so Montana? (Billings: work, college, event)

[CTC]

My wife is up in Billings working on a project (we live in CO). She had a funny story; it seems the other morning when she was at a Starbucks on the outskirts of town there were two cowboys in line with full cowboy regalia (including spurs).

They ordered some fufu flavored coffee drink, and jingled their way out the door.

she thought this was pretty funny

I love the juxtaposition of this image: traditional working cowboys ordering flavored lattes before rounding up the herd!

[truckingbronco]

Usually the people who are all decked out in western gear are tourists.

[CTC]

with spurs??? my wife is very country and thought they were legit, even tipping their hat as they left.

Maybe it was all a joke

[truckingbronco]

Maybe they were...funny story.

[rickers]

I deal with and see a lot of tourists and I've never seen any decked out in any
"cowboy" outfit ! They were most likely real cowboys or rodeo riders, dressed up for some rodeo event or something. Virtually all the real ranch hands and cowboys in our valley wear ball caps , dip snuff and smell like cow crap ! The cattle horses pretty much know what to do along with the help of a healer and no spurs are neccessary. Some use spurs when breaking a horse though. See photo in this link (view as slide show).

Picasa Web Albums - Rick - cattle country (broken link)

[truckingbronco]

Originally Posted by rickers

I deal with and see a lot of tourists and I've never seen any decked out in any
"cowboy" outfit ! They were most likely real cowboys or rodeo riders, dressed up for some rodeo event or something. Virtually all the real ranch hands and cowboys in our valley wear ball caps , dip snuff and smell like cow crap ! The cattle horses pretty much know what to do along with the help of a healer and no spurs are neccessary. Some use spurs when breaking a horse though. See photo in this link (view as slide show).

Picasa Web Albums - Rick - cattle country (broken link)

I've seen more than a few who try to "dress the part" for rodeos, festivals, and such.

[TypicalCalifornian]

Like my Montana daughter always says to me when I show up "take them damn boots off ya look like you're from california". then proceeds to tell me real cowboys wear tennis shoes, they're too poor to buy boots made of some snake that the only way to survive their bite is to be bit in the ER.

Oh well, my generation all wanted to be cowboys and we got tricked into going to college and wearing suits.

[AQHA]

If they had on spurs then they were the real deal. I have a pair of boots that I just leave the spurs on. Rickers, was that you that said we dont use spurs anymore? Yer salty enough to know better than that. To have complete control of a horse leg cues are a must. I steer and stop and go more with my feet and legs and rump than I do with my hands.

[CTC]

Originally Posted by AQHA

If they had on spurs then they were the real deal. I have a pair of boots that I just leave the spurs on. Rickers, was that you that said we dont use spurs anymore? Yer salty enough to know better than that. To have complete control of a horse leg cues are a must. I steer and stop and go more with my feet and legs and rump than I do with my hands.

I will pass that on!!

[rickers]

The ranch hands that I know generally don't use spurs, except on occasion when breaking or training a horse. The seasoned cow ponys just don't require that degree of communication, they know pretty much what is expected of them.
I never said "we don't use spurs anymore" There are times when the hands in our valley do use them but very rarely !