The cowboy you speak of exists only in Hollywood and has nothing to do with reality in any way shape or form. I recall reading an interview of a person who had been a cowboy back in the late 1800's. He was asked about handguns and he said he and the other guys he was out with had tried them but they were so darn heavy to have you your hip while riding all day that after the first day they took them off.
NOTE: The following is an attempt at humor. If you do not have a sense of humor please do not continue reading this post.
Some things cowboys really did that people still stupidly copy today.
1. They wore special boots with slick soles and a large heel. The large heel kept their foot from sliding forward in the stirrup and the smooth sole allowed their foot to slide into the stirrup easily when mounting and out smoothly. The out smoothly was especially important if they were bucked off the horse. Outside of riding a horse or dressing up for Halloween this type of footwear is ridiculously impractical. It's akin to wearing ski boots or ballet slippers everywhere.
2. They wore leather chaps that protected the front of their legs from the brush. People wear them today for protection when riding motorcycles where the risk is not brush but sliding on your tukus down some pavement at 60 mph. Neither that speed nor pavement nor sliding were a concern to the cowboys so chaps leave your hind quarters exposed and often covered only with a layer of denim. In tests denim disintegrates in about 4 feet when dropped on blacktop at speed. Wearing chaps for protection when riding a bike is all about looks. Any real safety provided is, just like the TSA at airports, illusional and accidental.
Why this fascination with cowboys? Unless someone actively works on a ranch why would they be wearing the working apparel of a cowboy around? Why would a cowboy be wearing it when not working? Astronauts don't wear their space suits when they are out for dinner. Instead of cowboys why not ninjas? I think the black PJ's would be more comfortable, plus black makes you look thinner, and those tabi shoes with the separate big toe look handy for picking things up without bending over. How about hockey players. Why don't we see people out in clubs in fully hockey gear? What about the old mountainmen? I think more people should be out dressed in beaded and fringed buckskin with coonskin caps. Let's not forget those Pilgrims, without whose courage there wouldn't have been any cowboys. Why don't more people wear black shoes with big buckles? I'm really trying to understand why it is ok for people to dress up as one mythic figure when it's not Halloween and not others. It just doesn't seem fair to me.
Just a final question. How come none of the people I see dressing up like cowboys around town are carrying a lasso? That seems like a practical and useful thing to have along.
NOTE: The following is an attempt at humor. If you do not have a sense of humor please do not continue reading this post.
Some things cowboys really did that people still stupidly copy today.
1. They wore special boots with slick soles and a large heel. The large heel kept their foot from sliding forward in the stirrup and the smooth sole allowed their foot to slide into the stirrup easily when mounting and out smoothly. The out smoothly was especially important if they were bucked off the horse. Outside of riding a horse or dressing up for Halloween this type of footwear is ridiculously impractical. It's akin to wearing ski boots or ballet slippers everywhere.
2. They wore leather chaps that protected the front of their legs from the brush. People wear them today for protection when riding motorcycles where the risk is not brush but sliding on your tukus down some pavement at 60 mph. Neither that speed nor pavement nor sliding were a concern to the cowboys so chaps leave your hind quarters exposed and often covered only with a layer of denim. In tests denim disintegrates in about 4 feet when dropped on blacktop at speed. Wearing chaps for protection when riding a bike is all about looks. Any real safety provided is, just like the TSA at airports, illusional and accidental.
Why this fascination with cowboys? Unless someone actively works on a ranch why would they be wearing the working apparel of a cowboy around? Why would a cowboy be wearing it when not working? Astronauts don't wear their space suits when they are out for dinner. Instead of cowboys why not ninjas? I think the black PJ's would be more comfortable, plus black makes you look thinner, and those tabi shoes with the separate big toe look handy for picking things up without bending over. How about hockey players. Why don't we see people out in clubs in fully hockey gear? What about the old mountainmen? I think more people should be out dressed in beaded and fringed buckskin with coonskin caps. Let's not forget those Pilgrims, without whose courage there wouldn't have been any cowboys. Why don't more people wear black shoes with big buckles? I'm really trying to understand why it is ok for people to dress up as one mythic figure when it's not Halloween and not others. It just doesn't seem fair to me.
Just a final question. How come none of the people I see dressing up like cowboys around town are carrying a lasso? That seems like a practical and useful thing to have along.
