The dreaded horse topic

Alright, horse folks, here is the dreaded horse topic. Now talk horses to your hearts' content and I'll be jealous cause I love horses and never even see them much any more, much less ride them. Saw some yesterday on a long drive across the state, but that's rare. So I watch the ones on the show and feel like one gets to know them - seems like it's mostly the same bunch over and over on the show. Makes sense.

Wanted to bring up one other inaccuracy, which I actually touch on in one of my stories. I understand, from an on-line interview with an old cowboy who used to live in my mother's Texas home town, that cowboys would not have just one horse. They would have a group of ten or twelve and ride about four per day. So showing the boys herding always on one horse is not right! But it's sure more practical for filming.

See it at: http://longstreet.typepad.com/thesciencebookstore/2012/01/an-1880s-cowboy-speaks-for-the-record-1937.html

HW

Yes, that's true HW. Herding cattle is hard work so the cowboy would often change horses once one got tired. Hense having a 'remuda'.

Not much you see on western TV has anything to do with reality, but then we all knew that.

Ah, the horses . . . I didn't really consider myself a fanatic until I realized that while our family was watching ASJ last night we took the DVD back 3 times to settle the question of whether Roger Davis had to use his hand to get his foot out of the stirrup after dismounting, and on the episode 'How to rob a bank in one hard lesson' we put it on slow motion to explain to only-recently-horsey Mom exactly why it was obvious that Harry Wagoner couldn't ride at all and point out all the things that Heyes did right as he came galloping around the corner . . . yep, I think we're fanatics here!

Well if you must be fanatical about something, at least it's something important! Like Horses!

Helen,

You know if it's a horsey subject, I'll weigh in.

I think it might depend on how and where the stock is handled. Texas is a huge state and maybe they move the herd great distances. My cowboy buddy, who ran cattle in the Colorado high country for forty years, only used one horse at a time. The herd would be driven from the winter pasture in the summer up onto Grand Mesa (11,000 feet) and then down again in the fall. Steve would spend all summer in a line shack near where his herd was and he would check on them with his cowhorse. He ran about a 1,000 head, so that might be a difference, too. All the herds I've come across riding in the mountains during the summer have been small. Also, the breed might make a difference.

If they were taking the herd to market that would be different (Steve, of course, only had to drive them down to the trucks), then they would need a string to travel the greater distances.

That's always seemed funny, too. The cowboys here are really concerned about not moving the cattle much or far because it runs the weight off them. I know in Texas the cattle were often driven a long way to market. I wonder how they kept them from dropping all that hard-earned weight?

You have to be really careful about your dogs here, the cowboys will still shoot them if they chase a herd!

It's a good question - how they kept them moving, but still fat! I guess it was one of the great things about longhorns - they can keep healthy on even the worst forage. I remember that a farm in my home state of Maryland used to keep some longhorns in a little pasture. Being Maryland, with plenty of lush grass rather than the Texas desert, those longhorns were just ridiculously fat!

I understand that waving was prohibited anywhere around cattle drives, to keep from spooking the herd. And yet our boys are shown whooping and waving their hats and all sorts of stuff - how does that keep from spooking the herd? It's all fiction - I don't know what the reality would be like. But Curry's description of it in Exit from Wickenberg seems pretty accurate, except maybe he didn't have the day in the saddle long enough - I think he said 12 or 14 hours. I love how he specially mentions canned tomatoes. I've never been sure if that was supposed to be a special treat or a special suffering.
HW

There's an optimum speed for driving cattle-about 2-3 miles an hour-that doesn't drop too much weight off them. The main thing is to give them good grass and water at the stops, which is one reason why the drives were(are!) very weather dependent. Not enough rain and there's no water or grass along the route, so you lose cows; too much rain and it gets slick and boggy = falls, injuries, stampedes, no grass because it gets cut up by the cows' sharp feet before they can eat it.

I don't know if it was done deliberately, but in the first few episodes of season 1 when they show the guys on horseback the dark-complected one wears a flat-top hat with silver conchos and rides a slick-fork saddle with buckaroo cantle and grazing shanks on his bit, while the blond Kid in the Montana jacket has a pinch-top hat and a saddle with wide swells and a Cheyenne roll on the cantle. Back a hundred years ago you could tell where someone had come from just by the gear they used, and the gear that they started Heyes and Curry out with was consistent with their looks.
Of course, after a few episodes they'd been through lots of horses and different gear so it gets kind of jumbled!

That's a fascinating group of insights, Claybank! A very dear friend of mine did some detailed research into vaqueros as opposed to cowboys, so it made me aware of the differences in equipment and training etc. You can see a tiny snippet of her work under the research notes link here:

http://americanart.si.edu/collections/search/artwork/?id=31943

Can you point me to some pictures of other examples of the types of saddles you are talking about? As a rider with only eastern experience, I'd love to learn more from you and the other experienced western riders out there.

Love your handle, by the way! I don't know if you've read any of my stories, but in one I have Heyes give an explanation of what a claybank dun is. Got to explain to those easterners!

HW

Claybank wrote:

"... the dark-complected one ... rides a slick-fork saddle with buckaroo cantle and grazing shanks on his bit, while the blond Kid ... has ... a saddle with wide swells and a Cheyenne roll on the cantle."

Er...English, please?!?
For the benefit of (some of) us Easterners--and probably also some Westerners!
Or at least some images, please?

Well, yes, some definitions would help. I know eastern saddle terminology, but not western. And I agree - pictures please!
HW

https://i.servimg.com/u/f83/18/26/63/69/dsc01612.jpg

https://i.servimg.com/u/f83/18/26/63/69/dsc01613.jpg

Hope those work- I'm not so good at this technology business! In the first picture (it's a snap from Exit To Wickenburg) you can see on the front of Heyes' saddle how it's built real smooth down from the horn to the deepest part of the seat, and compare it to Curry's saddle which has the wide swells on either side of the horn. Those swells were a northern-cowboy thing from up in the colder areas. The Montana/Dakota/Idaho horses tended to be rank, with a lot less schooling than the horses from the areas that had the vaquero influence, and the swells were built into a saddle for the rider to lock his knees against when the horse commenced to bucking. It matches Curry's slightly more European appearance and his sheepskin jacket which no northern rider would be without. His saddle also has that flat edge around the back of the cantle called a Cheyenne roll - if your horse is really cutting loose to plant you in the dirt you can grab that with one hand behind you and it gives a very secure position.
The slick-fork saddles were and still are a vaquero tradition with the Spanish influence behind it. The second picture (hope it shows!) is from the pilot episode. See the pinch dents in the front of Curry's hat? and compare it to Heyes' flatter crowned hat with concho hatband. Heyes also wears a south-western style bandanna and a silver belt buckle, keeping up the whole appearance.

In Exit To Wickenburg Heyes commented that on a cattle drive they'd be expected to spend 18-20 hours a day in the saddle. That's a pretty good estimate.

Thanks, Claybank!
HW

Much obliged for the explanation, Claybank and, yes, the links did work.

Claybank - interesting as the saddles are, I think the two saddles are pure accident - what the horses happened to have on them. You do know that the boys were both supposed to be from exactly the same place, right? Cousins or not, they obviously grew up together. That's confirmed in multiple episodes. Dark hair does not a Mexican background make. Heyes said his family was from England. He and the Kid would have learned to ride in the same tradition. But still, I'm fascinated to learn more about western saddles. As you say, and as my friend Liz's research revealed, the vaquero and cowboy traditions are very different.
HW

This was interesting from the historical point of view, thank you Claybank. For myself, when I'm choosing a saddle what's most important is how comfortable it is for me to sit in and does it fit my horse! If have found that these days especially, most western saddles tend to have a flatter seat that push the rider forward whereas I want a saddle that is higher up at the pommel there-by pushing your position back a bit. Much more comfortable as far as I'm concerned!

I wonder if they were just putting poor Pete in the most comfortable saddle for him? Actually, that may be giving them too much credit for caring. I don't know.
HW

After making the guys shoot riding scenes for a whole day at the start of filming when they weren't used to horses? Yeah, I'd say they weren't too worried about their actors' comfort. I ride all day every day (and have for years) and get stiff by nightfall-I can't even imagine how it would be to spend a full day in the saddle as an inexperienced rider!

Thanks for posting the pictures, Claybank.

I noticed one other significant difference in your photos: Heyes rode a saddle with an A fork-style saddle and Kid's was a swell fork saddle. I googled both types and found that the A fork was popular in Montana and the northwest in the late 1800's. The sloping swell (front of the saddle the horn attaches to) is good for roping and easy dismounting while the swell fork is more of an all around saddle. There is a third style, the undercut, which offers added security for staying on, but makes dismounting much more difficult. It was commonly referred to as the "widowmaker" in the early part of the last century. The swell fork gained popularity in the early 1900's and is the most popular style now, but I couldn't find any information about when the swell fork was invented, where it was most popular, or if it was actually around in the 1880's. Do you know?

Thanks, too, for posting this topic. I don't know much about western gear and this pushed me to do some research about it!

The 'invention' and popularization of the swell fork is credited to saddlemaker C.E. Coggshall, who with his partner Al Furstnow operated the Miles City Saddlery in Montana Territory. In the 1880s--1890s they were the leading saddlemakers in the area and outfitted a lot of the cowboys who came on the trail drives up from Texas.

As more ranches became established in the Montana/Dakota area around the early 1880s and the local cowboys started to develop their own distinct style, an emphasis on being able to stick a bronc became greater and saddles moved away from the centerfire riggin to 3/4 riggin on an Association tree, providing more secure cinching points as the cinches grew further apart. Swells grew wider, some even up to 20 inches wide! I'm not sure where exactly I found it, but somewhere I've seen a photo of a saddle that is now in a museum built in 1882 on a swell fork but still with the centerfire riggin of the Texas influence.
The influence of the swell fork saddles spread down through Wyoming and Colorado in the mid-late-1880s as the Miles City Saddlery grew in its reputation for good quality workmanship. One of their most popular saddles cost $60 in 1890, weighed 36lbs, and could be customised with varying-width swells, 3/4 or centerfire riggin, and stirrups with or without tapadera covers.

Also, some of the difference in forks and trees comes from the different roping styles of the different areas. The vaquero way of roping is a lot slower (dare I say it, more graceful!) and they dally as opposed to tying hard-and-fast. When roping rank cattle fast you need swells to lock your knees against, but with the vaquero way of using a reata and a big loop you're not as dependent on that added security.

That is one thing that makes me chuckle watching ASJ--seeing the boys in their lovely old saddles, packing nice modern poly/nylon ropes!

I need to read more...but I only have a total of ten minutes free time on the computer today before I have to head back outdoors.

So quickly, on the grazing. A good deal of herds were sent up and through KS whenever possible because they wanted to move their beeves across the Flint Hills. To this day, the Flint Hills is considered the best grass anywhere. The cowboys round here say moseying across the Flint Hills for a week will put weight back on cattle and make'em fatter then when they started. Even today herds are brought north (by railway and semis) dropped on the Flint Hills for a bit and then reloaded up to head to market.

Just a bit of insight from a KS girl who knows that smell in the air when cattle are around is not stench but money.

Here's a link to Wikipedia's info about the western saddle that might be useful for our non-horsey friends:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_saddle

There is even a paragraph about Charles Goodnight inventing a western sidesaddle for his wife to use on the range. Although, why anyone would want to work cattle in a sidesaddle is beyond me. Having ridden huntseat sidesaddle, I think sidesaddles were invented as a torture device (or possibly a way of disposing of one's spouse) for women!!

By the way, I was at the Southern Ute museum in Montrose, CO, yesterday and they were hosting a sale of antique tack. They had old riatas, chaps, headstalls, etc. and many old saddles with fairly extreme swells.

Thanks to this thread, I understood a lot more about what I was looking at. Being a transplant from the East, I am enjoying learning from you true westerners!

When I was in my youth, I spent a lot of time at ranch rodeos, sales barns and training horses. I was amused by some of the language those old cowboys used and I would scribble down words in an notebook when I heard them. Later I transferred them all to my computer and I thought they might be fun to share.


A.
Apple or Biscuit or Manza: a saddle horn, it sits on top of the pommel to wrap the rope around, to give a roper more control of the rope.

Apron: the leather skirt on a saddle.

Apron Strings: the ties attached to the leather skirt of a saddle, these ties allow other useful items such as bedrolls to be attached to the saddle.

B.

Bake: to ride a horse too long, to ride a horse to a heated exhausted state.

Band: a bunch of horses.

Bangtail or Broomtail or Fuzztail or Shavetail: 1.) A worthless horse.
2.) A wild horse, a mustang.
3.) A horse with a short bushy tail.
4.) A term to refer to a mare.

Bar-Bit: a straight bar that is a BIT for a horses mouth, at either end of the bar is a ring for the BRIDLE & REINS to a fix to

Barefooted: this is an unshod horse.

Bell Mare: has a bell suspended from her neck to keep a bunch of mules together. White Mares are often used, as they are easier to spot. Bell Mares are sometimes used on horses too.

Bell-Mule: lead mule in a PACK TRAIN.

Bit: the metal part of a BRIDLE that is slipped into the horse’s mouth, the bit helps in steering and control of the horse.

Bite the Dust or Grassed or Eat the Dirt or Laid-Out: to fall/thrown from your horse.

Blind(er): anything that is used to cover the vision of a horse, used most often upon cantankerous horses.

Blowing a stirrup - To lose a stirrup while riding a horse, especially a bucking horse.

Blow: after a touch of hard work, a rider will pull a horse up for a “blow” meaning to pull it up and let it breathe.

Blown- when a horse has been ran to the point of being winded.

Bog his head: a movement done by a horse that is bucking, it is when he sticks his head down between his front legs preparing for lift off.

Boot: a horse shoe that has had the toe & heel filled to make it more solid.

Boss mare or Den Mother- is the one who decides when and where the herd will move. It is really this Mare who is in
charge, not only will the herd follow this matriarch, but so will the Stallion. Often this mare
was kept as a "MAGNET" to keep the herd together. Most times this mare was never even
ridden, but used as a pack animal.

Bozal or Hackamore or Nose Hitch - 1.) a horse’s halter or a bridle without a BIT.
2.) a strap of leather going around a horse’s face directly above its mouth, the nose hitch
is used instead of a BIT.

Buck: when a horse leaps upwards and twist around trying to dislodge a rider from its back.

Bucker: a horse that is known for bucking.

Buffalo Horses- distinguishable among the plains Indian tribes by the “V” notch carved in the tips of their ears. These were the horses that were used for buffalo hunts.

Bunch Grasser: a horse who was raised on BUNCH GRASS, basically a range horse.

Bust: to violently break a horse, even throwing it to the ground.

Buster: a ranch hand who specializes in breaking horses.

Buzzard Bait: a horse of such poor quality that it is only worth feeding the birds.

Break: to ride a horse until it is tame, not necessarily gently, break came from the idea of breaking a MUSTANGS spirit.

Breaking Age: the age a horse is ready to be tamed for riding, routinely around three or four years of age.

Breaking Pen: a small enclosure in which horse are broken to ride, most cases this type of pen is round.

Break in two: when a horse commences to BUCKING.

Brevet Horse: Mule, the offspring of a male donkey and a female horse, typically sterile.

Bridle: a leather strap goes over the horses head, down the cheeks, and is attached to a BIT. A bridle is used to help guide and control a horse.
Bridle Chain: a short chain that attaches the REINS to the BIT on a horse’s BRIDLE.
Bridle Ring; a ring at each end of a horse’s BIT to which the REINS or BRIDLE CHAINS are fastened.
Bridle Wise: a horse that has been trained to handle with a bridle.

Bronco: 1.) Spanish term for “ROUGH” or “RUDE”; Americans refer to this as an unbroken horse.
2.) A small, wiry horse, sometimes half wild, noted for its willingness to toss riders from its back.
Bronco Breaker or Buster or Peeler or Twister: horse tamer


Buck Jumping: the pitching antics of a horse.

Bucking Roll: a blanket/coat tied to the front fork of a saddle to give a rider a tighter seat when he is riding a bucking horse.

Bucking Straight Away: describes a horse that bucks in long jumping strides.

Bucking Strap: 1.) a strap riveted to a saddle just below and the OFF SIDE of the base of the horn, to be held onto in emergency when breaking a horse.

Buck the Saddle: said of an unbroken horse, who would even buck an empty saddle on its back.

C
Caballo: a horse.

Cack: an old, worn-out saddle that is ill-fitting.

California Rig: This saddle has one GIRTH STRAP/CINCH RING to attach it to the BARREL of the horse. The girth cinch strap is centered on the saddle.

Camp or Barn Staller: a horse that was averse to leave camp or home.

Caponera: a herd of GELDINGS.

Cantle: the back part of a saddle, the raised back on the seat.

Carver: is a CUTTING HORSE.

Catch Up: to catch a horse for riding.

Cavallard: a band of horses.

Cavviyard: a band of saddle horses

Cavallo: one horse.

Cavalry yard: a herd of horses or mules that is kept as working stock.

Cavy: a herd of horses or mules that is kept as working stock.

Cavy Broke: horse that is not broken to saddle, yet is tame enough to run with the REMUDA.

Cavy Man: 1.) The hand who looks after the saddle horses.
2.) The horse rustler or wrangler

Cayuse: 1.)A wild horse
2.) A cow horse of MUSTANG blood.
3.) an American Cowboy name synonymous with horse.
4.) A smallish horse bred in an Indian tribe.
5.) A horse of dubious linage.
6.) A stubborn horse.

Center-Fire Rig Saddle: This saddle has one GIRTH STRAP/CINCH RING to attach it to the BARREL of the horse. The girth cinch strap is centered on the saddle.

Cheek: to hold onto the left cheek strap of the BRIDLE and pull the horses head around to its neck. This maneuver could get a argumentative horse to stand still momentarily allowing a rider to mount up.

Cheyenne Roll or Saddle: this is a saddle that has a leather protective rim extending, over and to the CANTLE board of the saddle.

Choking the apple - To grasp the saddle horn.

Chopper or Chopping horse: a horse that has been trained to separate a specific cow from a bunch; also known as a cutting horse.

Cinch: a saddle girth or a belly strap, it is made of separate strands of braided hair or cotton. A cinch is used to hold a saddle to a horse.

Cinch Binder: a bucking horse that rears till it falls over backwards.

Cinch-Hook: this item is on the backside of a spur, it is designed to hook into the leather of the cinch so that when your pony began bucking like a hurricane deck it would help you stay in the saddle.

Clear Footed: a horse that has a clean and sure GAIT.

Cold jawed: 1.) a horse that has an insensitive mouth, thus making the horse difficult to control with a bit.
2.) A horse that has the skill of getting a bit between its teeth and not responding to the rider’s rein commands.

Colic- severe pain in the abdomen caused by wind or obstruction in the intestines, essentially a bellyache but is known to at times kill a horse.

Colt - a young un-castrated male horse, specifically one less than four years old.

Corral: a round pen used to tame and train horses in.


D

Dog trot- usually done by an upset or ill-mannered horse. It is not quite trotting or jogging, it will beat a rider up pretty good, too.

Double-Barreled or Double -Cinch or Double-Rigged Saddle - this saddle is equipped with both a front girth cinch and a rear cinch. With a saddle being double rigged, it will slip less often on a horse and the rear cinch will keep the saddle from flopping when the horse is in motion.

Dude Horse: a good-tempered, calm horse

E

End swapper - A bronc that reverses its' position in the middle of a high buck.


F

Fan: to hit the flanks of a horse with a hat while riding it.

Filly - a young female horse, particularly one less than four years old

Flogging: to travel rapidly by whipping a horse along.

Foal - A baby horse of either gender

Fog: to rush, riding a horse quickly.


G

Gallop- is a full-out run, and a horse cannot maintain that for more than a couple miles or so, before becoming winded.

Geldings - A castrated male horse, of any age. These were and are the standard workhorse of the West.

Gimlet: To ride a horse so that its back becomes sore.

Gotch: 1.) a drooping or bent ear on a horse or donkey.
2.) The eyes being crossed or askew on a horse or donkey.

Grain Fed Horses: Horses that are in top condition due to being grain fed.

Green-broke: a horse that has been tamed and trained enough to saddle and ride, it still has a lot of rough to wear off of it.

Grease Heel: foot rot, it occurs when horses are kept or ridden in continuous wet muddy surroundings. They get an infection in the frog of their foot.

Ground hitched or tied: the rider will drop the REINS to the ground and due to training the horse will stand there as if tied.

H

Hand - term for measuring a horses height. A hand is 4 inches, basically the breadth of a hand.

Highbinder: a vicious and unridable horse.

High roller - A horse that leaps high in the air when bucking.

Hinny - is the offspring of a stud horse bred to a female donkey. It looks pretty much like a mule, although a little more horse-like in the face, and is sometimes, though not always, smaller than a mule. However, hinnies are not desirable, on account of they identify the donkey as their mother figure and leader. That means that a hinny will not want to stick with a herd of horses or other mules, or even follow a bell mare. Thus a Hinny will most likely become a stray. A mule, however, will identify
with any boss horse, whether horse or mare, and tend to stick with the herd contentedly.

Hitched: when an item is made from braided horsehair.

Hook up - to harness (the word “HARNESS” is never used)

Horse- is a generalized term that actually meant a usable gelding, an adult male castrated horse..

Horse Mule - a male mule

Horsing- this is how a mare’s behavior is described while in her heat cycle.

Hoss: a shortened slang term for Horse.


I


J
Jack - a male donkey
Jenny - a female donkey
John - a male mule

Jog- A pace slower than a trot, a bouncing, easy little gait between a walk and a full trot.


K


L
Latigo: a strap used to connect the end of the cinch to the saddle.

Lope- is an easy, 3-beat gait, which the horse can maintain for a pretty fair distance


M

Mankiller: a horse that is so rough and wild that it will attack to kill men and has killed men that have tried to ride it.


Mare- The female of the species. In the Old West, mares were routinely reserved for breeding purposes, and occasionally as ladies' riding animal. Mares were not conventionally used for work or riding animals, for several reasons:
–Mares tend to come into season (ready to mate) about once a month or so, from spring through fall. Often creating
tumultuous behaviors among the other saddle stock ~ even the geldings.
--When a mare comes into her heat cycle, she also becomes irritable, restless and unpleasant around other horses.
Yet, it must be stated that not all mares do this.
--And, geldings have been known to become firmly bonded to a single mare. So bonded that if she strays during the
night ... the entire herd goes with her or the gelding will show a sour disposition to be taken from her side.

Mare Mule - a female mule
Molly - a female mule
Mule- the offspring of a male Donkey and a female Horse.

-99.9% of the time a mule is born sterile. Still males have to be castrated, to prevent stud-like behaviors. A great
rarity is when a female mule has given birth when bred by a stud horse. Mules can come in virtually any size and color
known to the equine kingdom, dependent upon the mare and jack chosen for breeding.
-The mule has the size, strength, and speed of a horse, yet the toughness, adaptability, and stamina of the donkey. A
mule will also stay fat on poorer feed than horses, can travel farther and longer with much less loss of condition, and
generally do not take lame as easily as horses.
-Mules also identify with a mare, or any boss horse, as their mother figure, and thus willingly follow and stay with a herd
on the trail. The mule's reputation for stubbornness comes not from brute refusal to work, but rather from the fact that
mules are highly intelligent and very independent. A man can bully a horse into almost anything, but a mule
will question and resist something that does not strike him as an entirely bright idea.

Mustang: 1.)from the Spanish word MESTENO, meaning “a stray”
2.) A small, wiry horse, sometimes half wild, noted for its willingness to toss riders from its back.

N

Neck reining: the rider will hold both REINS in one hand, and than move his hand the way he would want the horse to turn, so that the horse would feel the touch of the rein across its neck and than turn away from the touch.

Neck rope - A loop around a horse’s neck that the catch rope is run through after it is made fast to the saddle horn. This keeps the ropers' horse facing the calf while he is tying it.


O

Outlaw: A small, wiry horse, sometimes half wild, noted for its willingness to toss riders from its back.

P

Pommel or Shoulders: the front part of a saddle.

Proud cut- A horse that has been gelded somewhat late in life causing the gelding to retain stud-like behaviors and attitudes.

Pull Leather: to grab hold of the saddle in an attempt to stay on while a horse is bucking, pulling leather is considered shameful to a cowboy.


Q

R
Rope Broke: a horse that is trained to stop fighting or even walking when it feels the weight of a rope around its neck.

Runaway bucker - A bronc that runs wildly from the moment it is released only to suddenly stop and "break in two" someplace along its bucking pattern.


S

Saddle bags: a bag to hang on either side of a horses saddle, normally they tie to the CANTLE and a pouch lies on each side of the horse.

Salty Bronc: Bad Horse

Sand colic- occurs when a horse is fed on sandy ground, and consumes enough dusty feed to cause an obstruction.

Single Barreled or Single-Fire Rig: This saddle has one GIRTH STRAP/CINCH RING to attach it to the BARREL of the horse. The girth cinch strap is centered on the saddle.

Snubbing Post: a strong post in the center of a corral, used to tie horses very close to while be tamed and trained.

Spinner - A bronc that bucks in close, tight circles, difficult critter to stay atop of.

Steel Dust: an excellent horse.

Stallions- or Stud- an Un-castrated adult male horse.
-Stallions are rarely used as working horses. Yet, it has been heard of some studs making first-class working
horses. However, these rare examples are completely due to the compatibly of the handler and studs
personalities. Studs are normally kept just for breeding, because they can be rather high-strung and
unpleasant around other horses

String: Cowhand’s line of horse’s for a trail drive.

Sunfishing - A bronc that twists its' body violently from side to side, rolling its' belly upward toward the sun.


T

Top-Horse: A cowhand’s best mount.

Topping Off: staying on a GREEN-BROKE pony until it settles down enough to ride for the day.

Tree: the frame a saddle is built upon, most times this frame is carved from wood

Trot - this is a distance covering pace. A fit, strong horse can maintain a good trot for many miles, under a knowing rider.

U


V

W

Wet Horses: Horses stolen from Old Mexico. They were called Wet, because they had been swum across the Rio Grande.

Whey-belly: A pot bellied and unfavorable horse.

Wrangling: The herding, protecting and upkeep for a remuda or herd of horses.

Wrango: A little pen for horses.

Wring Tail: A horse that twitches its tail as it runs to show that it is in some sort of discomfort.


X


Y

Yearling: an animal that is 1 year or less in age.

Yakima: an Indian Pony.

Z


Talking of horses

Arched their backs like mules in a hail storm

The dun was a tough range-and-mountain horse, and was accustomed to going for long stretches.

His horse was hard used and in poor shape.

He could go all night and the next morning, then give him a few mouthfuls of grass and a hat full of water and he’d be off and going again.

The horse was no showboat but he he’d get in there and stay until the sun was gone and the moon was come up.

That horse clung to the trail like a groundhog.

You should try to buy horses of blood, because that is the only way you can be guaranteed a stayer.


HOW MUCH WEIGHT CAN A HORSE CARRY?

Ideally, an average-sized man and his saddle. In other words, a 140-190 lb man and his 30-40 lb saddle are plenty.
Tie on a coat and canteen, maybe a rifle, and you have got a full load.

Saddle bags can be used, yes. However, no prudent man loads up his riding saddle with provisions for a week on the trail.

If he stuffs his saddle bags with 50 or so pounds of extra weight, plus his bedroll, he will risk soaring up his horse's back, both by putting too much weight behind the cantle and seat, (where the saddle is not really designed to carry such weight,) and also by that same weight bruising the horse's kidneys.

If a man was going to be riding a long ways, with no stops for meals, lodging, etc., he would bring a pack animal, as well. Thus he could pack along his bedroll, (meaning a canvas tarp and at least two blankets or quilts, maybe more for padding,) plus extra pants, shirt and underwear, a rain slicker, extra ammunition, food for several days, matches, some string, picket rope(s) and picket pin(s), coffee, coffee pot, frying pan, cooking pot, knife and fork, plate, cup, and his few toiletries. Hey, you didn't REALLY think he could fit all that in his saddle bags, did ya? Plus, if you've ever tried to swing a leg over a saddle with too much crap tied on behind, you would know what a darned pain in the rear that really is.

If anyone is in LA, the Autry cowboy museum is a great place to go to learn about western history and to see a lot of examples of historical cowboy gear.