Since the long winter and spring rodeos of Texas had kept me busy since the start of 2015, I had not been out of state since the Miss Rodeo America pageant in Las Vegas this past December. However, the third weekend of May, I had the opportunity to travel to the beautiful state of Montana! I was honored to join many other women from across the world for the National Cowgirl Hall of Fame Spring Roundup, held at the Paws Up Resort.
The Cowgirl Spring Roundup is a full weekend dedicated to embracing “cowgirl culture” and the Western way of life. As soon as I landed in Missoula, I was picked up by a Paws Up shuttle and taken to the beautiful resort. Once I arrived, I went straight to our first event of the weekend, a mounted shooting exhibition at the resort’s equestrian center. It was amazing to see the horses and their riders work together to shoot every single balloon that they ran past. Talk about teamwork! After that, we all had a wonderful dinner as we introduced ourselves and got to know everyone that we would be spending the weekend with.
Throughout the rest of the weekend, five National Cowgirl Hall of Fame Honorees led us through different activities that they each specialize in so that we could learn from the best of the best! My first full day in Montana started off with an early morning photography workshop taught by the award-winning photographer, Barbara Van Cleve.
She shared some of her tips and tricks while showing us examples of some of her own work. I have to say, she has taken some of the most beautiful photos I have ever seen! Later that morning, we went on a cattle drive with champion cutting-horse rider, Barbara Schulte. I loved getting to spend the morning horseback, working cows, and taking in the gorgeous Montana landscape.
Later that day, we joined the amazing trick rider and roper, Audrey O’Brien Griffin, for an afternoon of roping. We were each given our own roping gloves and pink rope, which I just love! This was one of my favorite activities of the trip because it reminded me of my dad teaching me how to rope when I was younger and all of the nights I spent in our arena while he and his friends were team roping. At the roundup, we all took turns roping the steer dummy and after catching every loop I threw, I was surprised that I still had the hang of it after so many years! I think I may just want to pick up roping again!
The next day began with a morning trail ride alongside Sunny Hale, the highest-ranked 
woman polo player in the U.S. There was a very light rain that day as we rode which actually made for a really relaxing morning. 
It was a beautiful ride spent visiting with the other women and being surrounded by some of the prettiest scenery you’ll ever see. That afternoon, we took a drawing class with the incredible artist, Donna Howell-Sickles. I can’t say that art is my forte, but I am still amazed with how gifted and talented Donna is with her work.
Each night, we had an amazing dinner together with all of the honorees. The Resort at Paws Up provided some of the best meals I’ve ever had and I enjoyed getting to spend the evenings with the other women, sharing how our busy days had been. The whole weekend was such a great experience, getting to participate in activities that I love while getting to know women from different places and walks of life. We all came together not only from across the country, but even from across the world! One young lady traveled all the way from Germany because she read a book about what it means to be a cowgirl and wanted to experience it for herself. How neat is that?! I literally had goosebumps when she told us her story.
This was such an incredible trip and it would not have been possible without the help of some pretty incredible women. First and foremost, thank you to Marjorie Murphy for sending me to the Cowgirl Spring Roundup. I really appreciate everything that you do for me and the time you spent planning this trip. Thank you also to Nadine Larson for your hospitality, it is second to none and I so enjoyed visiting with you! Nadine was actually one of my judges when I competed to become Miss Rodeo Texas. She owns the beautiful Resort at Paws Up and teamed up with the National Cowgirl Hall of Fame to put on the Cowgirl Spring Roundup. I would also like to thank my cabin roommates, Melissa and Susan, for being so sweet and fun to be around. And last but not least, thank you to everyone at the National Cowgirl Hall of Fame for all of their hard work and putting this wonderful event together!
God Bless,
Alex Ingram – Miss Rodeo Texas 2014
