CHASING TUMBLEWEEDS with TERESA BURLESON

"Always saddle your own horse" - Connie Reeves

Connie Reeves had the same kind of spirit and grit that was found in the pioneering woman that helped settle the Western frontier. She had moxie!

She was the oldest living member of the Cowgirl Hall of Fame. At the age of 100, she rode in a parade when the Cowgirl Museum opened its new building.

Connie died in 2003 at the age of 101 after being thrown from her favorite horse, 28 year-old Dr Pepper.

Connie graduated from Texas Women's University and then attended the University of Texas School of Law, (She was one of the first women to study law at the University of Texas) but left school to take a job during the Great Depression because her family needed the money.

She went on to teach at two San Antonio high schools and at one she founded a drill team which is still in existence.

I could go on and on about her accomplishments and awards but the thing that I think was most important was the legacy she left for thousands of young ladies.

Connie was also a riding instructor at Camp Waldemar for Girls since 1936 and taught more than 30,000 girls to ride. But she taught much more than riding to these young ladies, she also taught self-reliance -- and that is why her motto was: "Always
saddle your own horse"
She not only wanted them to literally saddle their own horse but I believe she wanted the girls to be accountable for their own actions and for their own future.

Girls and women in this era have so many opportunities available to them and it is because of pioneering women like Connie and many others that rode down the trail before us.

Connie Reeves was a legendary woman with the
strength and character as big as Texas.

(It is women like Connie that inspired my poem The Cowgirl Way. If you will go to my page on this web site and read my poem, The Cowgirl Way, you will see I used Connie's motto.)