Trick riding in the rodeo.....
some say it all began
with Ivan Ivanofsky,
the serf from Kazakhstan.
Some folks think that slavery
is just this country's curse.
In Russia, there was serfdom,
a practice as perverse.
And in some noble's bondage,
in serfdom Ivan grew.
The stable that he lived in
was all the world he knew.
Ivan lived with horses.
What grain they got, he'd share;
and there were those that claimed that he
was mothered by a mare.
He couldn't write or sign his name.
He'd never learned to read.
But he could talk with horses,
and ride most any steed.
He'd sometimes hear the Cossacks speak
of someplace 'cross the sea-
where land was for the taking
and a serf could live life free.
Through the Urals, Ivan fled.
He crossed the Caspian Sea,
and found the jewell he dreamed of.....
at long last...liberty!
No longer some Lord's feudal serf,
he called Wyoming home.
He settled where the Clark's Fork
joins the mighty Yellowstone.
Great bands of horses herded there;
as windblown- wild as he;
and they, like Ivan,
roamed the range
unfettered, proud and free.
He didn't know much English;
nor talk to men too much.....
but he could talk with horses
and they cottoned to his touch.
He couldn't even sign his name.
He couldn't write or read...
but never was a man more skilled
than Ivan with a steed.
Mentored by the Cossacks,
he was agile, daring, quick.....
superbly executing
each Cossack riding trick.
He ended up performing
with traveling wild-west shows;
or thrilling crowds trick riding
in Western rodeos.
With foot caught in the stirrup-
head dangling near the ground-
he'd do the daring Cossack drag
before the cheering crowd.
Then underneath the belly...
then up the other side...
then mount up on the saddle
and stand straight up and ride.
Oh, it was more than just a thrill
to watch that Cossack fly-
all the time performing stunts
as he would thunder by.
Now when I see some rider
those Cossack tricks perform,
the memory of Ivan,
within my mind takes form.
Trick riding in the rodeo....
some say it all began
with Ivan Ivanofsy-
the serf from Kazakhstan.
Bette Wolf Duncan
copyright2000
This poem is dedicated to
ALICE GREENOUGH of Red Lodge, Montana, who thrilled crowds with her trick
riding in the 30s and 40s. I was one of those who admired her; and dreamed of
being like her. I can still see her doing the "Cossack drag". She was inducted
into the COWGIRL HALL OF FAME. Below is a picture of her riding broncs. ( I
have been unable to locate a picture of her trick riding; but it was her trick
riding that rendered her unforgettable)
