EVENTS
Rodeo Trick Rider
Rodeo Relay Rider
Vera McGinnis was born in 1892 in Missouri. A top hand at riding, she was an innovator of western clothing, as well. Around 1900, Vera moved with her parents to a ranch at Cimarron, New Mexico, where she rode burros and horses. After relocating to California, she worked as a movie extra.
First competing in relay and flat races in 1913, for two decades Vera McGinnis performed in Wild West Shows and rodeos all over the world. Primarily a trick rider and racer, she also rode bucking horses. At Tex Austin’s 1924 London rodeo she won the trick riding and relay events and earned the title “World Champion Cowgirl.” Her career ended abruptly in 1934 when she fell from a racing horse, breaking her back in five places.
McGinnis hated the split skirts worn by women performers. “Skirts were a nuisance,” she said, so she wore a pair of boy’s flannel pants in the arena and changed women’s rodeo fashions for all time. Her outfits were the talk of the circuit and set western wear trends that still persist. Vera McGinnis Farra resided in North Fork, California, at the time of her death in 1990.
