National Day of the Cowboy 2025

Today, 26 July 2025, is National Day of the Cowboy. So what are we celebrating? For one, I'm not celebrating the movie Cowboys. Few have portrayed working Cowboys well. What I celebrate, and not just on this day but everyday, are the Cowboys who work for low pay, long hours under harsh conditions because freedom and fresh air or more important to them than accumulating wealth. Those Buckaroos who accept the physically, emotionally and mentally challenges because they want a simple life on horseback taking care of livestock and being proud of a long days work done well. They rely on themselves. Sometimes their compadres and certainly their horses, which they take great pride in. Those are things I think about.

I have a ton of respect for the Cowboys who have parlayed their cowboying experiences into being makers of fine gear from saddles, to bits, spurs, leggings to rawhide braided items like bosals and reatas.....and much, much more. The patience and skill to do so, has greatly and will always eluded me. If you buy quality gear from one of these men and woman, just be aware that their experiences and soul go into making these pieces and if you dollar-hour averaged what they make it would be far, far below minimum wage.

I'm celebrating the clinicians who have shared their knowledge of working with horses as their love for horses, and breadth of experience are evident in the words they speak and how they handle a horse. Most of them don;t know me but I owe them so much. I am celebrating the Cowboy spirit which is the American spirit, and is, in part, is to just plod through hardships to get a job done....to not quit....to never quit.

A lot as been said about the latest generation of Americans reaching adulthood....about how they are spoiled; uneducated; have no work ethic; are slaves to technology and immediate gratification. All those descriptors have much truth to them, but there are also examples of American youth that forbode well as they become stewards of this country. I recently saw many young men and women at a High School Rodeo State Finals where their respectfulness, competence and character were on full display illuminating the fact this country will persevere, and will do so with the Cowboy spirit. Hats off tho those parents.

Cowboying is doing the right thing even if you know it's going to cost you. Which brings me to this story about the Cowboy arriving in Heaven and pleading his case for entrance saying he has always done the right thing all his life. Saint Peter the Gatekeeper asked the Cowboy to give him an example. The Cowboy said that he was having supper in a small diner and he saw a huge, muscular guy 6 inches taller and around 150 pounds heavier, berating the waitress and grabbing her wrist as she winced in pain. The Cowboy said "well, I can't let this go even if it means a severe beating', so he confronted the giant bully. Saint Peter then asked the Cowboy "when did this happen?", and the Cowboy replied "About 10 minutes ago".

Question on Using Flags to get a Horse to pick you up on the fence

Margaret sent me a question on using flags, specifically on the article Restarting Monte, Part 3, when I was getting Monte to pick me up on the fence. Her question was "Why did you decide on teaching the horse to come to the fence with a bit in his mouth as opposed to using a more gentle method such as a flag? After he is good at coming over to you, then you can do it with a bit in his mouth, but clanging the bit on his teeth when teaching him is detrimental to him."

Okay, not so much a full question but half lecture. I have no problem with that. And I assume she was meaning why didn't I start with a halter and lead as opposed to when the horse was in a snaffle bit outfit.

I did say in the text of the article prior to the video that ".....it was best to start with a lead rope. Sitting on the fence, with the horse usually perpendicular to you, and bump the lead rope until the horse searches for a release by moving his back end or even starting to just lean his hind end towards me. Its important to give the release with good timing and give the horse a good pause before bumping again....." While I have used a flag on a couple of horses to create some energy for them to move their hind over, I quit the flag just as soon as I can. For the one situation I use a flag, to get a horse to step over to the fence to pick me up, I just use the lead rope ten or more times. The flag in a great tool, as with any tool it has to be judiciously, but in my opinion, it can get in the way of a horse understanding the feel of the lead rope or a rein. They are moving due to the pressure of the flag as opposed to the feel of the lead or rein.

And I'll use the flag not right off, but bring it into the equation if the horse is having a hard time understanding the feel of the lead or reins, and again, this is important at least to me, I'll be looking immediately for where I don't have to use the flag it at all.

I did start Monte on picking me up off the fence using a halter and lead. He did well enough so I transitioned to asking him in the snaffle bit. Look again at the video, Monte steps over with a light feel or bump on the lead portion of the mecate. It's only when I ask him to make that last step closer when his head comes up, but even then, the "banging" on his mouth is minimal. If I was banging on his teeth with the bit you would have seen a much different reaction. This was around the fourth time, in 10 days or so, that I asked him to pick me up off the fence, counting the first time I asked using the lead rope.

I appreciate Margaret looking out for the welfare of the horse. In this case just a bit (no pun intended) quick to comment without a full understanding of where the horse and I were coming from. No worries. Like I tell people, I often need supervision and likely directions even to my grave, but hopefully that's well down the road.

Restarting Monte, Last Day and Postscript

On the last day that Monte's new owner was here, I showed her how I went about loading Monte in the trailer. He had only been in a trailer once since he was brought home seven plus years ago. When I started to get him ready to load the week before, he was hesitant to load, initially putting his front feet in the trailer then stepping back.

So I just waited on him. Asking him to step up again on a soft lead, put both front feet there and keeping them in the trailer, for several times, was a good start.

When he was good about just keeping his front feet in the trailer, then I would softly touch him on his barrel (I got Monte used to my hand, the poppers on the lead gently swinging up sand touching him, and the flag as well), where the rear cinch would go, in order to get him to bring a rear foot up preparing for a step into the trailer. If you have done your work sacking him out with the flag, this works the best or even use just a stick to extend your reach. This step is often skipped by some and results in a horse's having to jump into the trailer creating nose and anxiety, and we all want a nice calm horse stepping into the trailer without any drama.

Once I had a rear foot step forward, the opposite rear would follow by itself or with another touch on his barrel. Then I could ask for a step into the trailer using a bit of feel on the loose lead rope. Many horse's have issues with backing up in a trailer and having that step down. While this is not a trailer loading article, if Monte wanted to backout on his own without me asking, I let him, and I waited on him to figure out the stepping down business. Soon he was stepping right into the trailer and waiting on me to ask him to back. What we did not video was sending Monte into the trailer, that is standing outside the trailer and using a loose lead, asking him to go forward into the trailer, which he was a champ at. I had worked on trailer loading, prio to Arlene getting here, so by the time we shot the below video, Monte was good and calm at loading. I trailered him to the Mobile Vet clinic, a few days before, for a Coggins blood draw, so the time we got to his new owners last day here, he was just as good as could be loading and unloading.

When the transport rig showed up, Monte stepped right into the slant load and was a gentleman about it. I am going to miss him. He had the kindest eye of any horse and all the visitors to the ranch always gravitated to Monte. He is now at his new home, running around a 10 acre turnout with his new barn mate, a 16 year old mare.