JUST FOR THE RIDE features the legendary rodeo
cowgirl riding in the New Mexico state fair as she
has for 60-odd years, and still working calves
on her ranch--after two heart attacks
and two hip replacements.

"They say you're stupid

if you're satisfied with your life, well then I'm stupid,"

Sawyer says as she drives her Cadillac with its special

"FERN" license plates.

"When I was roping calves in rodeos, I wore my best

clothes," she says, proudly displaying

her enormous closet of custom-made cowboy boots


and flamboyant rodeo outfits.

"I should've had a facelift a long time ago, but I'm not
that vain. I never was good looking, so I didn't bother
about it." Fiercely independent, Sawyer runs her ranch with
the elegant efficiency that comes from a lifetime
spent on horseback.

Sawyer was at the height of her career in the 1940's

when the last major rodeos discontinued women's cutting

and roping competitions .

In 1947 several women organized the first professional
"all-girl" rodeo. Sawyer was all-around champion
at the event. A year later, the Girls Rodeo Association
was formed. The Women's Pro Rodeo Association, as it's
now called, is the oldest organization of professional
female athletes in America. A new generation of
cowgirls has picked up where Sawyer left off.

JUST FOR THE RIDE is dedicated to the memory

of Fern Sawyer,

who died of a heart attack on horseback