10 Years Later, Women's Ranch Bronc Riding Is Thriving

CHEYENNE, Wyo. – A Facebook post and a desire to do something a little reckless. That’s what led Sarah Brown Armstrong to sign up for a Texas rodeo about 10 years ago.

Cowgirls are often relegated to timed events in rodeo, primarily barrel racing and breakaway roping, with a select few taking part in team roping. Armstrong, a Texas native, was looking for something different. When her social media algorithm injected an advertisement for a women’s only ranch bronc riding event, she was instantly intrigued.

“I was training colts and I was an adrenaline junkie. I was just wanting to get into training horses a little more,” Armstrong said. “I knew that if you were good at colt starting, they usually didn’t buck, but sometimes they still did. So I wanted to be good at that.”

As a recently turned 18-year-old, Armstrong was able to sign up without her mother’s permission or awareness. She showed up unsure of what to do, guided only by a few YouTube videos before easing into the bucking chutes.

“I got on my first bucking horse, and I didn’t last very long. But it was so fun. I literally hit the ground and was like, ‘Can I get on another one? After that I was pumped,” Armstrong said with a laugh.

Growing Pains

A decade ago, stories like that were common among competitors in the early days of Women’s Ranch Bronc Championship (WRBC). Opportunities for women to compete in roughstock were limited at best, which made the idea of a women's only bronc riding league unique.

The WRBC was born from a conversation between husband and wife duo Daryl and Michelle McElroy with a stock contractor they were working with. The couple organized a yearly high school bronc riding event that awarded scholarships. During planning, the contractor talked about creating an opportunity for women to take part in roughstock as well.

They decided to hold the competition in coordination with the high school scholarship. It just so happened a media crew was doing a piece on the McElroys and the scholarship they had created. The media outlet decided to separate piece on women’s ranch bronc riding.

“They came back to us after it was over, a week or two later, and they said they had more hits, more views on the internet from the women’s bronc riding stuff than they had on anything else that they did on their network,” Daryl said.

What transpired over the next few years is a bit of a whirlwind. The McElroys worked with a television network to develop a reality program that followed the women’s ranch bronc riding to 10 rodeos across the country. They developed partnerships with smaller rodeos to feature women’s ranch bronc riding.

Once the TV show aired, inquiries poured in from cowgirls eager to learn more about how they could sign up. The McElroys established a riding school in Parshall, N.D., allowing for potential competitors to receive hands-on learning before taking part in an actual competition.

Interest eventually spread abroad as riders from Canada, Australia and Europe expressed a desire to compete. The school events spread internationally as well. Bigger rodeos began asking about including the WRBC in their lineup. The growth has been exponential but organic.

“Since we started this, I could count on one hand the number of events where women were riding in one year across the country. There was one place in Colorado that did a yearly deal and there was another place in California that did a yearly deal. And it was the same girls in Colorado that went to California,” Daryl said. “Now, it feels like there’s four or five events a weekend that have women's only bronc riding.”

A New Home

One of the turning points came in 2018 when Tom Hirsig, President and CEO of Cheyenne Frontier Days, asked the McElroys if they would be interested in bringing the WRBC to CFD. The initial idea was a spotlight to celebrate the history of women in roughstock. CFD featured women’s bronc riding as an event on an intermittent basis from 1906-1927.

“The first year the girls came here, we took them over to the museum so they could see some of the artifacts from the women's bronc riding. They were in tears over how special that was to recreate what those women started from here years ago,” Hirsig said. “It means a lot to them. It means everything to get to come ride here.”

While COVID delayed plans initially, the WRBC and CFD reached an agreement to hold its first world championship event at CFD in 2021. Now, the annual showcase in Cheyenne features competitors from America, Belgium, Australia, Canada and Mexico, with more countries expected to be represented soon.

The first year, the McElroys took all girls out to Buffalo Wild Wings patio in Cheyenne for a pre-competition dinner. On Thursday, the cowgirls, sponsors and supporters gathered at a western art gallery in downtown Cheyenne for a red carpet gala back-number ceremony and celebration. The 2026 championship will be spread across two performances, with semifinal rides taking place on Saturday, July 18 and championship rounds on Sunday.

What Lies Ahead

For all its growth, the WRBC is still grassroots at its core. Ten years ago, the McElroys' home was routinely filled with nearly a dozen cowgirls camping out on sofas and spare beds until they would caravan to the next rodeo. A few weeks back, their living room featured piles of jackets and shirts that needed to be dropped off for embroidering and dry cleaning – pieces of the gift package given to competitors who were lucky enough to qualify for the world finals.

The full circle moment for the McElroys came last year when some social media videos of cowgirls taking part in women’s bronc riding at rodeos in Wisconsin and Minnesota popped up online. What they saw were talented girls who could be the next generation of competitors. So, they reached out.

“We said, ‘Hey are y’all ever gonna come enter?’ And they said, ‘Well, we didn’t think we were ready yet to go to the pros. So we’ve just been doing our local thing,’” Daryl said. “They kind of consider us as the PRCA of women’s ranch bronc riding. We take that seriously. They can ride at their amateur rodeos and when they’re ready to play with the big girls, they can come join us and then they’re running with the big girls.”

Ten years ago, sponsors told the McElroys that the WRBC might be a flash-in-the-pan, a short lived venture with no real traction.

It’s proven to be anything but.

“They told us, ‘Y’all might as well just go ahead and shut the doors now because this will never take off. You’re never going to get to year five.’ We just kept chugging along – now, it’s year 10 going into your 11,” Daryl said. “We’re already planning for 2027 and all the things. We’ve got some pretty awesome stuff happening in 2027. Every year we’re trying to kick it up a notch.”

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