professionals who use their skill with horses to reach people in need.

“We’re a small team of volunteers, but Rodeo For A Reason is ready to grow,” Dickson said. “I knew what a boost this money could give to our ministry.”

“I’ve always loved to decorate anything. I’m all about the razzle dazzle, sparkle and shine,” she said, adding that she has always decorated her own clothing and after winning this award in 2013 she started doing more. She is launching a line of her clothing designs, True Colors Rodeo Clothes.

The Jerry Ann Taylor award is only presented at the NFR and at the Fort Worth rodeo with the goal of encouraging women in professional rodeo to carry on the tradition of wearing colorful western attire in the rodeo arena.

Barrel racing has a long history with the World’s Original Indoor Rodeo®. The Fort Worth rodeo began holding an invitational ranch girls barrel race in 1955, not long after barrel racing was invented.

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Action Photo cutline and credit—

 

Kendra Dickson won more than $8,100 in the barrel racing, plus the $5,000 Jerry Ann Taylor Best Dressed Cowgirl Award at the 2015 World’s Original Indoor Rodeo®, Feb. 7, in Fort Worth, Texas.

 

Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo photo by James Phifer

 

 

Presentation Photo Cutline & Credit—

Representatives from the National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame present Kendra Dickson (holding plaque) with the $5,000 Jerry Ann Taylor Best Dressed Cowgirl Award at the 2015 World’s Original Indoor Rodeo®, Feb. 7, in Fort Worth, Texas.

 

 

Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo photo by James Phifer

Press Release courtesy of Johna Cravens