Essential Cowboy Gear

Jeans were invented by Levi Strauss (not a Texan).  They were adopted by cowboys with a couple of modifications.  Original jeans had rivets at all the stress points.  The rivets in the back pockets were removed to prevent damage to the saddle.  Those same rivets are hell on the hood of your pick-up too.  The crotch rivet was removed as a result of discomfort while squatting near a campfire. 

Wranglers are not made in Texas, but are the choice of most rodeo cowboys.  Chaps or leggings are worn to protect the cowboys' legs from brush, rain and cold.  Chaps are still used for their intended purpose by rodeo cowboys and in heavy brush on the range. 

Cowboy or Western hats are one of the unique trademarks of the cowboy.  Hats of  felt are worn in cold weather and straw hats are worn in hot weather.  The important parts of a cowboy hat are the brim, crown, and crease.  Felt is the material of choice for a cowboy hat for good reason.  Felt is matted fur.  Because it is matted, and the hairs run in all directions interlocking with each other, felt is stronger and lighter than woven materials.  A water resistant fur/felt is desirable to help the hat hold its shape and shed water.  Beaver, neutrea or muskrat are the best and most expensive fur / felts.  Rabbit, or a combination of rabbit with one of the other felts, is most common.  Wool felt will not hold its shape.  Nothing looks worse than a droopy cowboy hat.  Felt hats are made of rabbit and beaver hair. A 5X hat is all rabbit, a 10X hat is 50% rabbit and 50% beaver, and a 100X hat is 100% beaver.  A working cowboy would typically purchase a 10X hat for $165 to $240. A 5X hat would retail for $100 to $150, and a 100X hat starts at $750.

The modern day cowboy boot evolved from the utility boot designed to fit the stirrup of a saddle.  As a result, there are boots made for riding, rodeo-ing, and walking.  You should base your selection on the intended use.  Two inch riding heels don't make good walking boots.  All boots should have a steel shank with wooden pegs for arch support.  You should also look for leather lining and good overall workmanship. Riding boots should have an underslung heel tall enough to grip the saddle stirrup.  Riding boots also come with a narrow toe to guide the boot easily into the stirrup without effort.  Boots are one of the most comfortable shoes you can wear if they fit right.  You shouldn't have to break in boots, they should be comfortable the first time you  put them on.  The heel should slip slightly when you walk.  A long narrow fit is better than a too short wide fit.  Get a custom made pair if you can afford them.  The stitching on the boot top originally served to hold the multi layers of leather together without sagging.  The more rows of stitching the more expensive the boot.  A work boot might have four rows of stitching and a dress boot will have six to eight rows of stitching.  Inlays and overlays of leather shapes are found on a Hollywood type boot.  A custom boot fitting will run $200.00 and the boots are an additional $4,500.00 on up.  Decisions to be made include toe shape, ear pulls, heel size, and shape and type of leather.  Expect six to eight weeks or more for delivery.

A saddle should be selected for its intended use, pleasure riding, roping, show, bronc riding or barrel racing.  Unless you are an expert, the best approach is to deal with a reputable saddle dealer or saddle maker.  A saddle should be selected to fit your seat and, just as important, the horse.  Take your horse saddle shopping with you if you can.  A saddle should never touch the horse's spine or put undue pressure on the withers.  The bars of the saddle tree should lay flat on the horses back, just behind the shoulder blades.  The gullet should clear the horses back by one inch when the rider is mounted. 

• Balance rider - Cowboy who rides a bucking bronc solely by balancing himself in the saddle.

 

• Bicycling - Spurring a bronc's sides first with one foot and then with the other.

 

• Blowing a stirrup - To lose a stirrup.

 

• Choking the apple - To grasp the saddle horn while contest bronc riding.  This disqualifies a rider.

 

• Clean out - When a roped calf is thrown cleanly to the ground with its' legs out in one direction, it is described as being 'cleaned out'.

 

• Community loop - A large loop thrown at stock by a roper.

 

• Dallying - To take a wrap or several wraps around the horn with a rope, making it  temporarily secure.

 

• Dog-fall - A fall of a steer in bulldogging, with its' legs doubled up beneath it.  To be timed, a steer must fall with all four legs pointing in the same direction.

 

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

 

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

 

• Hoolihanning- To leap on a steer in such a way that the animals head and horns are driven into the ground. The animal turns over and must be let up and thrown by hand for eligible time.
  

• Hotshot - A harmless electric device pressed against the hide of a bull or bronc to shock the animal into a sudden start. Used around the loading chutes.

 

• Neck rope - A loop around a horses 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.

 

• Pick-up man - A mounted cowboy in the arena who 'picks up' the riders after they have completed their contest rides.

• Piggin string - A short tie string with which the cowboy makes his roped stock secure.
  

• Runaway bucker - A bronc that runs wildly from the chute and then "breaks in two" someplace in the middle of the arena.
  

 

• Spinner - A bull or horse that bucks in close, tight circles. Such animals are very difficult to ride.

 

• Sunfishing - When a horse twists its' body violently from side to side, rolling its' belly upward toward the sun, it is said to be sunfishing.