How to Be a Cowboy
By Jim Arndt
4.5/5
()
About this ebook
Explore every facet of being a cowboy with essays and colorful photos in this guide from the author of Buckaroo Boots and Art of the Buckle.
How to be a Cowboy is a compendium of knowledge and insight, wit and wisdom, and all-around resource for every aspect of cowboy life. It includes the least you need to know about ranching, rodeoing, cooking, music, dancing, yodeling, lingo (like “dude,” “bronc,” and “hoss”), cowboy poetry, hats, boots (like boot history and how to choose a pair for yourself), spurs, shirts, horses, hats, buckles, denim, and also how to walk like a cowboy. Discover the top twenty cowboy movies and top western novels. You’ll even find advice from cowboy icon Will Rogers.
“It’s the rich color camerawork that really compels, and Arndt’s classy shots of elaborately designed boots, shirts, blue jeans and hats, plus peripheral cowboy gear, are enough to make a guy chuck the 9-to-5 and head out to the wild, wild West.”—Martin Brady, BookPage
Jim Arndt
Jim Arndt is nationally recognized photographer, with many books to his credit including Art of the Boot, The Cowboy Boot Book, and 100 Years of Western Wear. His work has been published and exhibited internationally.
Read more from Jim Arndt
Art of the Buckle Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsArt of the Heart Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Related to How to Be a Cowboy
Related ebooks
A Master's Guide to Building a Bamboo Fly Rod: The Essential and Classic Principles and Methods Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWoodcraft Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Cowboy: His Characteristics, His Equipment, and His Part in the Development of the West Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Little Red Book of Cowboy Wisdom Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Don't Squat With Your Spurs On, Volume No. 2: A Cowboy's Guide to Life Rating: 1 out of 5 stars1/5Cowboy Ethics: What It Takes to Win at Life Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHunt Camp Tales - stories from a hunting guide: Guide Tips and Meal Ideas Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsIncredible Cowboy Stories: Amazing Tales of Western Danger and Derring-Do Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSixguns and Bullseyes and Automatic Pistol Marksmanship: A Comprehensive Manual on Target Shooting Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Pendleton Field Guide to Campfire Stories Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Ghosts of Autumn: A Season of Hunting Stories Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFreedom Found: My Life Story Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Ultimate Guide to Deer Hunting Skills, Tactics, and Techniques Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Traditional Bowyers Encyclopedia Rating: 1 out of 5 stars1/5Smallmouth: Modern Fly-Fishing Methods, Tactics, and Techniques Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Good Hunting: In the Pursuit of Big Game in the West Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDon't Squat With Your Spurs On: A Cowboy's Guide to Life Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAdventures of a Mountain Man: The Narrative of Zenas Leonard Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Open Water: The History and Technique of Swimming Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Free Soloing and Other Extreme Rock Climbing Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFailproof Tactics for Whitetail Bowhunting: Tips and Techniques to Help You Take a Trophy This Season Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAt the Grave of the Unknown Fisherman Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5American Big-Game Hunting Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsGrouse Hunter's Guide: Solid Facts, Insights, and Observations on How to Hunt Ruffled Grouse Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Camping in the Old Style Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsUpland Autumn: Birds, Dogs, and Shotgun Shells Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsCowboy Skills: Roping, Riding, Hunting, and More Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5Tracking and Reading Sign: A Guide to Mastering the Original Forensic Science Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5American Legends: The Life of Jim Bowie Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Social Science For You
All About Love: New Visions Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Dumbing Us Down - 25th Anniversary Edition: The Hidden Curriculum of Compulsory Schooling Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Come As You Are: Revised and Updated: The Surprising New Science That Will Transform Your Sex Life Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Men Explain Things to Me Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Fourth Turning Is Here: What the Seasons of History Tell Us about How and When This Crisis Will End Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5You're Not Listening: What You're Missing and Why It Matters Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A People's History of the United States Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Art of Witty Banter: Be Clever, Quick, & Magnetic Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Women Don't Owe You Pretty Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Just Mercy: a story of justice and redemption Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Like Switch: An Ex-FBI Agent's Guide to Influencing, Attracting, and Winning People Over Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Close Encounters with Addiction Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Denial of Death Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5My Secret Garden: Women's Sexual Fantasies Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Prisoners of Geography: Ten Maps That Explain Everything About the World Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Verbal Judo, Second Edition: The Gentle Art of Persuasion Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Rage Becomes Her: The Power of Women's Anger Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Freedom Is a Constant Struggle: Ferguson, Palestine, and the Foundations of a Movement Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Human Condition Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for How to Be a Cowboy
2 ratings0 reviews
Book preview
How to Be a Cowboy - Jim Arndt
The Cowboy Code
In sun and shade,
be sure by your friends.
Never swing a mean loop.
Never do dirt to man nor animal.
—Texas Bix Bender
The Cowboy CodeThe Cowboy CodeHow to Be a Cowboy
The Cowboy CodeIt’s Easy. . .
The Cowboy CodeThe Cowboy CodeThe Cowboy CodeThe Cowboy CodeThe Cowboy CodeLesson 1: Boot Camp
Cattle drives to rock and roll. Dusty boots to couture. The evolution of the cowboy boot from fundamental to fashionable corresponds to the settling of the American West, the birth of Hollywood’s silent films starring cowboy Tom Mix, and Roy Rogers and Gene Autry riding across the 1950s television screen.
Lesson 1: Boot CampLesson 1: Boot CampRear View
Lesson 1: Boot CampSince the mid-19th century, the American cowboy, the Mexican vaquero, Texas Rangers, and cavalry soldiers have worn high-topped boots as protective gear. Boots were originally strictly utilitarian, and today’s museums display well-worn, plain cowboy boots. Because these boots needed repair or replacement as cowboys worked the trail, boot makers opened shops along the cattle drive trails. Over time, cowboys suggested customizations for a better personal fit and later requested designs in stitching and inlays. Even after the last big cattle drives out of Texas ended, cowboys and their boots remained a part of Americans’ image of the West.
When Buffalo Bill opened the era of the stage cowboy in his western extravaganzas in the United States (1883) and Europe, he outfitted his performers in dazzling fringed and beaded costumes, and the bright-colored, fancy boots they wore enhanced their garb as well as enabled them to perform rodeo feats such as bull riding and cattle roping.
Lesson 1: Boot CampLesson 1: Boot CampEasterners were awed and yearned for the look, attitude, and lifestyle of the West. Even city slickers like New York’s Teddy Roosevelt went west (and still do) to experience rodeos, dude ranches, and the aura of towns like Santa Fe and Jackson Hole. Their desire to head back East with their own western gear gave birth to a new industry in western wear that continues to grow.
Boot makers became creative and artistic. Cowboy boots in both tall top and shorty styles became flashier and more ornamental, with new stitch patterns, inlays, overlays, initials, wing tips, collars, mule ears, and outrageous patterns and colors. To show off their flashy designs, boot wearers frequently tuck their pants inside their boots.
In addition to recalling the legends of the West, cowboy boots reflect the personalities of those who wear them today. The ultimate in cowboy footwear today is a pair of custom boots measured and made by hand to fit the customer’s form and taste. It is true that boot aficionados push boot makers to be more creative.