The Western Cowboy and Arabians in the Rockies

Call him bronco buster, cowpuncher, cattleman, or just plain ranch hand ... the western cowboy to those who know him best, has always been “just a plain, everyday upstandin’ man!” He is courageous and fearless ... loyal to his outfit and to his friends, and does his best to live up to the code of his colorful calling.

An oldtimer might tell you that the cowboy’s code calls for “courage and loyalty, uncomplaining cheerfulness, laughter at danger and hardships, lack of curiosity regarding another’s past, and respect for womanhood.”

The cowboy may change with the times, but so long as the West raises cattle he’ll be with us ... riding the range, testing his skill at the rodeo ... “doin’ his job” as he upholds the proud traditions of the West and one of its greatest industries ... the cattle business. The cowboy and the horse he rides are the result of a way of life. The man and the animal have developed together, adapting themselves to a type of life and work unfamiliar to millions of our present generation.

The dime-novel, two-gun characters of fiction, the movies built around these stories, and the occasional rodeo performance, are the basis for the average person’s impressions about the Western cowboy. Overlooked are the real life and the important daily tasks of these men on horseback who provide the meat for the nation’s tables.

The cowboy knows no hours. From sunup to sundown, in blizzard, rain and sunshine, he watches and cares for his herd.

The pioneers who built the cattle business into a tremendous industry used the saddle for making history. The modern cowboy following in their path is still using a saddle for a throne from which he upholds a tradition ... and never will he forsake that saddle for a jalopy to help him over the rough places.