Live Limitless
Alli Allen, Miss Rodeo Montana 2025
Written by Cyd Hoefle
Photography by Pedersen Photography contributed by Alli Allen
Alli Allen, Miss Rodeo Montana 2025, recently returned from nine intense, activity-filled days at the Miss America Rodeo pageant in Las Vegas. She ended her year-long reign as a top ten finalist in the pageant and made her last public appearance at the Montana Circuit Finals in January.
Representing Montana at major rodeo grand entries, parades and ceremonies promoting the sport of rodeo has been demanding. She attended 20 PRCA sanctioned Montana rodeos from Father’s Day through Labor Day, as well as rodeos in Colorado Springs, Cheyenne, WY and Pendleton, OR.
“It’s a packed three months,” she said. “One week I drove 900 miles in five days, but I loved every minute of it.”
Don Cooper, Teddi Vogel (Director of CHMA) and Carol Trawick
Practically born on the back of a horse; Alli was riding, “before I could do anything else,” and she’s not exaggerating. Her mother, Kay-Lynn Allen, would put her on top of a horse she trusted and just let her sit there. “He was a good babysitter,” she laughed.
Alli grew up in a rodeo/ranch family. Her mother barrel raced and both she and her sister did too. She remembers being in O-Mok-Sees as a toddler. When they weren’t rodeoing, she was expected to help on the ranch. By the time she was in high school, she was training horses and taking care of livestock at the feedlot her family co-owned near Shepherd.
“My mom expected my sister and me to show up, behave, and follow through. We had responsibilities on the ranch, and we were expected to do them,” Alli said. “As an adult, I feel blessed to have been raised that way. I love everything about the western lifestyle that I’m living.”
As much as she loves horses, rodeos and wearing a crown, she believes sharing her personal experience and recovery from a brain injury is a calling that she must answer.
Eight years ago, Alli endured a traumatic brain injury while skiing that sidelined her life and changed the course she had set for herself. The actual brain injury didn’t seem that serious at the time and Alli was released from the hospital relatively quickly, but it was the two concussions she sustained following her injury and the subsequent seizures that shut her life down.
“The seizures took over my life,” she said. “I had to quit college, I couldn’t drive and I had to have people take me to doctor appointments. The only way I knew I had a seizure coming on was because I’d have a tachycardia right before the seizure started where my heart would go crazy.”
For over two years Alli suffered up to 30 seizures every day and was unable to find help in the medical industry to stop them. For a time, she lost her purpose. Raised to be independent, self-sufficient and always outgoing, she became withdrawn, her short-term memory suffered, and she struggled with headaches and depression. Alli joined her mom and stepdad at their winter home in Arizona.
“We had a stud on stall rest that was healing, and he needed to be hand-walked,” she said. “I was feeling purposeless and cognitively wasn’t all there, so it became my job to walk him.”
The horse, Big Time, instinctively knew when Alli was about to have a seizure and would stop and wait until it passed. He was instrumental in her healing.
“Big Time became my seizure dog,” Alli smiled. “But he didn’t cost as much as seizure dogs do so we bought him. I still have him too.”
Kay-Lynn worked tirelessly seeking solutions for Alli’s seizures and after exhausting all medical leads, they reached out to a brain rehab center in Provo, Utah. The facility helped Alli understand what she was going through and guided her toward rehabilitation that would be beneficial.
“They said that parts of my brain weren’t working, and parts of my brain were overcompensating causing my neurons to go crazy, which resulted in the seizures,” she explained.
The physical and cognitive rehab was very expensive and not covered by insurance.
“They treat their patients how they believe they need to be treated, not based on what insurance covers, so it’s all out-of-pocket. We were desperate to try it, but without insurance, I was going to have to say no,” Alli began to explain and then teared up, “But then my rodeo family stepped up.”
When word got out that Alli was in need, her friends and family in the rodeo world rallied around her. A fundraiser was organized. Chase Hawks and other foundations and individuals made donations, and the cost of the rehabilitation was covered.
“I was told that my entire body needed to be fixed, not just my brain,” Alli said. “They started with my toes and worked up reconnecting neurons, muscle and tissue.”
After weeks of treatment, the rehabilitation worked. Alli has been seizure-free for three years. Shortly after, she was named Red Lodge Rodeo Queen and Southeast Montana Rodeo Queen and after both reigns, she thought she’d be done with “queening,” as she put it.
“I thought I was done, but I love rodeo. I’m super passionate about the people and the sport, and I wanted to figure out a way to give back to my rodeo family for what they did for me,” she said. “I felt being Miss Rodeo Montana would allow me the opportunity to promote the other side of the sport and the people behind it.”
Learning so much about brain injuries and how susceptible rodeo athletes are to concussions, Alli’s focus as Miss Rodeo Montana was to educate people about brain injuries and how to care for concussions. But she took it further. She advocated for believing in yourself and not letting setbacks set you back. Dubbing her platform, “Live Limitless,” Alli told her story repeatedly through the course of the past year.
"Telling my story has educated people about what it takes to heal from a concussion or brain injury, but it also encourages people to overcome,” Alli said. “I spent a lot of time asking God, ‘Why?’ Sometimes it takes almost losing everything to really show you what’s important. I could either let it beat me, or I could believe that God is good and He will get me through this.”
As she pondered the “Why,” her faith in God grew deeper.
“You’re so much more than your limitations,” she said. “I have a deep gratitude for overcoming my brain injury and being able to move on. I was told so many things that I would never be able to do again, but here I am.”
Developing an attitude of gratitude, Alli’s outlook on life has dramatically changed because of her injury. It’s difficult now to detect the consequences of her trauma, but that’s what makes her so incredible. Her positive outlook on life is infectious.
“I learned that gratitude, anger and anxiety cannot coexist in the brain. When things get frustrating and aren’t going my way, I stop myself and think of three things I’m grateful for and the frustration just melts away. It’s what framed a lot of my last year and my life. I don’t typically get my boat rocked too badly because if I’m not in the dirt having a seizure, it’s a pretty good day,” she laughed.
As her reign as Miss Rodeo Montana drew near to end, Alli found contentment in trusting God’s plan for her future. She works part-time at the Yellowstone Boys and Girls Ranch taking care of the livestock and teaching the residents how to care for the livestock. She also works for NILE and hopes to one day pursue her dream of becoming a rodeo producer.
“I’m very content in my life and I trust God’s plan,” Alli said. “I love talking about rodeo with kids and spreading brain injury awareness. I feel like I’ve lived every moment the best that I could. I trust in what God has planned for me.”
While in Las Vegas, several tubs of Alli’s queen costumes were stolen, including jeans, boots and her custom-made Miss Montana Rodeo 2025 chaps. The one-of-a-kind leather chaps were designed and made by JR Vezain and include a series of hand-tooled characters including a barrel racer, bronc rider, a grizzly and a bobcat.
If anyone sees any evidence of rodeo queen costumes or the chaps, please reach out to Alli at missrodeomontana2025@gmail.com