Stunt rider to awe at Roundup

MOSES LAKE — They say you never get a second chance to make a first impression and equestrian trick rider Jessica Blair Fowlkes has a way of just blowing a rodeo audience’s mind.

To say her death-defying Roman riding grand finale over a barrier of fire is a trick is like saying Evel Knievel was just another motorcycle rider.

The stunt rider from Western Kentucky has a way of pushing the envelope that’s breathtaking, fast and flashy in her extreme display of horsemanship and riding skill.

Columbia Basin rodeo and equestrian fans will have the chance to see her strut her stuff at the 75th annual Moses Lake Roundup Aug. 16-18 at the Grand County Fairgrounds.

“I’ll come in running (astride) on the two horses for a series of maneuvers at full speed. I’ll also do what we call trick rides on an individual horse, a series of tricks, standing up, riding underneath or jumping from side to side all while the horses are running as fast as they can around the arena,” said Blair Fowlkes. “Moses Lake is a big arena, so the horses have plenty of room to get stretched out and get excited about what they do.”

Blair Fowlkes began her career as an undergraduate at the University of Tennessee where she hooked up with Dolly Parton’s Dixie Stampede as one of their lead riders/dancers, performing in front of over a million people a year. She performs a variety of daring fast acts with her four gray American Quarter Horses, including a flaming Roman riding, trick riding, and Liberty/bridle-less exhibition.

She turned her love of riding into a solo career and quickly became one of the hottest contract acts on the PRCA rodeo and equine event circuit. Hot being the keyword: behind her grand finale, she rides Roman style on two horses over a fiery barrier.

She’s one part horse whisperer, one part trainer and all-parts thrill-seeker she says, but it is spectacular as it is dangerous.

“Horses are very trusting animals, but it takes time to work with them (around the fire),” she explained. “The biggest thing is that they have to trust that you’re going to get them through the situation and they’re going to come out the other side fine.”

There’s people who don’t trust their business partner as much as her horses trust her showmanship, but she has developed one of the most dazzling grand finales where both rider and horses carry each other to safety.

“They never get burned by the fire, not once,” Blair Fowlkes said. “I used one of my old, veteran horses to teach the others. He likes it and stays calm. Since he’s OK with it, the others are calm with it too.

“It’s very dangerous, but it’s not hard with the proper preparation, they handled it pretty well.”

As it is with every form of entertainment, the behind-the-scenes, attention to detail is what makes the show. Yeah, it takes nerves of steel to ride a galloping horse backwards or stand astride two horses as they run past a lamp of fire underneath, but it’s the hours of preparation that leads to that moment.

“I’ve been doing this 10-11 years now on my own,” she explained. “One of the things that people don’t understand, little girls especially, is the real danger in what we do. They’ll ask how do I get involved and do something like this?

“You don’t want to crush somebody’s dreams, but even with the trick riding, if the horse trips that’s all she wrote.”

It’s definitely don’t-try-this-at-home entertainment form. But it is one for the highlight reel and Columbia Basin equestrian fans are in for a real treat when Jessica Blair Fowlkes brings her act to the 75th annual Moses Lake Roundup for a show to remember.

Rodney Harwood is a sports writer for the Columbia Basin Herald and can be reached at rharwood@columbiabasinherald.com.