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Rosemary Tope Seymour, Trick Rider

Karen Holzer

The thrill of trick riding in a rodeo arena for a cheering crowd is etched forever in Rosemary Tope Seymour’s memory. It may have been decades ago, but when Rosemary talks about those times, her eyes light up and a quick smile appears. It is just as if it was only yesterday that Rosemary was mounting her horse, Babe, and positioning herself to perform breathtaking trick riding stunts.

Rosemary’s story began near Twelve Mile Buttes, on the flats near Colony, Wyoming. Her parents, Gertrude and Herbert Tope, lived on a homestead, about fourteen miles northwest of Belle Fourche. 

“We had horses, cows and a few sheep. My dad was a rancher and very good with a team of horses,” Rosemary recalled. “He had teams that he would hire out to work on building the road, which ran near our place, now known as Highway 212. His four horse teams would pull a Fresno to move dirt, to build up the road bed.”



Rosemary and her sisters Fidelia and Emmajean and her brother Bob were raised on the ranch.

“We rode horses before we were big enough to know we were on one,” Rosemary said.



At the young age of one year old, Rosemary was already on horseback riding double with Emmajean, Fidelia riding alongside on another horse.

Oftentimes, someone would saddle up a mare named Judy for Rosemary to ride. 

“Judy would take me on trip after trip around the house and outbuildings. I remember this is so well is because I wanted to ride the mile and a half out to the road. I would get Judy going in the direction of the road. About one hundred yards out, there was a little draw to cross and when we reached it she would rear up about six inches off the ground, instead of crossing the draw. This was enough to scare me into thinking she might decide to do more. Then Judy would turn around and head back to walk around and around the buildings. I never did make it out to the road on old Judy. They called her my babysitting horse. She let me ride, but she did what she wanted to,” she said.

Rosemary rode one of Judy’s colts, a beautiful strawberry roan named Babe, when she was performing her trick riding stunts.

Rosemary credits her love and appreciation of horses throughout her life to this  early introduction to horses and the opportunity to ride endlessly in her childhood.

When she was seven years old, she was riding with her dad helping with chores. When the chores were done for the day, Rosemary practiced tricks with her horse, Dolly. She learned the Cooper or Trail Drag on Dolly.

The family’s lifestyle required them to be constantly training horses for one use or another.

“My brother, Bob, had just finished breaking Judy’s colt Babe, who was now a two-year old and ready to ride. He gave Babe to me, to be my horse.  Now I was set, a showy, young strawberry roan horse and my older sister Fidelia’s trick riding saddle. My sister had bought the trick riding saddle but she was busy teaching school so I used it. I was practicing every spare minute, even though I wasn’t supposed to be doing these dangerous tricks alone, out in the middle of the pasture,” Rosemary said.

Bob helped Rosemary practice trick riding. Bob was great at teaching her how to make the horse run at a consistent pace in order for her to perform tricks smoothly.

“I worked at it diligently the summer I turned nine,” she said. “Bob promised me that if I learned some tricks that he had lined out for me, he would take me to a rodeo to ride and I could debut my trick riding. I worked really hard and mastered a trick or two, and he kept his word. Bob and Fidelia took me to my first rodeo, to perform in Newcastle, Wyoming.”

With a smile, Rosemary recalls sleeping in the back of Bob’s pickup the night before the rodeo. The next morning, she washed her face in the horses’ water bucket, because that was all that was available.

“I didn’t have a contract, so I had to get sponsored in order to ride in the show,” she said. “We walked up and down Main Street going door-to door to downtown businesses in Newcastle that morning before the rodeo started, asking for sponsors. The drug store was one business that sponsored me, so I was able to be in the show. They announced the name of the businesses over the loudspeaker as sponsoring me to ride that day. Thanks to the great people in Newcastle for their support, I was allowed to showcase my newly acquired tricks. My favorite tricks were a Liberty Stand, a Cossack drag and a Fender drag.”

It was at that first rodeo performance Topes met Juanita and Weaver Gray, who also were trick riding in the Newcastle Rodeo. Grays shared many techniques of trick riding with different kinds of holds and other tricks of the trade. Through their guidance, Rosemary and Fidelia learned to do vaults and fly-aways.

Fidelia thought she was too old at the age of twenty to begin trick riding. Juanita assured her otherwise, and Fidelia began.

“They gave us our basic training, showing us hand holds and how to execute the tricks more efficiently. Weaver was a trick roper and he showed us how to do some rope tricks too,” she said.

To continue with their trick riding, it was apparent that the sisters would each need her own saddle. The girls’ parents ordered Rosemary a trick riding saddle for $55 through the mail from the same company Fidelia had purchased her saddle from. Soon both Fidelia and Rosemary were practicing every minute they could.    

Rosemary and Fidelia rode on the trail across the pasture from the barn to the fields every morning before school and again in the afternoon, riding twice a day whenever the weather permitted. As the sisters trained their own horses, their homegrown skills and horsemanship became evident. It took a lot to train those two horses to maintain speed, not to gain or reduce velocity. The girls practiced every day with their mother, father, brother Bob and sister Emmajean as their audience. Rosemary usually did strap tricks, as her horse, Babe, was too fast and threw her too high for the vault tricks. Fidelia had a black horse named Diamond, who had a steady run, enabling her to execute fabulous vault tricks. Fidelia became skilled at learning exactly where to be on a given trick, as Diamond would kick her head off if she made a mistake.

When Fidelia was 21 and Rosemary was 10, the sisters were given their first contract to perform at the Days of ’76 Rodeo for $50. They enjoyed performing in Deadwood throughout the years, always remembering the rodeo that gave them their first chance as contracting performers.

For the next decade, the Tope Sisters perfected their skills, performing in Montana, Iowa, North Dakota, South Dakota and Nebraska. When they started, Rosemary rode Babe, the strawberry roan, and Fidelia rode Diamond, a tall black horse. Later on Fidelia bought a two year old strawberry roan horse named Penny.  The Tope Sisters were an impressive team when performing with their matching strawberry roans. Fidelia sewed the girls colorful matching outfits: red wool pants with a red satin blouse, green wool pants with a white satin blouse and black satin shirts with black wool pants with red flower appliqués. It was sometimes difficult to get the fabric they wanted because of the war. They would shop for fabric in the towns they performed in as they traveled across several states.

When they begin, they used a one horse trailer, making two trips to their destination. Later when Rosemary was twelve, they got a two-horse, two-wheeled  trailer. Rosmary would drive, with Fidelia reading the map. The trailer had a problem with unhooking from the pickup.  The girls experienced an unhooked and turned over trailer a few times on their trips across the state, once near Pukwana and once by McLaughlin. The sisters then purchased a second-hand, four-wheeled trailer for their two horses.

It was common for the sisters to have several performance many miles apart over a few days span during rodeo season. They might be in a parade and rodeo in Aberdeen, drive all night to perform in Belle Fourche, then head out  after the performance to Grand Island or Pender, NE or Wolf Point, MT. Their performances were popular and in demand, and the sisters had a busy schedule.

Rosemary smiles as she recalls how Babe liked to be in the spotlight. Rosemary would ride up in front of the grandstand and pull on the reins and Babe would rear and paw the air.The crowd loved it. Babe loved parades with the bands, flags and firecrackers, as she would prance and dance as they walked along.

Rosemary eagerly shares descriptions and comments about each trick.

“The Liberty Stand trick was my favorite,” she said. “I would stand high on the horse, look at the crowd and everything around me. It was the most fun. It was easy to do and I could see the crowd.”

The Flyaway involves balance. One hand is on the horn with one foot in the stirrup, and the rider better pay attention. The Stroud Layout required a strong back and was one that Rosemary always performed well. As the horse gallops full speed, the rider rises from their mount, slides their legs around the side of the horse’s torso and places one foot atop the horse’s back and the other against the horse’s underbelly.  The Upside Down trick requires the rider to use hand holds on back of horse. The Lay up  has the rider lying straight across the horse with their feet to one side and shoulders and head to the other side. The Cossack Drag or Tail Drag has the rider with one foot in a stirrup lying on their back across the horse with the rider’s back against the side of the horse on the opposite side with their other leg extended away from the horse.

The Tope Sisters performed for just over ten years, from 1939 to the early 1950s, when marriage and babies became a priority to Fidelia and Rosemary. Coupled with contract and opportunity changes, the Tope Sisters moved out of the performance arena and into other stages their lives. Rosemary never lost her love of trick riding and her dedication continues throughout her life.  She and her mother published a book on her trick riding years, titled “The Trick Riding Tope Sisters.” 

She loves to share her story and memories, even winning a prize when she presented at the West River History Conference in 2019.

Still a trick rider at heart, Rosemary shares her knowledge and love of trick riding to visitors at the High Plains Western Heritage Center in Spearfish, South Dakota, where she serves as an interpretative volunteer.  Photos, a trick riding saddle, and a scrapbook tell Rosemary’s story through a display at the Heritage Center.

“Rosemary is a huge hit as she tells her story in her ‘Cowgirl Style.’ She is full of life with great humor. At our dinner shows, Rosemary gives a blessing ‘Cowgirl Style,’ which bring laughs, cheers and clapping from the guests. Rosemary is a delight!” said Heritage Center director Karla Scovell.

Whether telling stories of her West River cowgirl life or sharing about her trick riding years, Rosemary is sure to look you in the eye, grin a little, and leave you with a smile.

High Plains Heritage Center Table Blessing:

May your horse never stumble

Your spurs never rust,

Your guts never grumble,

And your cinch never bust.

May your boots never pinch,

Your crops never fail,

May you eat lots of beans,

And stay out of jail!

-Shared by Rosemary Seymour