Seated on a spotted Tennessee walker named Boots last week, Bend Realtor Shelly Hummel was a vision of cowgirl style from half a century ago. Hummel was mounted on an authentic 1950s saddle in flower-embroidered 1950s pants and a silk scarf from the 1920s. She said she felt like living history.

Everybody was thinner back then, the 47-year-old joked. Even the horses, so saddles that fit are hard to find.

Beside Hummel, Kimberly McDonald sat in similar antique attire on Q-Tip, a brown horse with a white face and pale blue eyes. McDonald, who wore a 1920s-style scarf and antique boots and spurs, is the founder of the Cowgirls of the West Living History, a newly formed group of women dedicated to preserving cowgirl history from 1900 to 1960 .

Our goal is to get into the entertainment aspect of it,

McDonald said. We want trick horses and trick riders.

For now, these eight women are the ones decked out in old-time gear, waving to the crowd at local parades, occasionally lassoing a surprised child.

The kids love it, Hummel said. Were smiling and laughing. … The kids want to come up and touch the horses.

McDonald boasts that her group is the only one in the country recognized for focusing on that 60-year time period. Most other groups do pre-1900 garb, she said.

Were a mounted museum, McDonald said. I want to make people aware of who these women were. They were heroes.

Cowgirls have always been an inspiration for McDonald, 36, who grew up around horses in Grants Pass and Klamath Falls. She has been riding since age 3 and broke her first colt at 12. McDonald says she started ranching in 1996 and graduated in 2003 from Linn-Benton Community College in Albany with a major in horse management.

Now, this is a hobby, she said. McDonald works and lives at Hummels 42-acre property west of Shevlin Park, taking care of six horses while also working as a server at Gregs Grill in Bend full time.

McDonald says Central Oregon has its own history of strong women becoming cowgirls, although her group recognizes riding outfits designed by women throughout the country.

In her lodge-style apartment last week, McDonald rummaged through her collection of antique cowgirl paraphernalia for a book about one of the cowgirl greats. Her studio apartment could be a museum of its own, with antique trunks, horse bridles, pictures and other Western gear hung on the log walls.

She found what she was looking for: a book about legendary cowgirl Vera McGinnis, who performed in Wild West shows throughout the country and in Europe from 1913 to 1935.

McGinnis sewed and wore the first pair of cowgirl pants in Europe, bringing the style to the U.S., McDonald said. Before then, most women wore split skirts, McDonald said, which were awkward to ride in and sometimes got caught in the saddles, injuring and even killing some female riders.

If it wasnt for her, none of us girls would be wearing pants, McDonald said.

Last summer, McDonalds passion for researching cowgirls like McGinnis led to a hobby, then to the Cowgirls of the West Living History group.

I bought an old-style shirt and thought, why not create a group? she recalls.

The group officially formed in August 2007 and now has six members ranging in age from 8 to 50, McDonald said. Members dont have to own a horse, she added, but they must know how to handle a horse. Her group does no gun play, she added, unlike groups representing pre-1900 cowgirls.

As for the antique gear, McDonald said she was surprised how much she found in antique shops around town or by asking around. All other items are primarily purchased through the online auction site eBay, she said.

Were always looking, McDonald said, adding that the antique clothes range from $10 to $150. Some gear, like an antique Ted Flowers ornate silver parade saddle, however, would run higher. One of those vintage saddles that originally went for $500 in the 1930s now can cost upwards of $30,000 because of the high-end silver detailing, McDonald said.

‘Ultimate feminists

For the cowgirl group members, participation is about honoring women who now pass under the radar in American history.

Terrebonne resident Amy Conkling, 32, said before joining the group, she wasnt aware of the rodeo cowgirls. Now, shes hooked.

My primary goal is to get these women known, said Conkling, an alpaca rancher. They were the ultimate feminists; they did everything the men did, but with lipstick, curled hair and riding skirts.

Conkling based her 1913 to 1920s attire on a cowgirl named Prairie Rose Henderson, who excelled at riding bucking broncos, even beating all her male competitors at a Cheyenne, Wyo., rodeo.

She was herself. She never apologized for who she was, Conkling said. She lived as she wanted to.

Conkling said shes designing and sewing her own outfit based on Hendersons, complete with pantaloons. McDonald first suggested that Conkling research Henderson, who McDonald says was the first bling gal, decorating her clothes with ostrich feathers and angora and wearing a sombrero straw hat. She was the first woman to bloom her skirts, McDonald said, which means tucking the ends into her socks, or sewing the bottom edges together for better riding.

Conkling also has a matching saddle, collar and bridle for her horse, saying she is teaching her horse how to do tricks like those the rodeo girls used to do: standing, hanging and balancing on her galloping horses saddle.

Soon, the Cowgirls of the West may perform similar feats, McDonald says. In the meantime, shell continue looking for antique clothing, recruiting new members and working on writing a childrens book that also tells the cowgirl tale.

Last year, the group participated in the 2007 Sister Christmas Parade and the Bend Christmas Parade. This year, members have at least seven events planned, including the Sisters Rodeo, Deschutes and Jefferson county fairs and the Pendleton Round-Up Westward Ho! Parade.

To learn more

Cowgirls of the West Living History meets at 7 p.m. Sunday in northwest Bend. To attend or to get more information about the group, contact Kimberly McDonald at 382-2374 or 948-0791 or e-mail at cowgirlofthewest72@yahoo.com.