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National Rodeo Hall of Fame
Inducted in 1999
Pauline Nesbitt
EVENTS
Trick Rider
Pauline Nesbitt was born at Vickers, Ohio, in 1905, and became one of the all-time great rodeo trick riders. Her career started in 1922, when she became a lady bronc rider–at that time still a competitive rodeo event. She switched to trick riding after she watched Tad Lucas at a rodeo in San Antonio, Texas.
As a trick rider, Pauline Nesbitt performed at all of the top rodeos in the country, including the famed venues at Madison Square Garden and Boston Garden. For more than 20 years she toured with her husband, Jimmie Nesbitt, one of the top rodeo clowns in the business. She was one of the earliest members of the Cowboys Turtle Association.
Never one to let anything stand in her way, she often competed while injured. Possibly her worst injury occurred when she was kicked while going under the horse’s belly at a show in Idaho. She finished the performance and drove to Colorado with three fractured vertebrae. Yet, she buckled herself into a brace and finished the season.
Pauline Nesbitt passed from the rodeo scene at Nowata, Oklahoma, in 1996.
EVENTS
Trick Rider
Pauline Nesbitt was born at Vickers, Ohio, in 1905, and became one of the all-time great rodeo trick riders. Her career started in 1922, when she became a lady bronc rider–at that time still a competitive rodeo event. She switched to trick riding after she watched Tad Lucas at a rodeo in San Antonio, Texas.
As a trick rider, Pauline Nesbitt performed at all of the top rodeos in the country, including the famed venues at Madison Square Garden and Boston Garden. For more than 20 years she toured with her husband, Jimmie Nesbitt, one of the top rodeo clowns in the business. She was one of the earliest members of the Cowboys Turtle Association.
Never one to let anything stand in her way, she often competed while injured. Possibly her worst injury occurred when she was kicked while going under the horse’s belly at a show in Idaho. She finished the performance and drove to Colorado with three fractured vertebrae. Yet, she buckled herself into a brace and finished the season.
Pauline Nesbitt passed from the rodeo scene at Nowata, Oklahoma, in 1996.
