Cowboys from the 1800s Describe their Horses
Enjoy these descriptions real cowboys from the 1800s gave about their horses.
In the 1800s, cowboys’ work and horses were essentially inseparable. Cowboys needed to work cattle, and in those days, there was no other option besides horses. As a result, the duo combined into one entity in our memory and stories. Horses were ideal partners for the work for several reasons. One, they had the size, speed, and stamina to compete with skittish longhorn cattle. Two, horses are highly intelligent and can learn a nearly endless array of signals from their rider. Three, when it comes to the western breeds, cow work is just something that is bred to them. Even today, starting colts with cattle makes it much easier than without. Like a good blue-tick hound wants to hunt, a good cow horse has a strong desire to work cattle.
Although it’s easy to romanticize the relationship between cowboys and their horses, the reality isn’t always the case. Personally, I like the quote John Wayne gave in the fictional movie The Cowboys, when he said, “The cow is nothing but trouble tied up in a leather bag - and a horse ain’t much better.” Anyone with much experience around horses can testify to the fact they aren’t always easy to get along with. On the other hand, once you get a good one, they are worth their weight in gold.
On cattle drives in the 1800s, cowboys needed good, solid, and dependable horses capable of a long day’s work. Some were broncy and nasty, while others were gentle and willing. When you look back in the historical record, there are a few good stories of cowboys describing the horses they worked. Here are a few of those descriptions.
Teddy Blue Abbot
In his book, We Pointed them North, cowboy Teddy Blue describes a horse this way:
“…Cap’ Howe sent me over a string of d(—)ned bum horses. anybody knows what that means who has ever tried to rope calves on a fool horse that doesn’t know his business. It’s enough to drive you crazy…Still, there’s ways of getting rid of a horse you don’t like, and I sure got rid of one of them broomtails -the most worthless d(—)mned horse I ever saw in my life. He was a mean, ornery devil in the first place, that would pull back on you every time you’d go to get on, or rear up and try to kill you. He was absolutely worthless when you got him in a heard.”
As you can tell, Teddy Blue didn’t have much use for this particular horse. But don’t think Teddy Blue didn’t like a horse that would buck. Earlier in the book he wrote:
“The next day I caught him up to ride, and he showed me a thing or two. He started to buck, and first my six-shooter went, then my Winchester went, then I went, and he finished up by bucking the saddle over his head. After that I would not have taken a million dollars for him…He was a wonderful rope and cut horse, but I thought so much of him I never used him much, only to ride him to town.”
Charles Goodnight
While managing the JA Ranch, Goodnight was having a meeting with financier John Adair. Apparently, Adair’s aristocratic nature had been rubbing a few of the ranch hands the wrong way, and after he ordered them to get a horse they decided to get Old Idaho. Now, Old Idaho “was an outlaw horse that never failed to throw a wall-eyed fit and pitch all over the country every time he was saddled.”
After getting the horse snubbed and saddled, the crew earnestly waited until Adair came to get mounted. Much to the chagrin of the hands, “If Old Idaho didn’t stand perfectly still until he got on, and walk off like the gentlest horse in the world, then I’m not sittin’ here.”
Charles Siringo
Another cowboy that went up the trail was a man named Charles Siringo. In this book, A Texas Cowboy, he describes dealing with more “wild” horses:
“Where the trouble began, (the boss) wanted Coats and I, we being the only ones in the crowd who could ride wild horses -- or at least who were willing to do so, to do the wild horse riding for nothing. We finally bolted and told him that we wouldn't ride another wild horse except our regular "mount,” unless he gave us extra pay. You see he expected us to ride a horse a few times until he began to get docile and then turn him over to one of his muley pets while we caught up a fresh one.”
Throughout the book, however, Siringo is consistently referring to the horses he knew as “good horses.”
“Our outfit consisted of twenty-five hundred head of old mossy - horn steers, a cook and twenty-five riders, including the boss, Asa Dawdy, with six head of good horses to the man.”
Philip Ashton Rollins
Author Philip Ashton Rollins wrote a book in the early 1900’s about the life of cowboys. Having gone up the trail himself, Rollins knew a thing or two about life on a cattle drive. However, instead of an entertaining yarn, Rollins tries to create almost an encyclopedia of cowboy life. His book is full of gear, culture, dress, and skills necessary to be a trail hand. Near the end of the book, Rollins gives a brief description of horses used by cowboys.
“One pony might be particularly good at cutting out and in, a fast runner in a spurt, but either a bit shy of a thrown lariat or not expert in doing his part after the reata had made its catch. Nevertheless, he might be invaluable in driving stock, despite his restricted usefulness in the game played in the corral. Another pony, perfect at the roping work, might be slow in a dash to head stock running in the open, but, notwithstanding this, he might be capital for business within the corral. Some ponies did all things well, and they were regarded as being of almost royal rank.
“As a result of this lack of uniformity in the horses’ qualifications, to an efficient cowboy on a large ranch were assigned several ponies, one animal for one class of work, another for another. To such a cowboy was assigned also a horse of less attainment, and this beast was used in the commonplace errand - running rides of the every-day. The various animals allotted to a man, however humble he might be, were left severely alone by all other men on the ranch; and the horses’ assignee, so long as he rode for the ranch, was sole lord of his string.”
W.L. Rhodes
Mr. Rhodes was a Texas cowboy in the 1880s. Here is what he had to say about his horses.
“You see, a cutting hoss is as important to a cow poke as a hammer is to a carpenter. If your hoss is trained right, and is a good hoss to start with, you can go into the herd, and cut the critter you want out of the herd, you just have the hoss push against it, or hit it with your lasso. Then your hoss will stay behind that critter ‘til it gets out of the herd, and will chase it plum through the herd if necessary.”
Andy Adams
Perhaps the description that shows the softer side of things comes from Andy Adams. Near the end of his book, Log of a Cowboy, Adams describes selling his favorite horse as the end of a drive.
“Another day’s easy travel brought us to within a mile of the railroad terminus; but it also brought us to one of the hardest experiences of our trip, for each of us knew, as we unsaddled our horses, that we were doing it for the last time…there was a feeling of regret in our hearts which we could not dispel…at no time in my life, before or since, have I felt so keenly the parting between man and horse as I did that September evening in Montana. For on the trail an affection springs up between man and his mount which is almost human. Every privation which he endures his horse endures with him, - carrying him through falling weather, swimming rivers by day and riding in the lead of stampedes by night, always faithful, always willing, and always patiently enduring every hardship, from exhausting hours under saddle to the sufferings of a dry drive…the men who knew them then can never forget them or the part they played in that long drive.”
As you can see, the descriptions cowboys gave of their horses varied widely. Some were near pets and saying goodbye at the trail’s end was difficult. Others were hard buckers and full of fight. Still, even some of these became the most cherished mounts a cowboy had. By looking at sources from a time period, you can gain a better understanding of the true relationship between cowboys and their horses. If you are reading History of the West with Sam Payne; Trail to Cheyenne, hopefully, this gives you a better sense of how the characters would have bonded with their horses on the trail. Although separate, cowboys and their horses almost become one in their work on the trail.
