I still had never ridden or cowboyed, and I wanted to learn something about it. I'd been making the damn saddles for years but didn't know how to use them.
Generally a ranch hand that was skilled in various ranch duties such as bronc busting, roundup, roping, and riding and possessed a great knowledge of horses Many Canadian cowboys came to the prairies from the United States while others were from the British upper-middle classes Most were employed on the southern ranches and took part in the annual round-up The image of the cowboy has been wildly romanticized by Hollywood in the twentieth century as an independent, rough and tough figure bedecked in chaps, with a six-shooter at his side, cowboy boots and, of course, his cowboy hat Their myth, as much as their reality, has come to symbolize the western life and spirit
a hired hand who tends cattle and performs other duties on horseback someone who is reckless or irresponsible (especially in driving vehicles) a performer who gives exhibitions of riding and roping and bulldogging
One of the marauders who, in the Revolutionary War infested the neutral ground between the American and British lines, and committed depredations on the Americans
a dishonest and incompetent independent tradesman. A cowboy plumber may collect a large fee in advance, and leave floods and the need for expensive corrective work behind
A cattle herder; a drover; specifically, one of an adventurous class of herders and drovers on the plains of the Western and Southwestern United States
disapproval You can refer to someone who runs a business as a cowboy if they run it dishonestly or are not experienced, skilful, or careful in their work. We don't want to look like a bunch of cowboys. Horseman skilled at handling cattle in the U.S. West. From 1820, cowboys were employed in small numbers on Texas ranches, where they had learned the skills of the vaquero (Spanish: "cowboy"). After the Civil War, their numbers rapidly multiplied as cattle raising evolved into a lucrative industry throughout the western territories. Cowboys rounded up and branded the cattle, kept watch over the herd, and drove those ready for market to railroad towns. As the agricultural frontier moved west, the open range was transformed into farms, and by 1890 cowboys had been forced to settle on ranches. The romance of their image lived on in U.S. folklore and through movies and television
[ 'kau ] (noun.) before 12th century. Middle English cou, from Old English cu; akin to Old High German kuo cow, Latin bos head of cattle, Greek bous, Sanskrit go.