Bolen, Berenice Blair Dossey

Born in Washington in 1913, Berenice Blair Dossey Bolen began riding horses at the age of three. She learned trick riding skills in the early 1930s as part of the 101 Ranch Wild West shows. Berenice excelled in cowgirl horse races, quadrille, and trick riding. Berenice shined in rodeos from coast to coast in America and Canada, including Madison Square Garden, Boston Garden, San Francisco’s Cow Palace, and scores of major and smaller rodeos. Berenice’s daring tricks such as the Cossack drag, where she would hang under the horse’s belly at a full gallop, earned her the title of World Champion Trick rider in 1941 and 1945. But Berenice was best known for standing on the saddle of her horse Sundee at a full gallop, known as the hippodrome stand. In 1949, she moved to Chandler with her third husband, Carl Dossey, a World Champion bareback rider She retired from trick riding in 1956. Berenice died in 1974, before officials at the National Cowgirl Museum honored her career by inducting her into the Hall of Fame in 1991.