Discover the dynamic drill team showcasing horsemanship and patriotism across the Carolinas. These young women honor tradition with every performance.
When the PBR came to town a while back, North Carolina had a fitting welcome team waiting to greet their home state Carolina Cowboys: the drill team known as the Carolina Cowgirls.
Based out of the Sampson and Duplin county region of the state and composed of a group of young women ranging from 15-25, the Carolina Cowgirls put on a show doing a pattern routine and carrying flags. They pride themselves on their horsemanship and the shared core values that bind them together: the desire to always keep improving their skills, share their Christian faith, and display their love for the sport of rodeo and for America. These passions have created a strong sense of community among the team and it’s this bond that helps them communicate effectively without words horseback.
Their well known routine is what they affectionately call the “Dolly” and is based around Dolly Parton’s “Color Me America” song. This moving ballad stirs hearts with its genuine sentiment, and is truly beautiful when paired with the flags fluttering while being carried horseback.
Hannah Horne, founder of the team, saw the routine with Dolly’s song performed when she was a small child and her parents took her to see the Dixie Stampede. She remembers the magical feeling it evoked and wanted to share that feeling with others and be the one to help bring it forward–so she did.
Although the girls are newer on the scene, they keep their calendars booked and are working to upgrade their act by adding elements like trick riding. During their first year as a full drill team, they performed at the Cadillac Ranch in South Carolina, with Broken Pipe Ministries in Love Valley, North Carolina, and at Lake Waccamaw, Smithfield, Kenansville, and Warsaw, North Carolina, among other rodeo venues across the Carolinas.
Family is at the core of what they do, and the girls are quick to mention how they couldn’t maintain the travel and balance school or work without the support of their loved ones. One story stands out in their minds. When Hannah and Adyson Register’s dad was out of town during the time of the PBR event, their “Papa”, Kenneth Register, who often hauls the girls and their horses to events, stepped up to the plate. He is always at the arena cheering them on and not only carried them and their horses to the PBR event but even slept in the parking lot over the weekend just to make sure they had what they needed. The girls also have multiple dedicated arena sponsors supporting the team, such as: Best of Clinton, AMS Discount, Tuggle Farm Inc, RBK/Gritty Spur, IF Branded, Rustlin’ Rose Photography, Kibun Health, High on the Hog Arena, Lazy B Farm, Register’s Septic Pumping, Southern Port-a-John, and North Star Veterinary Hospital.
When welcoming the Carolina Cowboys at the PBR event in Greensboro, NC, the Carolina Cowgirls did a routine before the event and were there to interact with the crowd and be ambassadors for the sport of rodeo, engaging youth with free coloring pages and raffling off items. At the event, Hannah Register, Hannah Horne, Breionna Naylor, Alexis Faircloth, and Adyson Register were in attendance and on horseback. The girls have a Junior Varsity and a Varsity team, and several new members have joined since the PBR event. Newcomers to the team include: Addison Patterson, Valerie Futrell, Taylor Futrell, and Natalie Spell.
To kick off an event, the girls gather and say a prayer. Then they ride their sponsor flags through the arena and do the “Color Me America Song”, before introducing the Carolina Cowgirl flags and then the main event of the American flag.
The girls have a rodeo to perform right after Christmas in South Carolina and then will be back traveling all over North Carolina for winter rodeos.
North Carolina is in good hands with its cowgirls.
