BUCKHANNON, W.Va. – While visitors await the May 11 W.Va. Strawberry Festival Horse and Carriage Parade at 3 p.m., all will be treated to a special trick riding show at noon in downtown Buckhannon.
Trick riding performer Shadow Montag from Belmont, Ohio will delight spectators with his horse riding maneuvers, along with a performance by the Mid America Cowgirls Rodeo Drill Team from Tree Oaks, Michigan.
Shadow was raised in the rolling hills of Eastern Ohio knowing how to grab an audience’s attention and entertain a crowd. Show business is in his blood. His father was a professional bull rider and his mother managed rodeos. Shadow learned to ride before he could put together sentences.
At the age of 13, he traveled to Colorado and attended a professional training clinic schooled by legends in the Trick Riding industry. He landed a full time position as a performer bye the “Queen of County” Dolly Parton at her Dixie Stampede in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. Soon after he was featured on the reality show “Bringing Up Bates” his career has how been catapulted by performing death defying acrobat stunts on the two beautiful black horses Thunder and Blitz. Shadow will ride 2 horses Roman Style in the horse and carriage parade.
The show is being sponsored by Dr. Michael Miller DDS. of Buckhannon.
The Horse and Carriage Parade is sponsored by Mike Ross, Inc. and Waco Oil and Gas.
The Mid America Cowgirls Rodeo Drill Team will also perform. The team is comprised of riders from Michigan, Indiana, Illinois and Ohio. The cowgirls own Quarter Horses, Paints, Arabian and others. The team rides exclusively in Western Style.
Their crown-pleasing performance has had the team invited to events throughout the Midwest and as far away as North Carolina. They have won numerous parade awards including multiple Best Unit at the famous Kentucky Derby Pegasus Parade. In 2017, the Cowgirls were honored as one of only 40 units selected from over 3000 application to ride in the 58th Presidential Inaugural Parade in Washington, D.C.
The group’s shows include several drill routines, trick riding, roman riding, barrel racing, pole bending and other exciting performances.
The Cowgirls are outfitted in flashy costumes of beautiful white leather chaps highlighted with metallic blue, pink, and silver leather, sparkling blouses, white gloves and cowboy hats. Not to be outdone, the horses are dressed in matching custom-made leather tack highlighted with genuine Austrian Crystals and matching saddle blankets.
The show is a warm-up for the W.Va. Strawberry Horse and Carriage Parade later that day. The parade will feature dozens of carriages, individual riders and equestrian teams.
Visitors are invited to spend the day in downtown Buckhannon enjoying carriage rides, live entertainment and more throughout the day.
For more information on the Horse and Carriage Parade contact Susie Sheets at 304-613-0103 or email wildwood0103@gmail.com.
Additional Strawberry Festival information can be obtained by contacting Festival headquarters at 304-472-9036 or by visiting www.wvstrawberryfestival.com
