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when the Old West began to change, a lot of that changed too! Many cowboys have now traded in their horse for a pickup truck. This form of transportation lends itself much better to ranch work than just a horse, but there are just some things that don't change!I went to Houston again to visit family. It seems my niece's little girl was having a birthday party, and her "Auntie" and I were invited! My brother-in-law, Dan, is my nieces father. He and his wife Laura are always trying to get us to come out and she wants me to ride horses with her. She's into riding "English"! I always tell her, "Now Laura, cowboy's don't ride 'English' style." And she laughs! But this time, she had a western saddle and gear waiting for me, along with another horse (not English trained) they got for one of my nephews. Naturally, I was game.
So, I got to go riding this time! I had a good time! Riding horses is a favorite past time of mine. The horse they had me on was one they hadn't had long. After a little time in the saddle I realized that the horse was a bit "bridle-shy". We worked that out and the ride was on!
Later, after we rode a while in the arena, Laura rode up beside and asked me if I was up to riding off the property, out on the roads. My reply was, "If you're not too afraid that your ride will be too jumpy when the traffic comes by, I'm all for it!" She laughed, and off we rode! The boys were startled ... "Where are ya'll going?", they hollered. But it was too late ... two riders were off to adventure!
We had a good ride, leisurely going along, talking, and discussing the next time that my wife and I will be coming down to visit. I then told her, "You know what I like about the western saddle?" "What?", she asked. I stopped the horse and said, "Watch this!" I sat straight up in the saddle ... you know, like you do when you've been riding a long while, just to stretch your legs? Well, it makes the most wonderful sound as the leather stretches. "Do ya' hear that?", I asked. "Yeah", she said, and she replied, "English saddles don't do that." To which I replied, "Yes, I know. And by the way, I said, "THAT is a draw-back!" She busted out laughing!
I love the sound of the leather in the saddle when you're on a trail ride, or just sitting there on the open pasture, watching the cattle. It's a peaceful. It's just one of those sounds that only a cowboy would appreciate, like the low of cattle, or the rustling of the wind in the trees on a late afternoon. I appreciate Dan and his wife, Laura. Dan is becoming quite the cowboy himself. He too, is not into riding "English". Most importantly, though, he recognizes the behavior and traits of a gentlemen, of the character that goes with that, and of strong family roots ... all the traits of a true cowboy. I'm proud to call him my brother.
In the Old West:
First of all, the horse was the number one mode of transportation, for the rancher, the traveler, and for anyone who was not carrying a lot of 'stuff'. For those needing to haul hay, fence mending gear and wire, etc. a buckboard was used. This was the closest thing to a pickup truck that a cowboy had. It has a bench seat up front, and a "bed", like that of a pickup truck, and it was pulled by a team of horses. The "suburban" of this era had to be the covered wagon! It could carry just about everything you wanted to carry. Let me change that ... maybe this was the "MOTORHOME" of this era! I mean, let's face it ... you carried a place to sleep, to change clothes, etc., and with the "chuckwagon" box added to the back end, you now had a kitchen! This vehicle was usually pulled by a team of at least 4 horses. If you were carrying a lot of weight, you could either increase the number of horses you hitched to it, or use draft horses. These are the big horses you see Budweiser using on their parade appearances. These horses, when you got where you were going (with the covered wagon) could do a mean job of pulling a plow rig!
When traveling, the cowboy would often take saddlebags, a bed roll, a range duster coat, a canteen of water, and some beef jerky for the trip. The saddlebags were not the luggage of their day. They had luggage, just as we do! Saddlebags were more like a day pack, a small backpack, or an overnighter dufflebag. Most of what you had, you wore! The saddlebags would carry a few small items, some beef jerky (to eat along the way), a few small tools, etc., a change of clothes, but not much more. If this was going to be a long trip, you could always tie more on of your bedroll, or behind your bed roll, placed just behind the saddle. Their coat of choice was a range duster. This is a large coat, used to break the wind (when it was cold), stop the rain (when it was rainy or wet), and give overall warmth by retaining body heat in the wind, and for the cooler times of the year. This coat is perfectly suited to horseback riding. It has split portions of the lower half of the coat to compensate for straddling a horse.
We could talk more, about saddle types, and trip types, but all in all, the cowboy was an icon. Cowboyin' was a job ... working cattle, horses, trail drives, etc., but actually "BEING" a cowboy is another thing entirely! We're talking "code" here, ethics, principles, core values.
We'll cover that next time!
In the meanwhile, see ya' down the trail ...
Make me proud!
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