Cowgirl Up - Transcript

When you think of rodeos certain images probably come to mind. Rugged weather-beaten men, cut-throat competition, and more testosterone than your average marine base -- and that's not even counting the bulls. But what if we told you that right here in Nebraska there's a rough stock rider who's been bucked off some pretty wild broncs, and who bucks tradition every time.

Her name is Tina Vanderpool and after working on a farm, being an airport baggage handler, working as a welder, and even serving in the Marine Corps, she found her true passion just over a year ago... bare back bronc riding.

[Tina Vanderpool:] "I went to a barn dance out in Dakota Stables and they had a TV playing a tape of a rodeo from that year in Omaha. And I started watching it, and I was just amazed by the things, events that they did and... chasing goats and the whole rodeo deal. "

Not long after that she paid $15 for a practice ride at Douglas Arena in Springfield. She was bucked off after four seconds and careened headfirst into a fence. She was hooked.

Tina competes in the IGRA, the International Gay Rodeo Association. With thousands of members the Gay Rodeo is actually beginning to grow larger than the pro rodeo circuit. That may be because, unlike the pros where women are limited to barrel and flag-racing events, Gay rodeo lets women compete in rough stock.

[Tina Vanderpool:] "What I really like is competing alongside with the guys. As soon as you nod your head and the gate opens, everything happens very quick. It's like kind of being on a rollercoaster where you're up in the air and then you go straight down. That's what it feels like, except a lot of power pulling you back. If you land flat, you really get hurt."

What sets Tina apart from most rough stock riders isn't that she's a woman, or even that she's into Gay Rodeo. Tina rode her first bronc when she was 39, an age when a lot of professional riders think about hanging up their spurs.

But the urge to jump on bare back horses began when she was a little girl growing up in a small town in Illinois.

[Tina Vanderpool:] "I've always loved horses. I remember when I was real young -- I don't know if my Mom knows this -- when I was little I'd sneak out of the house and find some baling twine. I'd see some horse out in the pasture, and I'd just go ride 'em. I didn't know if they were broke, I didn't care. I'd just go ride horses."

Tina doesn't need to borrow the neighbor's horses anymore. She owns a farm in Greenwood, near Lincoln. She's got two roommates, Dave Elliot and Curt Reeve. They're also involved in rodeo. In this household it's all rodeo, all the time.

[Curt Reeve:] "You keep your shoulder back if you leg into the turn -- in other words if he turns right, you leg right -- you're going to just follow right around with him.

"Tina is an adventurer. I mean, she... it's kinda like she doesn't really follow the same routine every day. I mean, each day is a new day, she approaches it differently. For Tina, this is not about win or lose. This is about mastering a challenge."

[Tina Vanderpool:] "This buckle here is the one I wear when I compete. I always have that buckle on. One of my friends, she came up to me and she says, 'You know, I have a lot of respect for you. She says, you're the one that gets up on them horses and... I just want to give this to you.' So its kind of a special buckle."

This weekend Tina's off to the Seventeenth Annual Texas Gay Rodeo in Fort Worth. It's a 12-hour drive, but even on a few hours sleep she's hoping to win a buckle, maybe try out a new event -- she's been threatening to get on a steer -- and make it back in time for work on Monday.

[Tina Vanderpool:] "The night before is when I start getting kind of nervous about it. I'm thinking about the ride, I want to get a mark out. You have to be really focused. It's just a body, mind, spirit thing."

It may be a cliché to say that the more things change the more they stay the same. But to meet a woman like Tina Vanderpool is to see how a new twist on an old tradition can actually help preserve that tradition. There may be people who say that women don't belong on bare back broncs. Certainly there are those who would question the wisdom of taking up a dangerous hobby at the age of 39. But the spirit of the West and the spirit of rodeo has always been about what's possible rather than what's dangerous or scary or just plain unusual. In that sense Tina may be the quintesential cowgirl. By breaking the stereotypes she breaks all the rules except for the most important one of all. She always gets back on the horse.

[Tina Vanderpool:] "A lot of people has told me I'm crazy for doing it. Nobody's told me, 'Oh you can't do that.' No. If they have I've ignored 'em. Don't let it get to me.

"I love it."