"Boss of the Plains"

A cowboy just wouldn't be a cowboy without a hat. The original "Boss" was manufactured by John Stetson in 1865. The hat was flat-brimmed, had a straight sided crown and rounded corners. The lightweight, waterproof hat was natural in color. A plain hatband was fitted to adjust to head size and bore Stetson's name. A cowboy riding the range wearing the "Boss of the Plains" showed the world that he was doing well.

The cowboy hat was made famous with 'Black and White' movies. Bad Guys wore the Black hats and the Good Guys wore White hats. Roy Rogers’ white Stetson with a silver hatband was one of the most famous Hollywood cowboy hats. We can't forget that The Lone Ranger and his White hat brought justice to the Wild West. Today, hats colors have changed into seasonal apparel. Black or felt hats for winter and straw or White hats for summer.

The modern Cowboy still uses his hat to communicate different messages. A man can stake his claim on a woman if he gives her his hat (signifies they are to start dating) If a cowboy gives a woman his hat in a bar and she accepts it and wears it that means she's agreed to go home with the Hat owner. As the old cowboy saying goes, "It’s the last thing you take off and the first thing that is noticed."

Other famous cowboy hat wearers….Clint Eastwood in The Good the Bad and the Ugly wore a distinctive hat. President Regan wore a cowboy hat not only in his movies but in real life. And we can't forget Festus' Gunsmoke hat or Hoss Cartwright's 10-gallon hat.

As an admirer of all things cowboy, the "Boss" along with boots and tight jeans makes any cowboy sigh-worthy.

Marin

Cowboys and Country Music

It's a bit ironic that I live in Nashville and am not a big fan of country music. I like a song here and there, and mainly ones that either are more pop-ish or ones with more bluegrass in them by artists like Alison Krauss or Lady Antebellum, but as a general rule I'm more of a hard rock kind of gal. But in my mind, cowboys have always been linked to country music. After a rodeo or a day of riding the range, they might put on their best boots, cowboy hat and pressed Wrangler jeans and head out to a country western bar for a few drinks and some two-stepping.

Imagine my surprise when I attended a PRCA rodeo in Corpus Christi, Texas last year to do research for next month's installment in the Codys continuity, Elly: Cowgirl Bride. In between riders and events, they played...rock music! I don't know if this is common, but it surprised me.

But back to country music. I think cowboy songs and country music are forever entwined. CMT even did a special called The 20 Greatest Cowboy Songs. Here's their list. See if you agree.

Happy Trails (Roy Rogers)
The Cowboy in Me (Tim McGraw)
My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys (Willie Nelson)
Cattle Call (Eddy Arnold)
Back in the Saddle Again (Gene Autry)
Amarillo By Morning (George Strait)
Shoulda Been a Cowboy (Toby Keith)
El Paso (Marty Robbins)
Much Too Young (To Feel This Damn Old) (Garth Brooks)
Don't Take Your Guns to Town (Johnny Cash)
Even Cowgirls Get the Blues (EmmyLou Harris)
Rhinestone Cowboy (Glen Campbell)
Home on the Range (Gene Autry)
Ghost Riders in the Sky (several artists)
Cowboy Take Me Away (Dixie Chicks)
Cool Water (Sons of the Pioneers)
What'cha Gonna Do with a Cowboy? (Chris LeDoux)
The Streets of Laredo (Buck Owens)
I Can Still Make Cheyenne (George Straight)
Mamas, Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys (Willie Nelson)

Here's a little tune to get you in a cowboy song kind of mood, Toby Keith's "I Shoulda Been a Cowboy."

Herding Instincts

I have to admit, I was laughing out loud as I read Pam's post on horses a couple of weeks ago.  So true, every last bit of it! 

Horses do have their own agendas, but are usually willing to accept ours, if we ask the right way.  Recently, my husband--a great guy but not a horseman--wanted to move my American Cream Draft horses from one place to another.  He didn't have a lead rope handy, so he tried grabbing a fist full of mane and pulling.  These ladies weigh about 1500 lbs each--not exactly portable!  DH tried pulling one, then the other, without success. 

I walked out and got behind the girls.  "Sssssss," I said, waving my hands a little.  "Walk on." 

Lucy and Joy looked over their shoulders at me like, "Do we hafta?"

"Come on," I said, with a shooing motion.  "Sssss.  Walk."

You could see each of them give a sigh.  And then they ambled, at their slow, steady draft horse pace, back through the gate and into the pasture.

"How'd you do that?" DH demanded.

I just smiled.  There are some things only a horse lover knows.

*******

American Cream Draft Horses are a breed developed in Iowa from the foals of one mare--Old Granny.  Her babies all had pink skin, a cream-colored coat, white mane and tail and golden eyes.  Cream Drafts were used on farms in the Midwest and in Pennsylvania by the Amish in the first part of the 20th century.  World War II and the advent of the tractor cut back the draft horse population severely, until now there are less than 400 Creams in the world.  I'm hoping to breed my mares and build the numbers for these beautiful, peaceful horses.

The Show Saddle

BACK IN THE SADDLE AGAIN—
OUT WHERE A FRIEND IS A FRIEND—


When I was a little girl listening to the radio, BACK IN THE SADDLE AGAIN, was one of my favorite cowboy songs sung by the great Gene Autry. My cousin Heidi was my age, and she loved cowboy music too. We’d play cowboys a lot using our cap guns. Oh boy did we have a lot of fun and a lot of caps. They were like golden treasure. I’d be Hopalong Cassidy, and she’d be Roy Rogers. We whooped it up in our back yards, climbed the apple and cherry trees and then pretended to jump onto our trusty steeds and take off for the bad guys.

Like most kids I went horseback riding once in a while either with family or a couple of friends. I just got on the horse that had been saddled for me and off we went, the horse often leading the way, of course. I had only a general knowledge of horses and equipment.

My great awakening came when I was asked to write the first book for the CODY’S FIRST FAMILY OF RODEO series. Did I ever have my work cut out! A ton of research goes into writing a novel at any time and a novel about rodeos and ranch life was no exception. Needless to say I came across so much fascinating information, I often got sidetracked and forgot to write. (It’s a hazard of being a writer.)

The guys in the Cody series are all headed to win at the World Championship Professional Rodeo Finals in Las Vegas, Nevada. In Walker Cody’s case, he’d already won his World Champion Gold Buckle in steer wrestling before he left for military service. After coming back from the war, he starts training again for the Cody Roundup in Wyoming. When he goes to the tack room on the Cody ranch, the saddle he’d won is still hanging in there.

After doing so much research, I got to thinking about his saddle. It wasn’t just ‘any’ saddle.
Do you know I never realized how many kinds of saddles there are? I’m talking types for a specific use. You know, like a woman who needs black, brown, white, tan, pink or red shoes for that certain occasion.

Would you believe all these?
Western Pleasure or Trail Riding saddle—

Reining saddle—
Cutting saddle—
Roping saddle—
Barrell Riding saddle--
Flexible Tree saddle—
Show saddle--

Take a close look at a couple of these and you’ll see differences.

The Reining Saddle

The Roping Saddle

The Barrel Racing Saddle

The Pleasure Riding or Trail Saddle

The next time you get on a horse, take a look and make an educated guess. You’ll impress everyone!

Until next time, see ya at the CODY ROUNDUP for the next novel in the Cody Series!

Horses & Cowboys

They're like salt and pepper. Oil and water. Chocolate and vanilla. Something that just goes together. A cowboy and his horse.

Since I happen to love horses it's never a problem for me to write about them. I'm lucky. We own five. A lot of authors have to rely on research books in order to get their facts straight, but I think I'm the human equivalent of a walking Wikipedia when it comes to the animals I love. And so when I run across the occasional book that, well, seems a wee bit unrealistic, I always have to chuckle. Since this blog is geared toward all things cowboy, I hope you don't mind me taking the opportunity to vent.

First of all, Sex on a horse would NOT be fun. Let's look at this anitomically. A horse's back is only a couple of feet wide. The place where you sit is maybe three feet long. And so, not only would you have a tiny little area in which to, um, conduct your business, you would have to do so while perched five feet off the ground. On something that moves. Sometimes quickly. Sometimes not all that comfortably, either. Nope. Not going to happen.

Sex in a saddle is impossible. Saddles--be they english or western--only have room for one butt. One. That's all. No other butts allowed. If you sat two butts in a saddle, one would hang off the back. Or be elevated thanks to the saddle's cantel. Try to, ah, connect the dots. Go ahead. Try it. I dare you.

And speaking of sex...hay is not a good place to conduct connubial relations. Holy guacamole, that'd be like having sex atop a pile of nettles. Hay is as brittle and prickly as cacti. It will give you slivers. Just the thought of a heroine's bare bottom being pounded into a pile of hay gives me the heebie jeebies. I can only imagine the medical bill.

Not all men ride stallions. This one always makes me shake my head. Stallions are not nice animals. They are rotten, stickin', testosterone-laden, opinionated JERKS. Granted, there is the rare exception. My trainer owns one--a perfect gentleman (on most days). But those animals are few and far between. Most of the time they're nasty little pills that require the use of leather and chains. Just ask the gal that led our own stallion to a turn out pen. He bit her in the boob. Yes, the boob. Can you imagine our hero asking the heroine to mount his magnificent, steed only to have said horse turn around and CHOMP. 'Nough said.

A palomino is not a breed, it's a color. Referring to a palomino as a breed is like using the word "white" in place of Poodle, or "tan and black" in place of German Shepard. Don't do it.

Galloping off into the sunset might take awhile. It takes a very well-trained horse--years of training, really--to scoot off into a run at the drop of a hat. Out of all our horses, only one will do this upon command, and he does so because he's been trained to do so; it's necessary for horse shows. But my husband's ranch horse? Or his rope horse? Get one of them out into the wild blue yonder and it's trot, trot, trot, faster and faster, and then faster still; until they absolutely. Must. Canter. In other words, horses are lazy. Most won't gallop off ala The Lone Ranger--not unless you make them.

Whatever you do, don't drop the ball. I see this one in movies all the time. You know the scene: Our hero will canter up to the heroine, dramatically stopping in front of his all-time love, jump off his horse, fly into the heroine's arms and kiss her senseless. Meanwhile, off camera, our gallant steed has decided now might be a good time make a run for the hills, you know, since the human that'd been riding him was stupid enough to drop the reins and leave him standing there. Alone. Truuust me. Most horses will run off at the first sign of freedom. If you look closely, you can sometimes catch this phenomena in action. Pay attention the next time you see a cowboy in a movie. Every once in awhile the camera doesn't pan away quickly enough. The cowboy's horse will spin around before s/he makes a strafing run in the opposite direction, usually bucking and a snorting the whole way. Cracks me up every time.

I'm sure I can think of more, but I'll just bet there are other horse experts out there that have similar pet peeves. Feel free to share them!!!