Women Blaze Trails At Cheyenne Frontier Days

CHEYENNE, Wyo. (CBS4) - Cheyenne Frontier Days held a competition for a new event at the CFD Rodeo: Ladies Breakaway Roping. More than 200 women signed up to compete, filling all available slots in less than eight minutes.

"It's a great event, it's a really fast event, it's probably one of the fastest events in Rodeo," said Linsay Sumpter from Eaton, Colorado, who is among the women competing in Breakaway Roping. "All you do is rope them around the neck and that's it."

It's named breakaway because instead of roping, tackling and tying the feet of the calf, once the rope hits the mark, it's designed to break away.

"You tie this string onto the saddle horn of your horse and after you rope the calf and you throw your slack then it breaks away from the saddle horn and that's what stops the time."

Done in a matter of seconds.

Capturing the historic moment is veteran photographer Eva Scofield who has been photographing Cheyenne since 1998.

She knows well what it's like to be a trailblazer for women.

"Before I got in the Navy, I was a chemical engineer so I was on the only woman in my classes--that was back in the 80s," she explained. "Then when I was in the military, I was often staged where there weren't any women. I'm basic training I was the only woman in my battalion. "

Cheyenne is where Eva built up her portfolio so she could get her card with the PRCA--she was recently named Photographer of the Year.

Nellie Miller also competed, in Barrel Racing.

"It's a big part of Rodeo, the fans love the sport, they love watching the girls run and it's an exciting event because we're going as fast as we can and so everybody really gets into it."

Traveling with her husband, two girls, ages 7 & 4, and their dog Poncho, Nellie competes in rodeos across the country.

"I love to see where rodeo is going, it's a really exciting time to be a part of Rodeo right now, I feel like we're really progressing steadily and I just hope it's going to be around for a long time."

Cheyenne Frontier Days included more events for children this year as well, hoping to expand the reach of the rodeo to an even broader audience.

Cheyenne Frontier Days runs through July 28.