RIDE TV Cowgirls Recap: Cowtown Coliseum & Miles City

Season 3 of RIDE TV Cowgirls is finally here! We’re going to be giving weekly recaps of Cowgirls episodes from now until the end of the season, starting with Season 3 Episodes 1 & 2.

In case this is your first season of Cowgirls, here’s what you need to know:

Five bronc-riding cowgirls compete each season for a big chunk of cash and a whole lot of glory. This is the third season of RIDE TV’s hit, and the girls couldn’t be more excited!

The show premiered Wednesday night with not one, but two episodes. If you haven’t seen Episodes 301 or 302 but still want to, they’re available here on RIDE TV. Beware: the rest of this post contains spoilers!

*SPOILERS FOR RIDE TV COWGIRLS SEASON 3 EPISODES 1 & 2*

EPISODE 301 – Cowtown Coliseum

The first episode opens with the cowgirls entering the Stockyards Hotel in Texas in anticipation of the Fort Worth Stockyards Championship Rodeo at Cowtown Coliseum.

Duke, who is nursing a broken collarbone, may not be competing this year…but, if you thought that was all you’d see of her this season, you’d be wrong. The cowgirl shares that she’ll be training three women on broncs to see if one of them can ride in her place.

The cowgirls meet Melissa Slayton, their Season 3 stock contractor, who explains that at each rodeo, the girls will have the chance to win a buckle and $1,000. The top two from the long go will compete head-to-head in the short go for the final prize. And, the winner’s points will go toward a $25,000 prize to be won at the end of the year.

Melissa also reveals that the three girls that Duke is training will compete for a wild card spot to enter with the other four cowgirls. A new cowgirl will compete in each round from Rounds 1-3. Then, whoever they decide on will compete with the cowgirls for the rest of the season! In Sarah’s words, “new meat.”

The wild card for the Fort Worth Stockyards is Korie Ford, bull rider and bronc rider in training.

After setting the stage for the season, the Stockyards Championship Rodeo begins…with some conflict. The girls learn that they won’t be riding Melissa’s stock, the horses were actually colts, and they aren’t allowed to ride with ropes—they have to use night latches. Ultimately, for safety and reputation concerns, the cowgirls collectively choose not to compete. Thankfully, the Cowtown team calls Melissa and lets her know that the cowgirls can ride her stock and “play by their [own] rules.”

To see the final results from Episode 1 at Cowtown Coliseum (and the special guest who presents the buckle to the winner), check out Cowgirls on RIDE TV.

EPISODE 302 – Miles City

The second episode takes the cowgirls up north to Brittany’s hometown—Miles City, Montana—for the Miles City Bucking Horse Sale. You may know the town from the popular Hell’s A Roarin’ Horse Drive, which is featured in the episode.

Being on Brittany’s home turf, we get an inside look at her motivation for cowboying and bronc riding before her Friday night long go with the boys.

The wildcard for Miles City is Stephanie Bella from Walkerton, Indiana, the second of Duke’s three trainees. Duke reveals in a talking head that Stephanie has only been on one bronc and is new to rodeo, but Stephanie states that she’s confident and excited about the event.

Another exciting development from Miles City: Melissa puts a bounty of $100 on one of her horses, and says that she’ll add $100 to the bounty every time he’s not ridden. Whoever rides him will not only get the bounty, but an extra 20 points toward that final $25,000.

The cowgirls reconvene on Saturday for the second rodeo of the season, which ends up being the coldest Miles City Bucking Horse Sale in history. A mud delay sets the cowgirls up for a long, chilly, Montana day.

Jane deals with some startling news, Duke helps the other girls behind the chutes, Brittany has some scoring questions, and rain and mud abound during their time in the arena.

Now that you’re caught up, mark your calendars for next week’s episode of Cowgirls, airing Wednesday at 9:00 PM/8:00 PM CST on RIDE TV.