Roman riding cowgirl Jessica Blair Fowlkes will bring her brand of entertainment to the Central Wyoming Fair & PRCA Rodeo July 11-15, 2023 with Nightly Performances!
Fowlkes, a resident of Crofton, Kentucky, will perform a stunt that was done in the days of the Roman Empire. The rider stands atop a pair of horses, with one foot on each horse, as the horses gallop around the arena. Fowlkes, with her horses Moose and Wishbone, will ride into the arena, make some fast laps, do figure eights, and jump through a hoop of fire. She will also have fire stakes in the arena; she will split the torches between her legs as she rides. With the arborvitae in the St. Paul Rodeo arena, she will ride over them as well.
Fowkles’ two horses, matching gray geldings Moose and Wishbone, are her “boys,” as she calls them. Moose is a former team roping horse who is the “backbone” of her roman riding but is a determined horse. He tries to buck her off when she first gets on him, but she doesn’t mind it. “I just have to be ready for it. That’s part of his spunk. I worry when he doesn’t do it.”
Wishbone, her other gray, was a horse who had been neglected when she purchased him. He was skinny when he came home with her. She turned him out into a 100-acre pasture of Kentucky bluegrass, and “two months later, he was fat and happy,” she said. He replaced her previous horse, Goose, who wasn’t crazy about the fire hoop he jumped through. Within two weeks of Wishbone’s recovery, she had trained him to jump through the fire hoop. “He’s been an amazing horse.” She has a special relationship with her animals. “They’re good boys. We performed really hard last year and they gave me solid performances.”
Fowlkes will perform during each performance of the Central Wyoming Fair & PRCA Rodeo. Performances are July 11-15 at 7:30 pm each night, Tickets are on sale and range in price from $12 to $25. Pick your seat tickets can be purchased online at www.centralwyomingfair.com or the fairgrounds ticket office . General admission tickets are also available at Boot Barn & Murdochs. For more information, visit the website or call 307.235.5775