Wyoming Women Salute, Part One: Cassidy Kruse
Wyoming maybe the new place to go when it comes to female destination travels according to one publication.
Conde Nast Traveler gives some history on why Wyoming is "The Equality State,” but features today's examples of women in fields some still think of as only men’s work.
We decided we would focus on some of these women and others who deserve a hat-tip of their own, so welcome to a our series.
Part one: Cassidy Kruse
It’s perfect that this Wyoming Cowgirl is a member of The Women's Professional Rodeo Association.
An age-old rodeo event was developed especially for women. Barrel racing has been around since the early 1900s, but as it's said by WyomingPublicMedia.org, "It’s not for wimps."
Cassidy Kruse, a 21-year-old from Gillette, told Conde Nast that she was born into the sport on Wyoming soil. It was in her blood since the beginning.
She is the first person in her family to make it a living. Kruse added, “The rodeo is such a key part of the West and my lifestyle. I'm happy to be able to show that women can compete in the arena with men.”
On a schedule of up to 100 events per year, traveling across the country, Cassidy doesn’t have much time with friends and family, which keeps many of both women and men totally out of the circuit.
In barrelhorsenews.com, Cassidy shared five things you might not know about professional rodeo. One is the fact that rodeo is not all bells and whistles. It's animals and dirt. There aren't Hollywood makeup artists and limos waiting for the contestants.
She, as others often have to live out of a truck. And as you can imagine, it isn't as fun as it sounds.
Cassidy also says the rodeo treats all the women well, and in fact it seems like she would not want to be doing anything else. We just hope she is very well aware what a role model she is to all Cowgirls.