Making an Impact

In 1965, 12-year-old Pam Minick read an article in The Western Horseman about an outstanding cowgirl named Jimmie Gibbs, who was only one year older than Minick.

“I lived in Nevada, and she lived in Texas, but seeing that article made an impact on me,” Minick said.

In the world of barrel racing, Jimmie Gibbs Munroe paved the rodeo trail for equality for women. During Munroe’s terms as president of the Women’s Professional Rodeo Association, she and her board accomplished equal purse money between men and women and the use of electric timers for accuracy.

Munroe grew up competing in horse shows, junior rodeos, high school rodeos, college rodeos and finally professional rodeos. She competed in barrel racing and roping events.

Thirteen years later after The Western Horseman article about Munroe, she and Minick became directors of the Women’s Professional Rodeo Association and then served as president and vice president of the organization.

“Together, we led the WPRA through some pretty rough times,” Minick said.

Advice from Munroe’s peers gave her motivation to run for president.

The late ’70s to late ’80s were controversial times for women in rodeo, Betty Mawson, former WPRA director who served with Munroe for three years, said.

“I was on the board at a time when we were still fighting for equal money and still trying to get electric eyes more widely distributed to the rodeos,” Mawson said.

“The WPRA did not have the support of the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association,” Mawson said.

Accomplishing the WPRA’s goals required strategy rather than demanding equality just because they were women, Munroe said.

“Getting equal pay was not about feminism to me,” Munroe said, “it was about getting what we deserved.”

“We did research and focus groups on audiences that went to rodeos,” Minick said. “We found the two most crowd-pleasing events were bull riding and barrel racing.”

The WPRA also discovered barrel racing is the cheapest event, Minick said, because barrel racing is the only event that does not require livestock.

When the WPRA board presented their research to the PRCA committees, they first demanded 50 percent of the winnings of men and then up to equal money, Munroe said.

“Eighty-five percent of the committee went with equal money for a WPRA barrel race, and within time, about 98 percent eventually did,” Minick said.

“We lost a few rodeos in the beginning,” Minick said, “but we got them back shortly.”

Another advancement Munroe and her board brought to barrel racing were electronic timers.

“In the late 70s there were very few places we went that were timed electronically,” Munroe said. “There were just flagmen and stopwatches.”

“The flagmen and stopwatches left too much room for human error,” Mawson said.

By acquiring sponsors, the WPRA board provided timers to rodeos, Munroe said.

“Through our 10 to 12 years on the board, we made huge strides,” Minick said.

“In the time-period [Munroe] led the WPRA,” Minick said, “she had already been a world champion, hauled professionally, qualified for the National Finals Rodeo multiple times and competed at virtually every major rodeo.”

Through Munroe’s many travels and accomplishments, she knew the committees personally, Minick said.

“In negotiating with the committees,” Minick said, “she would call somebody by their first name.”

From competing in their rodeos, Munroe knew the committee members well, Minick said. She had become their friend, and was an incredible leader.

“She was also fair and tough as the leader of the WPRA,” Minick said. “That is what made the board of directors rally around her.

“She was not going to ask you to do anything she would not do herself,” Minick said. “That is what a good leader is.”

“What made it work was [Munroe’s] rapport with Pam Minick,” Mawson said. “They made a great team.”

“I hated to see them go when they both decided to not run again,” Mawson said.

“It was an honor, a real privilege, to serve on the board with [Munroe],” Mawson said.

Minick said one of Munroe’s most noticeable qualities is her horsemanship.

“When I first met her,” Minick said, “I was in awe of her ability as a competitor and as a horsewoman.”

“The first thing I admired about her was her horsemanship,” Mawson said. “She always used minimal bits and quiet hands.

“To me,” Mawson said, “that is a sign of a well-trained horse and a good horsewoman.”

During one of Munroe’s years competing in the NFR, her horse became injured at the last minute. She got on a horse she had never ridden before and competed, but more importantly, she placed in go-rounds, Minick said.

“She had the ability to ride pretty much any horse,” Minick said.

Munroe brought diversity to the WPRA board, Minick said. She was not only a world champion barrel racer, but also an all-around champion.

“She brought a knowledge of roping events to her role as leader of the WPRA and really kept that part of the organization alive,” Minick said.

After Munroe’s term as president of the WPRA, she had an opportunity to step away from leadership of barrel racing. Instead, she took on a different opportunity.

The PRCA decided to have the Professional Women’s Barrel Racing. The PWBR gave women an opportunity to serve as part of the association on an equal basis, Minick said.

Munroe stepped in and became the leader of the PWBR.

“That spoke volumes to me,” Minick said. “She cared enough about the event, the sport, women and equality, and cared enough about the future of it that she took the position at a time when she really did not have to.

“She could have just sat back and watched it either grow or go a different direction,” Minick said. “She answered a call from the PRCA and met another challenge head on.”

“The sport of professional rodeo was very good to me,” Munroe said. “It was important to me to give back.”

Munroe is a great leader and horsewoman, but most importantly a friend, Mawson said.

In 1990, Mawson lost her brother in an accident. At the following WPRA board meeting Mawson attended, Munroe took her aside, she said.

“[Munroe] said ‘The pain never goes away, but it does dull around the edges,’” Mawson said. “That sticks in my mind today, and that was nearly 30 years ago.”

“One of the biggest rewards from my years of rodeoing would be the relationships,” Munroe said.

“The championships are great, and they are something you will always treasure, but the thing that was the most important to me was the relationships I made,” Munroe said.

Along with the many relationships rodeo has given Munroe, one of the best was her husband, “Bud” Munroe, she said. Together, they have a daughter named Tassie. They met through college rodeos and hauled together professionally for many years.

“It was a special moment being able to compete in the NFR together,” Munroe said.

The first year the couple competed at the NFR together was in 1981, Munroe said. They competed at the NFR together a total of five times throughout their careers.

Munroe continued to rodeo professionally until 1989, when she gave birth to Tassie. Munroe then began hosting barrel racing clinics for the public. Now, she still hosts a few clinics, but mostly spends her days running a cow-calf operation with her husband in Valley Mills, Texas, still rides daily, if weather permits.

Munroe said she had no intentions of rodeoing professionally and going to NFR while growing up. The moment that changed it all was when her parents bought her a three-year-old bay gelding for $400 during her senior year of high school in 1970.

“That horse changed the course of my entire life,” Munroe said.