Westfall received her first pony at age six and has claimed to be “obsessed with horses from the beginning,” and continued working with horses throughout her childhood. While in high...
Barbra Schulte is a respected author, trainer, and clinician who has had a lifetime involvement with horses. Growing up on a ranch, Schulte helped market and show her family’s horses...
The highest ranked woman polo player in the United States, Sunny Hale pursued a career in “the sport of kings” which was and still is greatly dominated by men. Hale...
Mildred Farris is an esteemed leader throughout the sport of rodeo. As a competitor, Farris was Texas Barrel Racing Association’s champion barrel racer from 1955-1957, she earned a qualification twelve...
In 1914, at age 16, Fox Hastings ran away from home in California and began her career bronc and trick riding for the Irwin Brother’s Wild West Show. By 1924,...
Pauline Nesbitt, born Jane Slovensky in 1905, was raised on a Wisconsin farm where she first fell in love with horses. She began her rodeo career at age 17 as...
Anna Martin was the first female bank founder and president in the United States. An immigrant from Germany at 15, and widowed at 36, Martin owned a town store, and...
Mary Emma Manning was considered to possess an untamed will, and married the famous Wild West showman and performer, Pawnee Bill, in 1886 who was nine years her senior. For...
Mary Lou LeCompte, Ph.D., was recognized as the leading scholar on rodeo cowgirls. She wrote the book, Cowgirls of the Rodeo: Pioneer Professional Athletes, in which more than 600 interviews...
In 1917, Marie Gibson entered her first rodeo competition at the Great Northern Montana Stampede; there she met her future husband, Tom Gibson, a Canadian bronc rider. Marie competed in...
