Dazzling Acrobats on Horseback

An Inside Look at Trick Riding

Helena and Big Timber, Montana

Written by Laura Bailey

Photography contributed by Madison MacDonald-Thomas and Paige Wertheimer

With all its flamboyant pageantry, and horsemanship, trick riding is the stuff of little cowgirls’ dreams. At age five, Madison MacDonald-Thomas was smitten by the spotlight, fast horses, and jaw-dropping stunts. 

Now, years later - that’s Madison in the NFR spotlight, standing on the saddle, her horse at a flat-out run as she holds an American flag with fireworks shooting out the top. She throws an accomplished wave to the crowd as her costume glitters under the lights. 

“It’s an adrenaline rush,” she said. “When things are all going good it’s pretty easy.” 

Madison, from Helena, has performed in rodeo arenas across North America and Mexico. She is considered one of the best trick riders in the nation as her performance will include dizzying tricks that include standing in the saddle, vaulting from side to side and hanging by one foot on the side of a running horse.

“It’s an incredible bond between you and your horse,” she said. “The trust you have to put into an 1,800-pound animal and in yourself is very unique.” 

Madison has loved horses since she could remember. Her mother produced Wild West shows in Calgary, where Madison learned trick riding. The draw for her has always been the horses, and she’s trained every horse she rides. All of them have a few things in common. They’re stout and built well and just seem to fall into Madison’s lap when she least expects it.

“I always find ‘rejects’ or horses that couldn’t find a job and are just passed around,” Madison said. 

Bonnie, her newest mare, is one of those horses. Not only did she not have a job, but she also didn’t seem to want a job until Madison started training her for trick riding. But after just six months of training, she used her to perform at the National Finals Rodeo last year.

Chex, a palomino gelding, is 11 years old and is the steady ride Madison has been using in her performances for several years.  

“He’s psycho, spooks at everything and all he ever wanted to do was run,” Madison said. “It took me a lot of years to get him solid and trained.” 

While trick riding was her passion, it was barrel racing that paved her way to college in Texas where she pursued a degree in education. It’s where she met her husband Keegan Thomas, a rodeo cowboy who rode saddle broncs and bulls. Although she enjoyed barrel racing, she couldn’t give up her love of trick riding. After a while, there just wasn’t room for both. 

Knowing she wouldn’t have the athleticism and risk tolerance forever, Madison decided to go all-in for trick riding. She’s 32 now and has been trick riding for 26 years.

“It’s a young person’s game,” she said. “I’ve slowed down my performance schedule and I am trying to stay closer to home.” 

She has reason to slow down. Her son, Koda, is 14 months old and spending all summer traveling the rodeo circuit is not easy for the little guy. 

“The hours on the road are hard on everybody,” Madison said.

Over the years, Madison has had a few wrecks, but nothing serious: a few spills, a broken wrist. “Nothing major” she said - that was, until May during a performance in California. 

Madison was on a borrowed horse that she’d previously trained, but the horse hadn’t performed in the arena for some time. The horse lost its footing, and hit the fence with Madison mid-trick. It lost its back end and fell on her, then reared up and fell on her again.  

She was knocked out and woke up in the back of an ambulance. Somehow, not a single bone in her body was broken, but the concussion was serious. She’s still dealing with the aftereffects, including memory loss. 

She took ten days off and went back to California for a performance. 

“I played it safe and easy,” she said. “My main goal right now is to stay as close to home as possible.” To achieve that, Madison is focusing more on teaching trick riding to students from age seven to seventeen.

“We start from the ground up,” Madison said. “You have to have good horsemanship. Riding comes first and your tricks come second. 

Paige Wertheimer, 17, is one of her students. She lives in Big Timber on her family ranch, Nash Land and Livestock. The first time she saw a trick rider was at the Livingston Rodeo when she was three or four years old.  

“I fell in love with it instantly and I knew then that that’s what I wanted to do,” Paige said. 

She attended a trick riding clinic in Bozeman when she was 11, and she was hooked. At first the tricks were simple, like turning around in the saddle or spinning on the saddle horn. She quickly moved beyond the basics. Now, her favorite tricks are complicated vaults. 

Paige has performed at small-town rodeos across the region and is becoming known for her thrilling performances. 

“Trick riding is incredible,” Paige said. “In a way it feels like flying. That’s the best way to describe it - and when you have a crowd that’s into it, it’s awesome.” 

Paige practices at least three or four times a week at the indoor arena at the ranch. She always practices with someone watching, and it’s usually her mother - her biggest fan. 

“Learning to trick ride has been one of the best things I’ve ever done,” she said. She still takes occasional lessons from Madison. 

To meet a surge in demand for her guidance, Madison is considering building an online masterclass for students who can’t travel to Montana. She’s planning to create videos for students and have them send videos back to prove they’ve mastered the trick before moving on to another video.

Horses are at the center of her passion. They always have been, and for both Madison and Paige, trick riding is just one more opportunity to be on a horse.  

“It creates an incredible bond between you and your horse,” Madison said.