Reeves opened a riding stable for girls near San Antonio, Texas in the 1930s, since she was unable to find work as a female lawyer during the Great Depression. She had always been around horses, and was quoted as saying that she sat on a horse before she could sit up by herself. It is estimated that she taught in the neighborhood of 30,000 girls how to ride.
She was elected to the Cowgirl Hall of Fame in 1997, and rode in the parade to honor the Hall when it moved to new headquarters in Fort Worth, Texas in 2002.
Reeves died from injuries suffered when she fell from her horse. She had always said that she preferred to die in just that manner. She had been injured several times in the last few years of her life, including having been kicked by the same horse, resulting in a fractured thigh, in 1987.
Her motto was, "Always saddle your own horse."