Rodeo Girls on TV???

The National Finals Rodeo has been underway this week in Las Vegas but the buzz is not on the barrel racers that are competing there. It is on a new show that launched this week called Rodeo Girls on A&E. The photos and the trailer leading up to the debut showed girls riding their horses around the barrels in shorts and bikini tops. This is pretty unrealistic, but appealing to an audience. I decided to give the show a chance and I watched the first two episodes.
All the miles of driving to rodeos, maintenance of trailer and trucks, and care of the horses was close to realistic, but not shown very often. The focus is around a group of girls. One older million dollar lady whose claim to fame was being married to Jean Claude VanDam, two 21 year old rookies, a veteran barrel racer who travels with her wrangler, and a girl who behaves in a" live in the moment with no worries," attitude.
The show focuses on the social part of barrel racing. There is sex appeal, caddiness, irresponsibility, gossip, back stabbing, and fighting over cowboys. This is what sells on television. It is drawing a crowd.
 However, it is not the typical barrel racing cowgirl. Those of us that hit the rodeo trail and are serious competitors don't have time to gossip and behave in the manner that these girls do. We are actually taking care of our horses, putting hours in on the road, investing many hours into training or correcting issues with the rider or horse, assessing the ground, and getting riding time in the arena it if we get to a rodeo early enough. Even between rodeos, we are thinking and talking about our next ride. It did not seem like this was rarely mentioned in the show.
Yes, I have heard about bikini barrel races, but the girls ranking at the top are not going to be seen entering that. They don't have time for that.  They are driven to win and they are focused on the competetion. These girls on this show must not be at the top. Besides Jean Claude's ex wife, I have never heard of any of them. The only reason I know her is because she was married to him and she made many red carpet appearances with him on television.
Anyway, there you have it. There is my opinion. The show will succeed because it is appealing to the television audience with the drinking, female conflicts, and sex appeal, but it is far from reality of a real rodeo girl.