Horseless cowgirl? Isn’t that an oxymoron? Don’t cowgirls need horses for herding cattle and competing in rodeos? That’s what cowgirls do, isn’t it? How can a girl or woman be a cowgirl without a horse?
This is what the Queen of the West, the late Dale Evans Rogers had to say about cowgirls: “Cowgirl is an attitude, really. A pioneer spirit, a special American brand of courage. The cowgirl faces life head on, lives by her own rights, and makes no excuses. Cowgirls take stands. They speak up. They defend the things they hold dear. A cowgirl might be a rancher, or a barrel racer, or a bull rider, or an actress. But she’s just as likely to be a checker at the local supermarket, a full-time mother, a banker, an attorney, or an astronaut.”
My journey to becoming a cowgirl (even though I am a horseless cowgirl) began when I was a little girl. My family collected Breyer model horses. (http://www.breyerhorses.com/) I still have all the model horses I had as a little girl. Thanks to eBay, I’ve been able to find ones similar to the ones other family members had. Between ones I’ve found on eBay and ones I’ve purchased in stores, I don’t have enough room to display all of them.
In junior high, my church youth group went horseback riding a couple of times. The stable we went to no longer exists, but I do remember going. Being somewhat timid at that point in my life, I was perfectly content to have the horse I rode go no faster than a walk.
At the Minnesota State Fair in 2011, I spent most of my time hanging out at the livestock barns and visiting machinery hill, just like my family had done when I was a little girl. Okay, so that was being more of a farm girl than a cowgirl, but it’s close enough, in my opinion.
I remember seeing horse magazines and western wear catalogs around the house when I was a little girl. Research in the last couple of years has allowed me to discover that the magazines were issues of Western Horseman (http://www.westernhorseman.com/) and the western wear catalogs were from Shepler’s (http://www.sheplers.com). Following in my Dad’s footsteps, I have a subscription to Western Horseman and am a frequent shopper on Shepler’s website.
I started shopping at RCC Western Store at the Mall of America (it’s now a division of Boot Barn) and on one of my visits I bought a DVD called Cowboys of Faith. After that, I found and liked their page on Facebook. This led me to do an online search for Cowgirls of Faith. In the course of that search, I learned about a conference in Texas called Cowgirl Get Together (http://www.cowgirlgettogether.com/). I sent an email asking if registration was still open, which airport I should fly into and if someone could pick me up at the airport and take me to my hotel. The answers all came back as yes. So off went my check for the registration fee. I made a hotel reservation and booked my flight, which would be Minneapolis to Dallas/Fort Worth then connecting to a flight to Tyler, Texas. January 2011, I was on my way to Texas for the first time!
The conference was more than I could have dreamed of. Friday night, my new friend Michelle introduced me in front of all the other women (1,000!). She said I was her hero for coming all the way from Minnesota. I lost count of how many women came up to me on Friday night and told me, “I gotta hug your neck!” Many of the women I met that weekend are now my friends on Facebook. Sunday morning I went to church with Michelle. My first time at a Cowboy Church! I loved it! She and her husband took me out to lunch after church, along with some other people from their church. She told me it didn’t matter if I had a horse or not. The important thing was that I was a cowgirl at heart. I have not been able to attend the conference again since then, but I’m looking forward to the day when I am able to attend every year.
2011 also saw my attendance at nearly every horse show held at the Minnesota State Fairgrounds. I even took vacation during the Region 3 American Quarter Horse Championships in July 2011 so I could be there every day. Two older gentlemen told me either Friday or Saturday (I can no longer remember which day it was) that I was the first spectator there every morning! I joined Clinton Anderson’s (http://downunderhorsemanship.com/) No Worries Club after I had received free tickets to his Walkabout Tour in St. Paul. I haven't been able to renew my membership, but do plan to join again once I am able to do so.
I have been able to do a little bit of horseback riding in the last couple of years. At the Minnesota Horse Expo (http://www.mnhorseexpo.org/) every year, they offer free horse rides. It’s just a volunteer leading a horse around a circle, but, hey at least I was on a horse again! Then when on vacation in Fort Worth in April 2012, I went on two trail rides. I want to take riding lessons as soon as I'm able to do so. One stable I’m considering for lessons says this on their website: “The majority of the first lesson will be on the ground, learning safety around horses, basic grooming, saddling, bridling, leading, mounting, dismounting, and very basic communication. Every lesson after that, the student needs to be at the barn 15 minutes prior to the lesson to get their horse ready.” I’m glad I’ll be able to take an active part in getting the horse ready myself.
Is it possible to be a horseless cowgirl? My answer is a resounding yes!
No comments:
Post a Comment