Elk City Rodeo to feature variety of trick riding, roman riding cowgirls
Elk City, Okla. – August 19, 2024 – Five trick riding and roman riding cowgirls will gallop into the Rodeo of Champions in Elk City, entertaining fans with daring feats of dangerous stunts!
Dusti Dickerson, Kinmundy, Ill., will roman ride. She is joined by the Flying Arena Stars: trick riding sisters Shyla, Layna and Clara Navarre, Weatherford, Okla., and Madison Schalla, Arapaho, Okla.
Roman riding involves standing on two horses as they gallop around the arena. The feat is so named because the Romans used it in battle. This will be Dickerson’s first time to entertain at the Elk City Rodeo.
The Illinois cowgirl grew up around horses in a family that produced rodeos. As a young girl, she barrel raced and carried the American flag during the grand entry.
She spent twelve years trick riding and roman riding as part of the Dolly Parton Stampede in Pigeon Forge, Tenn., before moving on to work as a specialty act at pro rodeos.
The Flying Arena Stars will make their fourth trip to Elk City. The daughters of Corey and Melissa Navarre, the girls have been trick riding since they were young.
They are the third generation of the family to trick ride; their mother Melissa was a trick rider, as was her mother, Dollie Beutler Riddle, who often trick rode alongside Dollie’s sister, Vickie Beutler Shireman. Shyla is 18; Layna is 14 and Clara is nine.
Schalla, of Arapaho, has been trick riding for the past thirteen years. A student at Southwestern Oklahoma State University in Weatherford, she often trick rides with the Flying Arena Stars. Her brother, Wacey Schalla, is a bareback rider and bull rider who used to perform with her when he was younger.
The women each have their own horses, specially suited for the work.
Dickerson’s horses include Rummy, Dash, Doc, Valor, Jake and Royal. She rotates them, using different ones depending on the rodeo arena and to give them breaks.
For Shyla, the oldest of the three sisters, she rides Captain, a white quarter pony; her sister Layna rides Nugget, and Clara’s horse is Buster. Shyla and Layna are students at Weatherford Public Schools; Clara attends Western Oklahoma Christian School in Weatherford.
Schalla’s mounts are Trixie and Bowie, horses she’s gotten from her grandpa in New Mexico. He used them guiding and packing out elk for elk hunting, which makes them sure-footed.
Dickerson and the Flying Arena Stars were selected to entertain at the 2023 Wrangler National Finals Rodeo, pro rodeo’s world championship.
The women are passionate about their horses and what they do.
“For me,” Dickerson said, “roman riding is a personal thing between me and my horses. I love the connection and the challenge.”
The Navarre girls enjoy what they do. The best part of trick riding, Shyla said, “is making somebody smile and having them feel like they were entertained. That’s the best part of the job.”
The trick and roman riding cowgirls will perform during each night of the Elk City Rodeo August 30-31-September 1. Shows start at 8 pm nightly.
Tickets are on sale online at ElkCityRodeo.com and at Circle A Western Wear in Elk City.
Tickets range in price from $11 to $18.
Fans are encouraged to purchase tickets only from ElkCityRodeo.com. Third party websites will be selling tickets; the rodeo cannot guarantee the legitimacy of tickets purchased from third party sites.
For more information, visit the website at ElkCityRodeo. com.
