Soon Hank was able to hit the road, with his wife acting as “advance man,” to take advantage of his radio and recording fame with a string of personals. This approach worked well during the late 1930s and early 1940s, but as time went by, Hank realized it would take more than music to make the big time. Though a short stay in Hollywood in 1946 proved unsuccessful, Hank met several cowboy stars of the day, including Roy Rogers and Jimmy Wakely.
Soon his traveling show sported a trick riding component. Through sheer determination, Hank learned to ride and added to his troupe his “famous trained horse, Shawnee.” His performances took on some of the daredevil atmosphere of a circus as, unlike many “singing cowboys,” Hank really put his horse through his paces. On a typical show, the lights would dim, the band would strike up a fast tune, and the spotlight would swing out to hit Hank riding in on Shawnee.
He would sing a few songs, then go into a display of trick riding. Jimmie Rodgers Snow, a boy of ten or eleven by then, recalled: “The one that drew the gasps was the ‘death-drag,’ where he lay across Shawnee’s neck and raced the horse back and forth in front of the grandstand.”
After more songs came the comedy routines. In one, Hank and Shawnee would pretend to bed down for the night, with one blanket over both. Hank would pretend to be asleep and tug at the blanket as if cold; Shawnee would promptly grab the blanket with his teeth and pull it back. “The audience loved it,” said Jimmie. Meanwhile, Hank kept trying to crack the American market and get his records released in the States.