Cowboy Wisdom (8 page)

I
’ve often said there’s nothing better for the inside of a man than the outside of a horse.

—R
ONALD
R
EAGAN

N
ot a day’s gone by that I wouldn’t rather have been with my horse than with people.

—Luke Perry Hollywood, California star of
8 Seconds
1994

N
o Creature on Earth is more noble, more patient, more obedient, and more, plain old helpful than a good Horse, well broke
by a man who loves her dear. On a hot day in the middle of no-place, she’s also the best-looking gal anywhere, and if they
made bride’s gowns to fit a Paint horse, I’d soon marry the horse as a woman but I don’t know a horse who would have me.

—O
LIVER
C
URTIS
El Paso, Texas 1912

L
et me dispose right now of a malicious rumor that has haunted me all my life: I did not kiss my horse! We may have nuzzled
a little, but we never kissed.
Never
.

I can take a joke, but it bothered ol’ Champ.

—G
ENE
A
UTRY

C
owboys hate walking: They really know how to use their horses. They conserve the energy of the horse, treating it like a valuable
piece of farm equipment. They seldom ride all out, contrary to many dudes’ visions of what riding the range is all about.
Cowboying requires real knowledge of a horse and his capabilities. A horse can sense when a real horseman is in the saddle.
He knows when the rider is going to tough it out.

—R
OBERT
R
EDFORD
Hole-in-the-Wall, Wyoming 1975

I
keep a secret as well as the next man, but I tell my horse everything. I mean
everything
. Even secrets I would never tell my wife. Even secrets I’d never tell another man’s wife, for that matter.

—S
TEW
S
TEWART
Truro, Alberta, Canada 1956

“
H
orse talk” is a low grunt which seems to charm a horse and make him stand perfectly still for a moment or so at a time. It
sounds like “hoh-hoh,” uttered deep down in one’s chest. The horse will stop his rough antics and strain motionless on the
rope for a few seconds; while he is doing this and looking straight at the approaching figure, the man will wave a blanket
at him and hiss at him— “Shuh! Shuh!” It takes about fifteen minutes of this to make the horse realize that the man is harmless;
that no motion which he makes, no sound that he utters, will harm him in any way.

—C
HIEF
B
UFFALO
C
HILD
L
ONG
L
ANCE
Cardston, Alberta, Canada 1928

A
man on foot is no man at all.

—A
NONYMOUS

C
attlemen were constantly selling horses to each other, and when a horse changed hands it was likely to take the name of its
former owner. I have heard cowpunchers make remarks as these: “Catch John Blocker for Juan,” “Dillard Fant is lame,” “Clabe
Merchant has a sore back,” “Bill Reed broke his rope last night,” “Mark Withers kicked the cook,” “The dadblamed Indians stole
Shanghai Pierce and George West last night.”

—G
EORGE
S
AUNDERS
founder, Texas Trail Drivers Association
San Antonio, Texas c. 1925

I
f you want to find horses, go to the prettiest place in reach, and there you’ll almost always find them. Horses love beauty
as much as humans do.

—E
UGENE
M
ANLOVE
R
HODES
Bar Cross Ranch, New Mexico 1930

If you have a have a horse with four white legs,

Keep him not a day; if you have a horse with three white legs,

Send him far away; if you have a horse with two white legs,

Sell him to a friend; if you have a horse with one white leg,

Keep him to the end.

—C
APTAIN
J
OHN
G. B
OURKE

5th Cavalry, U.S.A. 1876

A
good horse is never a bad color.

—A
NONYMOUS

T
he quarterhorse tends to be the favorite of cowboys and ranchers now. I don’t think that was always true—my father loved Morgans
and some people like Appaloosas, which are really workmanlike, and they tend to be calm horses. Quarterhorses are good at
working with cattle because they’re quick; they make good cutting horses. They’re bred for that. We had some Arabians when
I was younger, but they were too hot—they had lots of energy and endurance, so even after you rode one all day, he would still
have enough energy to buck you off.

—C
YD
M
C
M
ULLEN
Elko, Nevada 1993

I
t sure helps if you know you’ve got a good horse. The first time I met Trigger, I wanted to know how good a horse he was,
so I got on him and turned him. Well, he could spin on a dime and give you nine cents back in change. We just fell in love.
From then on, I never let him out of my sight. Finding a horse like Trigger is like finding a wife. The horse is your other
half in this—he’s your partner, and he can get you out of plenty of scrapes and close calls.

—R
OY
R
OGERS

I
n Texas, the history of the horse is equally as important as that of its owner.

—A
NONYMOUS
in
The Daughter of Texas
1886

Y
ou git on a horse from the left and off the same way. Some folks leave by a different door, but that’s because they forgot
to git hold of the steering wheel, which is the reins. The first thing a man should know about a horse is that the reins is
everything—brakes, starter, steering—everything. The stirrups give you something to stand up on when the ride gets a little
rough, and the saddle horn, it’ll give you a place to tie off a steer or what have you. But a cowboy without reins is a man
just waiting to hit something hard.

—L
EWIS
E
LIAS
Montana 1931