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Cowboy Etiquette

In the outback country of the West, working cowboys still follow rules of etiquette that have been handed down through generations. How do you know these rules if you haven’t been exposed to cowboy culture? Mary Flitner of Diamond Trail Ranch in Greybull, Wyoming, sums it up best, “Be quiet and humble. Your cowboy skills (if you have any) will show in due time and you need not try to show them.”

Let’s discuss a few of these codes and explain their purposes. 

     Cowboy Code #1: Never touch another person’s horse or tack. Cowboys don’t touch or handle another man’s mount. Some ranch horses are hard to handle and the riders don’t want their animals disturbed by someone else.  This policy also holds true when saddling and unsaddling a horse and loading or unloading a horse from the trailer.

        Saddles and tack are highly valued personal items that should be handled only by their owners. Sometimes the tack has repairs or riggings that must be handled in a special way. A cowboy makes his living in his saddle and an equipment failure can cause injury to him or his animal. 

      Cowboy Code #2: Be ready and on time to work. Gather all your gear beforehand, and don’t expect to borrow anything. Definitely don’t borrow saddles, pads, spurs, or other gear unless you ask. If you’re uncertain if some of your gear is appropriate, ask the ranch owner or manager especially if you’re riding a ranch’s horse. Also ask which bit and headstall works best on a borrowed horse.
 
     Cowboy Code #3: Don’t bring your dogs unless you ask permission. Untrained, nonworking dogs can disturb cattle. If you’re trailing a herd of cow-calf pairs, the cows will fight your dog to protect their calves. Cow dogs are helpful if their owners handle them correctly. However, most dogs can’t be handled when they charge into a herd of cattle. 

     Cowboy Code #4: Never ride ahead of the cow boss. The cow boss is in charge of a crew of cowboys on a ranch. He cuts (chooses) a string or number of horses for each cowboy. Each day he or his jigger (second in command) ropes the horses for each cowboy when the cowboy names his mount for the day. The cow boss decides what the cowboys will do for the day and cuts a circle for each person in a gather.

     Cowboy Code #5: Don’t turn your horse’s tail to a cow. It’s hard to work cattle when your horse is turned away from them. You can’t see to read or control what the cattle will do next. 

     Cowboy Code #6: Don’t ride in front of someone else. Instead, ask permission to cross in front of another rider and say, “Excuse me.” Doing so helps avoid riding too closely to another horse, thus risk getting kicked or having your horse kick the other horse. Also, you might interfere with the rider’s vision or tack. Plus it’s not polite. This also goes for allowing another person to complete his work his way.  Nothing is more frustrating than having your cattle doing what you want them to and having another person charge in and change things, usually messing up what was going on.

     Cowboy Code #7: Wait for a dismounted person at the gate. The rider who dismounts to open a gate should also close the gate after all riders have passed through the opening. Once the person closes the gate, he must remount his horse. If the other riders take off, his horse will try to follow the other horses, making it difficult for the rider to remount.

     Cowboy Code #8: Work cattle at a walk. Contrary to what you might see in movies, cowboys don’t gallop their horses all the time. The long trot is actually the preferred gait to cover country, while the walk is the best pace to move cattle. The reason is simple, cattle lose weight when they run, and weight is worth money when the cattle are sold. Plus, cattle and some horses become excited and hard to handle when they run.  

     Cowboy Code #9: Help with the cut or ride into the herd only when asked. Holding the herd for the cut is an important job. A cut is made in a herd to separate certain cattle, such as strays, heifers, steers, dry cows, bulls, etc. Allow the person in charge of making the cut to do his job without interference.
 
     Cowboy Code #10: Take your rope down only when asked. An animal is roped for specific reasons. Some livestock owners don’t want their animals roped unless they tell you to do so.

     Cowboy Code #11: Ride up on your rope in the branding corral. After you rope a calf in the branding corral, ride up on your rope and dally. In other words, ride toward the calf and take the slack out of the rope. That way, the calf won’t be on too long a rope, making it hard to handle, and it’ll be restrained enough to prevent knocking over the branding pot, medicine box and ranch hands on the ground.

     Cowboy Code #12: Don’t brand another man’s cattle. Today, at a branding, the owner of the cattle brands the stock, or he designates a trustworthy person to do the work. This rule also applies to castrating, ear marking and vaccinating. This rule was started back when dishonest hands used their irons on calves that didn’t belong to them. Don’t pick up a branding iron and try to help unless you’re asked. Several different irons might be in the fire and you might not know which iron goes on what animal.

Article by Mike Laughlin

Photos by Lee Raine
A version of this article appeared in the March 2004 issue of Western Horseman Magazine.




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  • Home
    • Web Site Design >
      • Privacy Policy
    • Links
  • Gear
    • Pistol River Saddlery
    • Cowboy Gear - Tips and Tricks: >
      • Three-Way Hobbling
      • Piggin' String
      • Stirrup Hobbles
      • Tying Your Rope Up
      • Buckaroo Scarf Knot
      • Cowboy Night Latch
      • Cut-away saddle pad
      • Center-firing your Cinch
      • Pack Saddle Latigo Safety Knot
      • Quick Keeper
      • Tire Changer Aid
      • Safety Tie-Up
      • No Roll Saddle Stand
    • Saddle Makers >
      • Wade Saddle History
      • Don Howe Working Cowboy Saddle Maker
      • Hamley and Co.
      • Bill Maupin
    • Spurs >
      • E.F. Blanchard Spurs >
        • How to tell authentic Blanchard spurs.
        • More Blanchard Spurs
      • Garcia Bits and Spurs
      • Amozoc Spurs
      • Prison Made Spurs
      • Adolph Bayers Spurs
  • Arts
    • Poetry >
      • Cowboy Poetry by Gary Vorhes
      • Charlotte Thompson Poetry
      • Mike Meaux Poetry
      • Audrey Hankins Poetry
      • Carole Jarvis Poetry
    • Rodeo Photos
    • Cowboy Photos
    • Horse Photos
    • Cattle Photos
    • Gear Photos
    • Dogs and Animals Photos
    • Reminders of the Past Photos
    • Windmill Photos
    • People Photos
    • Ready to Rodeo
    • Books by Dale Woolley
  • Horses
    • Diamond Z English Shire Horses
    • 5 Tips for Traveling
    • Harnessing A Team
    • The Dameles and the Curly Horse
    • Rounding Up Wild Horses
    • Extreme Horse Camping
    • First Pull on the Latigo
    • Twister Heller Starts a Colt
    • Cowboy Martingale
    • Cowboy Training Halter
    • Cowboy & Colt Clinic
    • Using the McCarty
    • Teach a Horse to Stand
    • Cowboy Draw Reins
    • War Knots >
      • Tying War Knots
    • Tail Knot for Pack Horses
    • Cavvy Marks
    • Deworming Your Horse
    • Safe Fall Trail Riding
    • Horse Remedies
    • Hormone Implant
    • How to buy a mule
  • Brands
    • Brands II
  • Chuckwagon
    • Dutch Ovens
    • Recipes
    • Sourdough >
      • Grant's Sourdough
    • Cowboy Coffee
  • Articles
    • Grubbing Hoe Ranch
    • Trevor and Emily Fuhriman
    • Land of Extremes
    • Jersey Valley Cattle Co
    • Diamond Tail Ranch
    • Gang Ranch of British Columbia
    • TS Ranch of Nevada
    • When the TS Ran a Wagon
    • IL Ranch
    • Basque Ranching
    • Crystal Rose Cow Dog College
    • Wyoming Honor Farm Inmate/Wild-Horse Program
    • Cowboy Etiquette
    • Arizona Trigger
    • Longhorn Cattle
  • Stories
    • For the Love of a Horse
    • Breakheart Station Master
    • Freighters Outbound
    • DK Cowboy Stories: A Prophet With Antlers
    • Ben's Trail
    • Spendin’ Time at Cow Camps
    • Slewfoot The Black Bear
    • Orphan Boy
    • Mooney's Stories - The Circle A Ranch of Nevada >
      • Cotton the Horse
      • Wigwam, the Wrangle Horse
      • Spanish Ranch 1
      • Spanish Ranch 2
      • Spanish Ranch 3
      • Spanish Ranch 4
      • Miss Beymer’s Boyfriend by Bill Mooney
      • Recollections by Bill Mooney
      • Branding out of a Rodear on the Spanish Ranch, Part 1
      • Branding out of a Rodear on the Spanish Ranch, Part 2
      • C Ranch
    • Wild Horse Casey >
      • ​A Dirty Ole Mustanger Like Me
    • Hero Cattle Dogs
    • Ranching Traditions
    • Life Lessons
    • Dave’s Summer Adventure
    • Fire-Proofing the Range
    • Cowboy Superstitions
    • Cowboy Humor
    • Portrait of a Cowboy >
      • Cowboy Obstricition
    • Tons of Silver
  • History
    • Fort Worth Stockyards
    • Horseshoe Ranch
    • Andrae - Marvel Nevada Oral Histories
    • Texas 6666 Ranch Historical Photos
    • Gerlach Cattle Company 1906
    • Cattle Roundup Photos
    • Cowboy Historic Photos
    • Sheepcamp
    • Comstock Lode
    • Pony Express
    • Horn Iron
    • Historic Sites
  • Cowboy Profiles
    • Victoria Jackson
    • Flying M Ranch Women's Team
    • In the Big Nevada Desert
    • Mike Laughlin, Cowboy
    • Bob Tanner
    • Bill Kane
    • Wally Blossom
    • Ian Tyson The Legend
    • Allie Bear
    • Marge Prunty
    • Bryan Neubert Cowboy Clinician
    • Rex Blackwell
    • Wiley Carroll - Legendary Hunter
  • Glossary
    • Horse Terms
    • Cattle Terms
    • The People & The Land
    • Saddles and Gear
    • Personal Gear
  • Cowboys of the World
    • Cowboys of the Dark Continent
    • Scrubber Running
    • The Day it Nearly All Ended
    • The Goring
    • Horse Breaking
    • Honduras
    • Mexico