A love of horses and a com­munity of seasoned “40-some­thing women” who may, or may not, want to get back in the saddle again are participat­ing in unique cowgirl groups in Texas and across the U.S.

In Farmersville, Wylie, De­catur and 13 other Texas cities — and across the country — 40 Something Cowgirl chapters have formed so women past a certain age with fun-loving spirits can go on adventures to­gether while enjoying the com­pany of the horses they love.

Kristi Williams was 46 years old when she started the 40SC group from her daughter’s bed­room in Oregon. Today, the headquarters for the cowgirl operation is located in a 3-story building in downtown Breck­enridge, Texas.

The birth of the 40SC group wasn’t something the founder spent decades pondering, she said, it simply evolved in an or­ganic way. After years of hoof­ing it in the horse industry with her husband Ted, the couple be­came highly aware of the fact that all of their clients shopping for horses were mature women.

“They didn’t have anything to do and they typically had two to three (horses) in a pasture,” she said. “We realized they were looking for other women to do stuff with so, we started putting people together.”

Kristi said as they started thinking about it, she wondered, “Why can’t we do this globally?”

Women of a certain age ev­erywhere are looking to get to­gether with other women, she said. “And when you look at the demographics in the horse industry, around 92-95% of the industry do nothing. They just have horses in their backyard and just a small few actually show or rodeo or haul.”

Kristi didn’t waste any time after the epiphany. “At this point I had already developed a product and written a hand­book,” she said. “I was trying to fill that hole in my heart that was left after my daughter moved back to Texas.”

For the full story, see the Apr. 8 issue or subscribe online.

By Sonia Duggan • [email protected]