In 2008 The Mustang Heritage Foundation, in cooperation with the federal Bureau of Land Management, created the Extreme Mustang Makeover event in order to recognize and highlight the value of Mustangs through a national training competition. Wild Mustang horses are an important part of America’s history and these days the BLM is responsible for the [...]
The website horse.com posted this today. Yike! Equine Teams in Germany Disbanded Following Olympic Drug Issues by: Kimberly S. Brown, Editor May 29 2009, Article # 14250 On May 28 the German equestrian federation stated that the national dressage, show jumping, and eventing teams had been disbanded “in the wake of further suggestions of doping [...]
There is a very unique rodeo held every April and October at the Louisiana State Penitentiary in Angola, Louisiana. On the Mississippi river and 130 miles northwest of New Orleans, the prison holds 5,200 inmates. The blues musician Leadbelly was once an inmate here. It started in 1965 as purely a casual event with inmates [...]
The song is Hillary Duff’s I Am. If you have problems seeing this video click HERE
Cowboy poets have existed since there have been cowboys. There is a lot of interest these days in cowboy poetry and a revival of some of the earliest work. Here’s one: The Tenderfoot I thought one spring, just for fun, I’d see how cow-punching was done; And when the round-ups had begun I tackled the [...]
I have an internet store called Beal’s Cowboy Buckles that carries about 700 different western quality historic authentic cowboy belt buckles. It’s easily the largest and most diversified collection available in any store. Buckles make great unique gifts for that special cowboy or cowgirl and shipping is always free, regardless of where you live. About [...]
Great new book called Cowboy Park by Santa Fe author and historian John O. Baxter. The book details steer roping competitions around 1900 when it was really steer “tipping”. The roping practice of the times was for one cowboy to head the cow (throw a loop around the head) and then flip the rope over [...]
You can’t have a blog about the cowboy lifestyle without mentioning John Wayne (1907-79). Marion Robert Morrison was born in Iowa and moved to California at age four. A local fireman called him “little duke” after Marion’s huge Airedale Terrier dog, Duke. He kept the name after that. Morrison attended USC intending to be a [...]
In 1933, August A. Busch, Jr. gave a hitch of Clydesdales to his father in celebration of the resumption of brewing in St. Louis following the repeal of Prohibition. Their first stop was the governor of New York who was responsible or getting the Prohibition repealed. He received a case of Budweiser beer. In 1951 [...]
If you like the idea of hiking or horse packing from Canada to Mexico along some of the most beautiful countryside in the world you’ll want to support the Continental Divide Trail Alliance. From their website: “Our Mission: To construct, manage and preserve a nonmotorized public backcountry trail along the full length of the Continental [...]
One of the most famous brands in the cowboy world is the 6666 (Four Sixes) brand from Guthrie, Texas. At age 19 Samuel “Burk” Burnett (with a little help from his father) purchased a herd of 100 cattle wearing the 6666 brand. He negotiated rights to the brand as part of the deal and there [...]
Clint Orms’ custom buckles are today found in the finest western specialty shops because he is one of the best silversmiths we have. Inspired by great western silversmiths and apparel designers (including his mother and father) of historical Texas, the belt buckle styles are named after the counties of Texas. Each piece is totally handcrafted [...]
The oldest and most common breed of horses in America are Quarter Horses. The original foundation horse was a combination of Mustang, Arabian Spanish Barb, and Morgan blood and the breed began to appear in the mid 1800s. The first horse officially known as a quarter horse was Steel Dust, foaled in Illinois in 1843, [...]
OK, I admit it. This has nothing to do with cowboys but I like anything to do with cows. It’s a very cute 1927 black and white cartoon made by Winkler Productions called “The Mechanical Cow”. Walt Disney later took over the rights. It features Oswald the Lucky Rabbit and his mechanical cow friend. If [...]
A mechanical cow is a device used to train horses and riders about handling cattle. Cows are expensive, working them takes off profitable fat, they can get injured and they need to be rotated frequently because they burn out on being worked aggressively. Nothing matches a real cow but a mechanical cow is a good [...]
Here in New Mexico one of the best known and liked trainers is Randall Davis. He does gentle colt starting and gives clinics throughout the Southwest. I’ve always like his natural horsemanship approach. For example he says “Directing a horse is not getting him to go somewhere, but providing somewhere that he can go. There’s [...]
If you have problems seeing this video click HERE
Ray Hunt (1929-2009) is considered one of the pioneers of the natural horsemanship movement that has had such a huge impact on horse training today. In the 1950s Ray had a problem horse that bucked. He asked Tom Dorrance for help, which worked, and the horse Hondo became the hackamore working cow horse champion at [...]
Draft Horses are just horses but they are BIG. A typical horse is in excess of 2,000 pounds (vs. 1000-1200 pounds for a usual horse). They have been bred for heavy tasks like pulling logs, pulling wagons or plowing but despite their size they are gentle. Historians say they originated in Europe and humans specifically [...]
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