Do you have to work cattle to qualify as a cowboy?

Question

Curious...lots of us feel like we are cowboys or cowgirls, but we don't work on cattle ranches, so are we disqualified?

Answer 1

Just competing does not make you a cowboy. You gotta be able to ride anything with four legs, be able to work cattle in the open alone, have enough horse sense to get by, you cant just ride western and say your a cowboy. Rodeo isn't a definition of a cowboy, they work hard 10-12hrs a day in the saddle, they can rope, ride, doctor and so much more. They don't wanna show off what they can do, they just do there job.  

Answer 2

I think livestock other than horses need to be involved to qualify for the term "Cow" boy or girl.

Without the livestock or actions involving such, you would simply be an "Equestrian".

Answer 3

my definition: you bite it hard falling off a horse. you get back up. you brush off the dirt. you get back on anyway. you are officially a cowgirl/cowboy. lol seriously tho. thats a good question. what makes a cowboy or cowgirl? is it just riding western or is it ranch work or what?

Answer 4

I think any girl who is not a snooty highfalutin snob on a horse, a girl who just likes to have a rootin' tootin' western riding good time, is a cowgirl. If that is you and you are not inhibited or restrained by social etiquette and you are not too snooty to kiss your horse on the lips and you think your horse smells better than designer perfumes, you are probably a cowgirl. And the same similarity applies to cowboys.

Answer 5

I would say someone who works on a ranch/farm or at least worked with horses. This comes from a Nevada girl and we see alot of Cowgirls/ boys.  

Answer 6

You don't have to work on a cattle ranch you just have to be in some way involved with cattle.

Answer 7

Personally, I think that livestock other than horses should be involved.  I don't feel that just riding a horse qualifies as cowboy/cowgirl.

Just like wearing a cowboy hat & boots doesn't make you a cowboy/cowgirl.  Of course many cowboys wear baseball caps & nikes to distinguish themselves from truck drivers who started wearing the turkey platter buckles, pointed toe cowboy boots & stetsons.  But, they luckily forgot about wearing wranglers & stayed with levis....

Back in the day, a cowboy did it all.  They broke horses, roped cattle, branded, doctored, pulled calves, sorted, moved cattle from pasture to pasture.  No matter what the weather is, they are riding fence, checking herds, throwing hay, their days start sometimes before sun up & often times do not end at sun down.  They seed hay fields, move irrigation pipes, they mow, rake, bale & buck hay.    

Today, cowboys are mostly rodeo cowboys & ranchers.  But then again, ranchers work with horses & cattle.  

People who simply ride horses are trainers, equestrians, ranchers or horse folks.

"Real Cowboys" are a rare breed these days.  Being a cowboy is a lifestyle, NOT a fashion statement.  Sitting a horse does not a cowboy make, because as a friend once said, a sack of taters can sit in a saddle.

*EDIT*

Again, being a cowboy is a lifestyle.  You can not be a city slicker & a part time cowboy.  

RANCHERS are both....

Answer 8

I think it's an overused term.  I think it's a way of life and thinking.  My thoughts come from my personal experiences.  My grandfather was a cowboy...before he became a rancher.  He traveled around from ranch to ranch working for other ranchers.  He doctored, birthed/pulled calves, branded, castrated, slaughtered and moved/herded cattle.  He also competed against others in local 'rodeos'...but didn't travel a circuit.  He was very quiet and didn't talk alot.  But when he did...you really should have listened.  Honest and full of integrity...he did and meant whatever he said.  He also worked and 'broke' horses...but was not a 'trainer.'  

I don't remember the kind of jeans that he wore, but I never saw him without a western style shirt, cowboy hat, and boots on...but he was from a different time.  No baseball or feed caps from the local co op for him.

I can only explain that it was his way of life...and that's how he lived it.  Just because you/or we wear the 'right' kind of clothes does not make a cowboy or girl.  Just because we ride western doesn't make it so.  Just because we are involved in rodeo events doesn't make it so.  And just because we live in the country and have horses on our property and ride them or breed them...doesn't make it so either.

It makes us country or horse people.  That's what I am...a country girl who likes to work with cattle, ride western, and wear boots, hats, and jeans.  I'm not a 'cowgirl'...even when I'm riding a horse that is bucking, roping [or attempting to] something, or moving cattle from one place to another.  But when I do get to do those things...for a time...I get to 'be' a cowgirl.  And when it's done...I go back to 'my' life...and it's not one that lives and breathes a 'cowboy' lifestyle.

Answer 9

To me you do have to work cattle, or atleast work on a ranch, and have a certian mentality to qualify as a cowboy or cowgirl. I grew up on a working ranch and have seen so many people that think they are one just because they can get on a horse. Or just because they wear a pair of ropers.

Look up historical cowboys on the interent or in a book. Or even Vaquero, and you will see what a true cowboy or cowgirl is.

Answer 10

this has been an ongoing debate for quite some time in western culture.a true cowboy/cowgirl is someone who makes their living raising livestock like cattle and horses and holds true to their beliefs that we are the stewards of the land and the animals that we make a living off of so we can put food on our families table.a long time ago cowboys were kind of the immigrant workers of the range,they went to where the ranchers were to find jobs working cattle and when fall came around they would try to find a job with ranchers as ranch hands breaking horses so they would have a roof over their heads and food on the table for winter,come spring and the calving season they would ride the range searching for cows and calves in distress and would perform emergency doctoring on the spot to try to save the livestock that they made their small earnings off of.it was a job and a way of life.they wore hand me down clothes and boots and the only thing they bought new were their saddle and spurs otherwise they relied on the generosity of the ranchers they worked for, for a long hard days work.mostly today anyone can look like a cowboy/cowgirl but most just want people to think they are cowboys/cowgirls because it has been romanticised thru movies(urban cowboys/cowgirls),Rodeo cowboys/cowgirls are a different breed all to themselves and in my mind uphold the qualities of the Cowboy/Cowgirl way.we have a saying around here about urban cowboys"all hat and no cattle" or "spit boots" because of the spitshine and no marks on their boots.