Slovak Women Find Passion in Rodeo and Western Riding Despite the Risks

Two Slovak women have built their lives around a love of horses and western riding, a discipline more commonly associated with the American West than Central Europe. One of the women, a veteran rider, has accumulated injuries worthy of a stuntwoman but says her passion for horses has never wavered. Her younger colleague traces her inspiration to Winnetou, the iconic fictional Native American hero from the classic German western films and novels that were enormously popular in Central and Eastern Europe during the communist era. Both women were drawn into the world of western riding and rodeo through those cultural influences, carving out an unusual sporting and lifestyle niche in Slovakia.