Brittany Miller is 24 years old and has nodded for hundreds of bucking horses. She wakes up every morning dreaming of them and working out how to up her game. She wants one thing, to be the best and in certain circles, she already is.

Ranch bronc riding isn’t what everybody thinks of when they picture bronc riding at PRCA rodeos. It doesn’t look like that and isn’t supposed to. Though rules in every association that has ranch broncs can vary, here are two standards:

Horses are ridden in unmodified, working Western saddles. The same gear you day work, trail ride or pony horses in is what you’ll bump up on the ranch bronc you draw.

Riders aren’t disqualified for using two hands. In fact, some attach tightly coiled lariat ropes or piece of rein or cord run through the saddle’s gullet (called a night) to grip with the hand that isn’t holding the hack rein. Same goes for saddle horns, they’re fair game.

Brittany and all the women who ever thought about trying their luck and skill against a horse who’s profession it is to land all comers in the dirt caught a huge break when the Texas Bronc Rider’s Association included a women’s ranch bronc riding at their first finals. RIDE TV picked up on the rare breed of cowgirl’s appeal and launched a reality series about them called Cowgirls. The slick Western publication Cowgirls fell in right behind them in sponsorship and coverage. The bucking horse community’s non-profit support organization, Bronc Riding Nation was right there with those media outlets making sure the legacy of the great lady bronc rider’s in rodeo’s history was known to be alive and well.

Miller sits at the top of the leader board in the TBRA and Cowgirl Series.