For the past decade, Magnolia-based riding group Lone Star Cowgirls has been part of the rodeo scene and has entertained crowds year-round across Texas.
In 2006, Valerie Cranford and her sister, Cat Hammers, started the drill team as a group of four women who rode American paint horses and performed choreography set to music. The sisters co-direct each performance; Cranford choreographs the routines and Hammers designs the group’s costumes.
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Lone Star Cowgirls was founded in 2006 and performs in shows across the state year-round.[/caption]
“We started going to competitions and parades, and it’s just grown since then,” Cranford said. “Now we travel all over Texas still riding the paint horses and still wearing our red, white and blue costumes.”
The team has grown to include about eight to 12 women per year, and each rider trains extensively before a performance, Cranford said.
