Cowgirl rodeo performers promote cancer awareness
Hey IÂ’m real proud of the life IÂ’m livinÂ’.
We saddle up girls, ah we keep on givinÂ’.
The opening lines of Trish Lynn’s song “Rodeo World” capture what she and the rodeo entertainment team she founded and coaches – the All American Cowgirl Chicks – are all about.
From the moment they gallop into an arena at breakneck speed with flags and fireworks flying and begin their daring trick performances on horseback, Trish Lynn and the Chicks are a crowd pleaser. Their star-spangled, show-stopping finale – the patriotic part of the program the girls are famous for – brings audiences to their feet from the Fort Worth Stock Show to the Cowtown Coliseum to California’s Tournament of Roses Parade, and recently in Europe for the first time.
“I really am proud to be a cowgirl,” said Lynn, who resides on a ranch in Weatherford. “The cowboy and cowgirl way of life are about things of value – respect, hard work, self-confidence, dedication, discipline, faith. That’s what I was taught and what I try to teach to my own children, the girls on my team and the people we try to touch.”
Hub Baker, general manager and producer of the Stockyards Championship Rodeo at Cowtown Coliseum, renamed the Weatherford Cowgirl Chicks to the All American Cowgirl Chicks for their patriotism and philanthropic support and gave the team its first big shot.
“They are a total entertainment package,” Baker said. “Trish is the one who made the show what it is. She’s the music; she’s the choreographer. She’s the backbone of the show.
“I’ve been approached by many riding clubs and 99 percent of them aren’t the quality of what we want in the Fort Worth Stockyards,” Baker said. “They came in here and just knocked me out. They were happy, enthusiastic, and loud, had great music and stunts and created a lot of attention. Once I had seen them they won my heart.”
Lynn grew up in the Mid-Cities dreaming about performing on Broadway. Her parents – father is real estate veteran Mike Bowman of Century 21 Mike Bowman Inc. – bought her first horses when she was 16, the same time the budding country singer started performing at local opry venues.
At the age of 18, the raspy-voiced country/rock singer and songwriter had her first album – she’s cut six to date – charted four singles on Billboard’s Hot Country Singles charts and was one of the “New Faces” at the 1989 Nashville Fan Fair.
After a few years on the road, more charted songs and radio airplay around the country, LynnÂ’s record label folded.
She gathered a new band called Trish Lynn and Wild Horse and hit the road again, opening for Mark Chestnutt, the Bellamy Brothers, Neil McCoy and others. A future in country music looked promising.
Then another record deal fell apart and the calls and offers quit coming. Disheartened, Trish Lynn found herself starting over again.
“I took a hit in the chest. It broke my heart,” she said. “So I cowgirl’d up and came home to Texas.”
Armed with encouragement from her family and deep-seated determination, she decided to hit the rodeo circuit instead of the bars. In 1998, she formed a group of cowgirls who also wanted to perform at rodeos. Using castaway horses retrained to Olympic level and with the continued help of legendary trick rider and roper JW Stoker, the team of 12 to 16 horsewomen entertain with fancy riding, pyrotechnics, music and dance. Lynn choreographs each show and belts out “The National Anthem” at each performance.
Today the Chicks – Lynn’s four daughters ride with the team – are more than just another rodeo act of cowgirls committed to keeping a dying art alive. The Chicks perform at more than 80 shows per year, riding to find a cure for cancer. Each performance is dedicated to a cancer patient, and part of the proceeds support organizations including the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Fund, Cook Children’s Medical Center and Make a Wish Foundation.
The Chicks, which received nonprofit status in 2008, have raised $200,000 to $300,000 for cancer research during the past decade, Lynn said.
In November 2008 Trish Lynn and the All American Cowgirl Chicks served as ambassadors of the United States at the 20th anniversary of the World Equestrian Games in Stockholm, Sweden. A few weeks later, the Chicks rode in the Rose Bowl Parade and participated at Equestfest in Pasadena, Calif.
Although happy with the ChicksÂ’ success, Lynn said it didnÂ’t come overnight.
“We don’t make a living at this. We make a way of life. It’s our passion. We love our horses and our cowboy way of life but you can’t make a living at it,” she said. “I tell the girls to just be who they are and to do their best. We’ve had to prove ourselves every step of the way. We haven’t been given an easy route and that’s what I’m most proud of. The girls have stuck it out.”
Lynn describes a Cowgirl Chick as having “the heart of a champion. She can take the knocks and get back up in the saddle and go on,” she said, adding the same holds true for cancer patients.
“Our motto is ‘Never Quit.’ You can survive or you can crater,” she said. “Being told you can’t do something, don’t listen to it. You can do what your heart desires. Dream big and go for it. We have. I hope to be with the Cowgirl Chicks until I take my last breath.”
