#Girls of the golden west time how to#

#Girls of the golden west time how to#

And harking back to an ideal of femininity from the heyday of trick riding, Maier hires charm school professionals to show the girls how to apply makeup, get out of cars gracefully and use proper table manners. Legendary trick roper Montie Montana teaches rope skills Mark Sellers, a Star Search dancing champion, helps choreograph roping routines.

Maier does bring in outside coaches, however. Cleaning stalls, stacking hay bales, catching horses and riding practice, he says, do more than workouts on StairMasters and Nautilus machines because the girls gain a sense of accomplishment. Maier eschews aerobic and weight training for the girls. 'Sometimes in the heat of the moment, you want to walk away. But now I love it.' Kansas Carradine, 16, the daughter of actor David Carradine, agrees. 'I hated it when I first came,' says Louise McGee, 14. We want them to do it five times in a row.'Дespite the rigors of the program, few girls quit. 'The girls have to stay calm, even when they are really nervous. 'It's the emotions that really count,' says Jennifer Welch, 31, the oldest Cowboy Girl and Maier's right-hand woman. Even at this early stage Maier is looking for Cowboy Girl potential, indicated by what he calls 'mental fire' or 'dedication, a willingness to work hard for what you want.' Athletic ability and self-confidence help, but Maier also chooses girls who are shy and who aren't stellar horsewomen-if they have even the smallest spark of fire.Дeveloping nerve is as important as perfecting technique because trick riding is dangerous, and the pressure of performing is strong. He begins with local girls as young as three years old and gives them basic riding lessons once a week. Maier builds his athletes from the ground up. 'You can do better than that! Ya big luppy!' Maier, who is courtly until he gets mad, gets mad. Thud! One leg slams into the horse's neck. She does a flip off the horse's back.ДЄnother girl runs. They place a small trampoline by the horse's side and line up 25 feet away. In a small, dusty yard at Riata Ranch, six girls, aged 10 to 20, are about to practice vaulting onto and off a standing horse.