Giddy Up

Giddy up cowgirls! 2 and 4 year old sisters blaze a hoverboard trail in living room floor
Who knew stick horses were still a thing? Or maybe they're a thing again. Whatever. This makes like the 3rd rodeo post this year.

Pic of the Day

American Cowgirl - Jef Russell

Horses, again

Lemaitre - Higher ft. Maty Noyes
Another piece of inspired lunacy. I don't know about the tune, I only listened to it once. We shall see. But the video is great: we have a veteran (of some sort) preparing a young woman for some kind of contest. It isn't until we get to the end that we find out it involves horses.

Ride 'em Cowboy!

Criolla Week 2015: Gauchos attempt to stay on bucking broncos at a rodeo in Montevideo, Uruguay. (Andres Stapff/Reuters)

When I was younger, much younger, knee high to a bucking bronco, I was enthralled with all things cowboy. I still have an affection for the whole cowboy thing: six guns, horses, blue jeans, beaucoup de leather, especially cowboy boots. Frederic Remington's paintings and sculptures are simply glorious.
     I was severely disappointed when I discovered that the bucking broncos in modern rodeos were encumbered with a strap around their waist to encourage them to buck. I understand, real wild horses are hard to handle, and the last thing you want at a rodeo at your local county fair is a thousand pound wild animal running out of control.
    Down in South America it looks like they still have some real wild horses and some real cowboys trying to ride them. Restores my faith in the cowboy dream, it does.

Norco, California, Horsetown USA

What is it with little boys and guns? Playing 'army' was one of my favorite childhood pastimes. A steady diet of Steve Donovan, Western Marshall and Combat! might have had something to do with it. Still, I was a little surprised when I came across the above ad, enough so that I followed the link and when they offered to locate the nearest store, I said sure, tell me, and they did: 894 miles away in Norco, California. Norco? Never heard of it. Could it be Northern California? No, LA. Curious place. The Navy has a Surface Warfare Center there, one of two on the West Coast, both in Southern California. It's also famous for a big gun battle between the police and a crew of bank robbers. Sounds kind of like the movie Heat.

Norco Cowgirls Rodeo Drill Team

2014 Rose Parade, Pasadena, California

    What makes Norco interesting is their horse-centric view of the universe. Sidewalks? We don't need no steenking sidewalks, we've got horse trails all through town. Every house has a bit a of pasture and a two horse garage. Which reminds me:


Boy's Don't Cry - I Wanna Be A Cowboy

One-armed bandit John Payne at St. Paul, OR rodeo

From Iaman, who saw this in Iowa.