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Year Inducted: 2005
Home State: WI
It all started for Elaine Kramer in 1954 at the Metro Theater in Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin when she saw the movie “Ride a White Horse.” The spectacular feats of the Roman riders caught Elaine’s attention and she knew that’s what she wanted to do. Dazzling costumes, white plumed horses and the thrill of a rodeo arena were part of Elaine’s life for more than 20 years as one of America’s most famous Roman riders.
Elaine’s fascination with Roman riding began inside that movie theater but it didn’t stop there. While she sat and watched the credits roll, she learned that those wonderful white horses that grabbed her attention were trained at the White Horse Ranch in Naper, Nebraska – so she wrote a letter. Much to her surprise, she received an invitation to train at the very ranch she saw on the silver screen.
Within six months of arriving at White Horse Ranch, Elaine was asked to jump six horses abreast, filling in for a performer who had gotten hurt. Nervous, scared and excited, Elaine was honored that she was asked to fill such large shoes. That first public performance was at the American Royal Horse Show in Kansas City, Missouri, the first in what was to become a 20-year career, entertaining fans at many of the most prestigious rodeos across the United States and Canada.
She performed her Roman riding act with The Flying Valkyries of Palm Springs, California in 1955 and went on to join Jinks Hoglan’s All Girl Review where a team of women trick rode and amazed rodeo audiences up and down the east coast. In 1957, she went to Pontiac, Michigan where she performed and taught children to Roman ride.
By 1959, Elaine knew she wanted her own act. So she developed her team of six beautiful matched sorrels, all Saddlebreds, and began performing. From Torontoto El Paso, Texas, from the elegant Devon Horse Show to the San Francisco Cow Palace, Elaine’s six-horse “Roman Riding Exhibition” graced rodeo arenas with flash, flair and fluidity. Her jumps were flawless as she stood on the backs of her two wheelers, Fury and Fleet.
She was thrilled the day a telegram came requesting her presence at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Many celebrities have seen her ride and countless fans watched her perform graceful figure eights and daring jumps under the rodeo arena spotlight. She was at the height of rodeo stardom when she retired her horses in 1972.
In 1974, her dreams that became reality made a full circle. “The Great American Cowboy,” a documentary about Larry Mahan was playing at the Metro Theater. Mahan thought so highly of Elaine’s talent, he asked her if she would like to be in the movie, driving her six-horse Roman riding act into cinema history. She gladly accepted his invitation and she got to see the movie right where her career started 20 years prior.
Elaine’s spirit and spunk took her to the top in rodeo history and she is gladly welcomed into the National Cowgirl Hall of Fame.
