Here we are, the top spot. After months of slowly unveiling
the top reasons to be a cowboy, hopefully the No. 1 reason is obvious: the
people.
Interestingly, as I examined the other top 24 reasons, on
nearly all of them I found myself having to purposely write around mentioning
the people in this lifestyle as the ...
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“A man has to have a code, a creed to live by.” —John Wayne
Lewis and Clark didn’t return from their Westward expedition
with a document outlining how one should live on the east side of the
Mississippi River. Sitting Bull didn’t whisper an ancient secret to Buffalo
Bill Cody. Before heading north with a ...
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Growing up, I looked so forward to the times our family
would gather with friends, extended family, and new acquaintances for one
simple reason: the stories.
Whether it was a branding, working cutting horses in
anticipation of an event, or even weddings and funerals, as the business of the
day concluded, invariably, ...
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The idea that within the cowboy icon there exists myth rubs
modern-day punchers the wrong way. To suggest that there is falsehood
surrounding our chosen profession in the form of myths is understandably
offensive.
However, I believe there is unquestionably a strong cowboy
mythology and hope to—in 400 words or ...
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We’ve reached rarified air, unveiling the top 5 in our top 25 reasons to be a cowboy in honor of the 25th Annual World Championship Ranch Rodeo this Nov. 12–15 in Amarillo, Texas. As this list unfolds, I will say that any of these top 5 could be arranged in any order and I wouldn’t argue with you. But for number 5, ...
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A big brimmed hat, tall-topped boots, long sleeve shirt, denim britches, and spurs jingling: the cowboy get-up is pretty simple. But within those few parameters lies multitudes.
To the uninitiated, those basic duds only mean one thing: a
cowboy. Line up a buckaroo from Nevada, a puncher from Texas, an Arizona hand,
a ...
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Perhaps the purpose of ranching should be the No. 1 reason
to be a cowboy. I think the reason it’s not ranked higher is as cowboys and
ranchers we’re so separated from the ultimate consumer of our products that we
lose sight of our job’s significance. Now, that doesn’t diminish its
importance, but perhaps it does ...
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Watching any WRCA rodeo, a spectator has the chance to see exceptional roping. In the stray gathering, for instance, when a top hand on his best horse falls in behind a fresh yearling steer, takes two swings, throws his loop around the steer’s neck—the tip curling enough to slap the critter’s hip—and pulls the ...
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A Top 25 list is, by design, set up to ignore the negative aspects of the subject being ranked. However, we’re shaking things up and presenting the challenges of cowboy life as the 10th best reason to live this life.
I’ll certainly not address every challenge cowboys and
ranchers face. But here’s a quick look at ...
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In Lonesome Dove, as Gus and Call are riding down the
street after a dustup in a local saloon in San Antonio, Gus says, “Call, I
guess they forgot us. The reason is, we didn’t die. If a thousand Comanches had
cornered us in some gully and wiped us out, like the Sioux just done Custer,
they’d write songs about us for ...
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