I started the Facebook group, “Old Cowgirls Never Die – We Keep On Riding” in August, 2016, thinking it would just be a nice “little way” to meet other more mature female riders. Now we are over 24,000 hand-picked members from 29 countries. We were one of 11 Communities chosen out of all of Facebook to be filmed for a video/commercial for 2018, and I was invited to and attended a Summit at Facebook Headquarters in San Francisco in March 2019. That same month, a billboard of one of my horses and me went up here in LeClaire, Iowa – Old Cowgirls Never Die was chosen as one of my bank’s “most interesting customers”. I have been interviewed on Horse Network Radio and so have several of our members, and one of my ‘Wranglers’ found an awesome article about us in a newspaper that we didn’t know about. Â
“Old Cowgirls Never Die – We Keep On Riding†is an idea that was born on August 7, 2016 as a result of my learning of a need for older women who enjoy horses, mules and donkeys to have a place to connect with one another. After not having a horse myself for 40 years, ages 20-60, I had gotten back into horse companionship 3 years before. Returning home after a wonderful 5-day horse camping trip with friends, a trip for which I and my 79-year-old friend had driven ourselves, towing a trailer with our 2 horses, 3 hours each way, I told non-horse friends about our adventure. Many could not believe what we had done, especially at ages 63 and 79, or they just did not “get it†– why would we want to go be dirty, hot and do all it takes to take care of and ride a 1200-pound animal for 5 days? I shared our experience on “Horse Trails & Camping Across Americaâ€, and the response from other women, especially older women, was nothing short of remarkable. Most comments were from women in their 40’s, 50’s, 60’s, 70’s and a few in their 80’s, and many expressed a wish to somehow be able to communicate with other more mature horsewomen. As a result, “Old Cowgirls Never Die – We Keep on Riding†was begun as a simple little idea on a Sunday afternoon.
As a Facebook Group, “Old Cowgirls†took off much, much faster than expected and quickly became Worldwide. Our members come from every state in the U.S, from Canada, England, Wales, Ireland, Scotland, New Zealand, Australia, Belgium, Norway, the Netherlands, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Israel, Mexico, Brazil, Panama, South Africa, Mongolia, Germany, Austria, Iceland, Spain, France, Japan, Brazil and Italy. As Old Cowgirls, we proudly wear or display Green Bandanas when we ride or go to Equine Events so we can recognize and meet one another.
To be and “Old Cowgirlâ€, one must be a Woman over 40 who has a sincere interest in equines. Members range from green riders to those with amazing experiences and knowledge. It is important that the experiences shared be about our Cowgirls and their activities with their horses, mules and donkeys, and others in their lives who share in those experiences. We strive to be different from other groups – we stay away from drama, judgement, negativity, politics and debates – and, you won’t see all the stuff you see over and over on the internet – we keep it to just about US!
We are all Blessed to have found one another…….
And, no one can ever doubt – We Are Old Cowgirls Who Will Never Die – We Will Keep On Riding!
Trail Boss LauraÂ
See the Facebook video and more of our story at:
 https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=363740361019091&id=20531316728&_rdr