One bright spot of the last weekend’s Mission Mountain Rodeo was trick rider Page Werthheimer and her horses, Hadley and Steel.

Page’s home is Big Timber, and the teenager is heading into her first year at Texas Tech University, in Lubbock to study agricultural economics and then come home to the family ranch where they run black Angus cows.

She's always been a horse person in a rodeo family and has been trick riding since she was 7 years old. Page said she saw a woman trick rider and wanted to learn, so her mom found a teacher, and the young athlete excelled.

Despite a damp arena Friday night and a sloppy arena Saturday, Page dazzled folks with her hippodrome stand, vaults, and full fender drag, to name just a few of her moves.

Her saddles are white leather with special stirrups, straps, handholds, and loops to allow her specialized moves, and her costume was neon green and glittery, but easy for Page to move in.

One trick she performed was the hippodrome or liberty stand, an iconic trick-riding move. The rider stands straight up, using a strong strap to hold her feet over the horse’s withers and leans forward. The drag is when Page hangs off the side or back of her horse, letting her foot, hand, or even hair drag in the arena dirt while Hadley or Steel continues to run.

Page’s favorite move is vaulting, she said. That’s where she runs alongside her horse and jumps on, then slides off the back end of her horse and jumps back on

It takes about a year to work with a horse and make him or her solid, she said.

Steel likes to perform, Page said. The big sorrel gelding came from Canada, where there are many trick rIders.

“It’s a great sport,” Page said. “I’m so lucky I get to do what I love.”