You won't have trouble keeping S.L. and Loretta Pemberton out of the saddle.

The trick-riding couple have mastered horseback acrobatics to the point that it's hard to find them just sitting still on a horse.

They will be part of the entertainment at the 11th annual Longhorn World Championship Rodeo at the Show Me Center in Cape Girardeau, which begins Friday and runs through Sunday.

The rodeo starts at 8 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, and 2 p.m. on Sunday.

Friday night is "Bargain Nite," with one-price seating. Saturday is "Kids Nite," with the first 500 children, age 12 and under, receiving a free rodeo souvenir.

Sunday is "Family Day." Tickets are half price for children, age 12 and younger, and senior citizens, 62 years of age and older.

Tickets may be purchased at the usual ticket outlets.

The Pembertons met at a rodeo in Boston, Mass., in 1990. They worked off and on together at various rodeos over the next several years. They married two years ago.

They have a 16-month-old son, Cy, who travels with them.

The Pembertons said they can't imagine being on the road without their son.

"I just love having my child there," Loretta Pemberton said. "I don't have to worry about someone else raising my kid.

"He enjoys being there. When I am out there trick riding, I will keep my eye on him," she said. "Every kid wants to go to the rodeo."

She said she gets a lot of satisfaction out of performing in front of her son.

S.L. Pemberton said they like to travel. "The baby makes it a little more challenging."

But the family is only on the road now three months out of the year, from January to March.

"Up until two years ago, we were on the road year round," he said.

Today, they trick ride nine months out of the year at the Dixie Stampede, an indoor, western show in Branson. The Pembertons live in Branson.

S.L. Pemberton said his son already has been on a horse more than most people. "We've got pictures of him when he was a week old on a horse."

S.L. Pemberton grew up in Milan, in western Tennessee.

The 28-year-old Pemberton has been trick riding since he was 10 years old. "I started out on ponies."

He said trick riding is best learned at an early age. "When you get started that young, it just kind of takes the fear factor out," he said.

An accomplished horseman, Pemberton does everything from Roman riding atop the backs of two horses to a somersault onto the neck of a galloping horse. He does trick roping too.

Loretta Pemberton does her share of tricks too, including the "full fender layout" in which she dangles just inches from the horse's back hooves.

The 23-year-old from Cowlesville, N.Y., grew up in a rodeo family. Her father used to compete in rodoes.

One of her brothers is a rodeo clown. Another is a bareback rider. A sister does barrel racing.

Loretta Pemberton started out barrel racing too. But she didn't like it.

Instead, she fell in love with the glamour and athleticism of trick riding. "It looked fun," she recalled.

She began trick riding when she was 12 or 13 years old.

Practice is the key, she said. In the beginning, she practiced constantly.

It's not a sport for the timid. "You get bumps and bruises," she said.

But Loretta Pemberton said she feels fortunate not to have suffered any serious injuries. "The good Lord has blessed me with no broken bones."

She rides a horse called "Spook."

"He is a real skittish kind of horse," she said. "You would think that would be the last horse on the face of the Earth that you would want to hang off of."

But she said she has no difficulty with the horse.

Loretta and S.L. Pemberton are proud of each other's accomplishments.

But these days, their biggest joy is raising their son. So far, they have managed to keep their balance as parents and performers.

LONGHORN WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP RODEO

When?

Friday, March 13 through Sunday, March 15

Time?

Rodeo starts Friday at 8 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m.

Where?

Show Me Center

Friday

"Bargain Nite" with one-price seating

Saturday

"Kids Nite" with the first 500 children age 12 and under receiving a free rodeo souvenir

Sunday

"Family Nite" with half-price tickets for children age 12 and younger and senior citizens 62 years of age and older