Steamboat Pilot & Today

Steamboat Springs — Flash back more than a century before women wore chaps or straddled their saddles and you'll have a taste of what to expect from the Frontier Belles Sidesaddlers who will perform at the Brent Romick Rodeo Arena tonight and Saturday.

Decked out in eight colorful costumes reminiscent of women's Victorian horseback riding attire in the late 1800s, the group of 12 to 16 women will perform a drill of crossovers, fans, weaves and other tricks while seated on sidesaddles.

The group is from Palisade and has performed at various parades and rodeos throughout the West, including Cheyenne Frontier Days and the Rodeo De Santa Fe.

The drill team will join Texan Blake Goode as the rodeo entertainment act this weekend.

Goode is famous for roman riding his "Flying Ace" team of horses and white Brahma bulls, Geronimo and Apache. With one foot on each animal's back, Goode will race through the arena and jump through flaming hoops.

Goode will perform twice during the rodeo, which starts at 7:30 p.m. and ends at about 10 p.m. The belles will perform their act about halfway through the rodeo.

Rounding out the rodeo entertainment this summer will be Max Reynolds, who will perform his "Shades of the Wild West," show next weekend. Reynolds will highlight the days of six shooters as he shoots targets from the back of his running horse.

Reynolds, who worked as a Buffalo Bill stunt double in the 1995 TV mini-series "Buffalo Girls," will keep audiences on the edge of their seats as he cracks his bullwhip at targets set on his assistant's head -- and in his own mouth.