Cowboys, Rodeos, and Trail Drive Training
21st Century Cowhands
Cowboys and cowgirls are still active in the USA, - one reason that Americans still wear 10-gallon cowboy hats in Olympic Games Opening and Closing Ceremonies. They will likely do so again in the Vancouver Winter Olympics of 2010.
America is not the only country that supports working cowhands, though. Friends and I visited British Columbia and one wore a cowboy hat. Passersby asked him if he was from Alberta, a Canadian province known for cowboys and their hats.
Argentina also has cowboys. Cowboys and cowgirls likely work in many countries south of the US and all over Country Music as a genre. This is evidenced - in attire, at any rate - at the Country Music Awards each year.
The history of cowboys in America may be different than most people think. In a then-new traveling presentation at the Ohio Historical Society in 1995, we learned that the first cowboys in America were likely African American. They worked even before the Civil War, escaping early slavery to live with various Native American Nations and to work with bison and then cattle.
After slavery was abolished, some freemen became tenant farmers, some moved East, and some moved West to become cowhands on trail drives and ranches. Mel Brooks parodies this situation in a famous film featuring Don Cheadle: Blazing Saddles.
What is a Cowhand - Boy or Girl?
Briefly, a cowhand is a person that helps take care of cattle. A cowboy is one that performs this work in North America (including Florida and Hawaii) by some definitions, but South American cowboys certainly exist. Australian cowboys work very hard at their trade as well, even in a different hemisphere. Cowgirls are often rodeo participants or singers associated with rodeos. However, women and teen girls are active in the US on cattle ranches and as horse trainers and riders in Western Style.
Many historians believe that the concept of the job known as "cowboy" as a cattle herder came from Northern Mexico in the 1800s. The job called "wrangler" involves working the cattle drive horses, and "breaking" and training new horses to the team. Cowboys and wranglers work on working cattle ranches, on cattle drives, on dude ranches, in rodeos, and in film and on TV as actors and consultants.
Cowgirls have done the same work as cowboys, starting about the same time, in the pioneering spirit of the women that helped settle the West when whites first moved in to former Native American lands. Not as much documentation exists about the cowgirls as the cowboys, and the original cowboys were Mexican - and in the US territories, black.
Stepping back another distance, Native Americans handled bison herds in North America before the whites and Southern Hemisphere Natives learned to handle horses after their introduction by the Spanish. However, it was Mexican, whites and African Americans that were first called cowboys.
The Cowboy Humor of Will Rogers
Will Rogers, great American humorist and writer, was part cowboy and part Cherokee. He entertained audiences with provocative thoughts such as these:
If you're riding' ahead of the herd, take a look back every now and then to make sure it's still there.
If you find yourself in a hole, stop digging.
It don't take a genius to spot a goat in a flock of sheep.
— Will RogersCowboy Training Today
Training on working cattle ranches today takes the shape of OJT (on the job training), sometimes after college graduation with a degree in business, farming/ranching, ranch management, agriculture, animal science or a related subject.
As another Hubber has mentioned, the candidate really does need to know how to ride and train a horse, usually needs to own his/her own gear and tack, and may even need to own a horse. Regardless, cowhand and ranch hand training take a lot of physical work and physical fitness is of primary importance to this work.
There is a difference between work and exercise. In fact, without exercise, strenuous physical work will only break down your body. The work won't build it up.
Anyone that does physical work would benefit from a physical fitness program, along with an effective diet, proper nutrition, and relaxation in addition to adequate sleep. For example, construction workers could benefit from stretching before and after the work day and from a regular regimen of exercise in order to prevent injuries and to increase productivity.
Japanese business encourages and even require exercise form workers and the Soviet Union in the mid-1980s demonstrated that required exercise and relaxation markedly reduced both employees' industrial injuries and off-duty driving accidents (Ohio Bureau of Worker's Compensation, Rehabilitation Division, Andrew Hinkle, PhD, 1986).
Working with cattle and horses requires physical fitness and it should be a part of the life of every cowboy long-term.
Additional Training Programs
One commercial cowboy school is Bob King's Cowboy School, Inc. Class size is small and prices are expensive, up to $5,000 for 4 weeks. Montana Cowboy School is similarly priced.
Training on a ranch for 2 or 3 days is available at Cowboy John's Tours in Nevada and no prices are listed onsite, but an inquiry may be made. All of these types of programs are in the nature of vacation activities and self improvement courses. Pictures of participants often depict retirees.
Typical Job Description in a Cowboy Want Ad
- 60 hours per week, education not specified.
- Competitive compensation package; possible housing.
- Ranch needs experienced employee for diversified cattle/farming operation.
- Duties: riding pens and pastures, processing cattle, reparing fences.
- Excellent horsemanship skills are required, must have own tack.
- Prefer strong cattle health and herd health skills.
Typical Ranch Hand Ad
- 40+ hours per week, $18,000 per year (2018).
- Break colts, rope & doctor yearlings, calve out heifers, feed cattle and horses, fix fences,
- Should have skills in auto mechanics, welding, woodcutting, etc.
- House/utilities provided, with insurance for hand and family.
- Not interested in drifters or alcoholics.
- Need someone who is serious about what they do long-term.
On AgCareers.com, I found that a Bison Ranch Manager in Alberta can make $60,000 - $100,000 a year with an advanced degree and 15 years' experience.
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Ranch Management Training
Top Six Ranch Management Training in the US
- King Ranch Institute, associated with Texas A & M University.
- Texas Christian University
- Otero Junior College - La Junta, Colorado: http://www.OJC.edu
- Dawson Community College - Glendive, Montana: http://www.dawson.edu
- Northland Community and Technical College - Thief River Falls, Minnesota: http://www.northlandcollege.edu
- Iowa State University: http://www.iastate.edu
Rodeo Schools and Oversight
- NHSRA - National High School Rodeo Association
Comperehensive page of activities, schools, scholarships, and information. - Sankey Rodeo Schools and Equipment
Lyle Sankey brings you Sankey Rodeo Schools and Equpipment; Rodeo Schools, Jr Rodeo Schools, Bull Riding Equipment, Saddle Bronc Equipment, Bareback Equipment, Clown Bull Fighting Equipment
Old West Trail Culture
Cowboy Poetry
Cowboy poetry is a well received genre of literature and the spoken word, but it is becoming more popular with the media coverage afforded by the Internet and Cable TV.We formerly heard such things only on the late night talk shows, but now it's everywhere.
Yearly contests are awarding increasingly larger prizes that are perused by cowboy and cowgirl poets across the nation and all of North America.Several US States also hold their one state or regional contests.
Some interesting links that explain the genre and offer good examples are given below.
The video below presents a real American cowgirl poet, Ms. Georgie Sicking.
The film below is of poet Georgie Sicking at the National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame.
The video below is of the Cowboy Poetry Gathering, where Oscar Auker recites Larry McWhorter's "Cowboy Count Your Blessings."
Cowboy Poetry Sources
- CowboyPoetry.com Cowboy and Western Poetry at the Bar-D Ranch www.CowboyPoetry.com Center for Wester
The internet's largest collection of Cowboy Poetry invites submissions. Free email newsletter. Features, links to books, other sites, events. - Heber Valley Cowboy Poetry
To promote the cowboy way of life through music, poetry and art by holding an annual Cowboy Poetry Gathering and Buckaroo Fair and by giving back to the community along the way - Western Folklife Center - Home
Western Folklife Center is your source for info on western heritage, cowboy poetry, cowboy music, saddlemaking, horsehair hitching, rawhide braiding and rural living.
Sources
- Broussard, A. S.; Searles, M. N. Black Cowboys in the American West: On the Range, on the Stage, Behind the Badge; 2016. University of Oklahoma Press.
- McConnell, M. M. "Mary Fields's Road to Freedom" in Black Cowboys in the American West, On the Range, On the Stage, Behind the Badge. University of Oklahoma Press; p. 156; 2016.
© 2009 Patty Inglish MS
Comments and Opinions
Cowboys:hard work on the trail
u r earning a lot
....man oh man now that's a hub - no wonder you have 38,000 followers - I just felt like I entered an amusement park or wonderland when I saw all of your hubs - I am so very impressed to be frolicking here like a little boy in a candy store - how much is a day pass?
I would like to come back and have some more fun, knowledge and enlightenment - and like I said I love the effort and knowledge that you put into this one ......so you get epigramman's rating of HUBTREMENDOUS!!!!
I will like to be a menber
wonderful and informative article Patty as always/makes me smell the good horsey smell just reading it!!
Hi, wow you've put lots of work into this hub and it looks great. I love Will Rogers' advice: "If you're riding' ahead of the herd, take a look back every now and then to make sure it's still there." Hah! I enjoyed the descriptions of the training programs and job ads for cowboys.
I was born on a farm. I am a natural born cowboy. I rode horses, mules, took care of Herford cattle, chickens, and helped farm vegetables and fruit like strawberries. I worked in fields. Rode horse and mules bareback or with saddles on horses. I rode those that bucked also. Burried dead cattle.
Hand in the air, want to go and get training, too :) GOod read. Western fan!
Cool hub, very in depth. I'm even considering Cowboy training after reading it!
Interesting article and information.
Oh Patty, this really brought back memories for me,for my parents brought me into this world on one of those ranches in Arizona. The old adobe shack was free to live in for the work my father did---breaking horses and my mother milking cows. The shack had no floor--just dirt.
I rode fence with my father and uncle many times growing up.
Then with the hopes of better survival we followed the Redo circuit--sometimes we ate and other times not!
Yes, they were the true--meaning of COWBOYS and the women and children that endured the journey have a special place in their heart with this history.
That ole saying---(you had to have been there!) rings loud and clear for me at age-78. Thank you.
Another informative hub!
Patty, an interesting and informative Hub. I really believe, however, that our cowboys learned more from the Indians and Mexicans than they ever got from the blacks. I'm talkin' about the wild west - Utah, Texas, Montana, Wyoming, and Colorado. Cowboys developed along the Oregon and Mormon trails westward. They helped drive the cattle and help the wagons find the best route, scouting the territory for Indians, and then using their guns to ward off attacks. My Great, Great grandfather was an American cowboy. After the Latter-day Saints reached Utah in 1847 they sent him and men like him back to herd horses and cattle to the Great Basin. I believe this was before the blacks got involved. Oh, I'm sure there were some blacks involved, but not in the numbers that the white cowboys operated in. I never heard of a western town dominated or taken over by black cowboys. They were on the sidelines of American history in this area of life. Hollywood, especially of late, has rewritten a lot of cowboy lore and you have to be careful who you're listening to and what you rely on as real history and what is Hollywood history. the Ohio Historical Society in 1995, we learned that the first cowboys in America were likely African American.
I love this hub. I didn't know a lot of the information on here concerning cowboys. Im a big fan of cowboys and the wild west, along with the Native American half of me, history. This was an enjoyable read, thank you.
That was a most unusual hub, but as always a great read.
This is a very good read. I had the idea that cowboys and cowgirls are very wealthy people who spend most of their time as outlaws, gunmen/gunwomen, adventurers, untouchables and casually dressed in very expensive clothing. Why do movies like glorifying them when they are just servants employed to look after cattle?
Wow! That's a really nice, informative hub.
Thanks for the fun read!
The "Cowboy" is a major part of American folklore, although the term used in books and movies is seldom really about cowboys, but rather about outlaws, gunmen, and other adventurers. I do recall reading a book many, many years ago about the West and how the Cowboy owed much to the Spanish-Americans. What I remember most is that they were both horsemen and would never walk if they could help it. Much of the equipment--lariats, wide brimmed hats and other things came from the contact with the Mexican culture.
You have a very nice and informative hub here.
That was interesting to me because I just wrote a hub about the 'Wild West' and 'Get 'Em Up and Move 'Em On' Thank you very much for an enjoyable read and I learned a lot from it. The only thing I couldn't understand is '10-gallon' cowboy hats. It is the wording 'gallon' which confuses me.
Pls train me.
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