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I was watching Appaloosa again the other night, and couldn't help thinking about the horses. Now I'm a pure Eastern Tenderfoot; I've ridden a few horses, and mucked some stables at friend's barns, but I have no real horse experience.

 

Horses were everywhere - mounts for riding, always at hand in the stable next to the marshal's office; horses to pull buckboards; horses tied up out in the street; horses stolen by the Apaches; horses ridden for miles and miles and miles.

 

But almost nothing shown about how the average cowboy cared for this essential animal. Here's a bunch of folks riding for days and days, but no sign of feed. And despite dramatic license, you'd expect some indication that the cowboy's time was at least in part consumed by caring for his animals - no?

 

SO if you were an 1870's cowboy in New Mexico, Arizona or Texas, what would you need to do every day for your horse? Can you really leave them hobbled out in the rain every night? Is grazing some dried up grass enough to keep them going? How often do you need to find water for them? What's the practical side of needing to keep your horse going?

 

LL

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Remember you were watching the movies. One thing you see is folks galloping in and out of town, doesn't happen. Most horse can run out for a mile or so depending on breed size and size of rider, most just walked and trotted a bit. Can't speak for the old days, but my horses are in pasture all the time during the summer. forage has more nutrients in teh spring and early summer, now it's mostly filler. They also have a stream to drink from. During the winter I throw them two flakes of hay in the morning and the evening and also give them some grain when it gets cold.

 

Back then folks really depended on their horses, especially out west as distances between civilization could be quite a ways. From what I read, cowboys especially took care of their mounts (larger outfits would have a remuda of horses that Cowboys may switch out a few times a day depending on the work load). Horses can go distances if they are walking or at a light trot. I have spent the better part of a day in the mountains, always giving them breaks and light duty. Back then if you were moving to town to town, you may do 15 to 20 miles and then get your horse to a livery for some feed and water.

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Cowboys in those days came in many flavors (good ones, bad ones, competent ones, stupid ones, ignorant ones, educated ones, etc.). So any "universal" conclusion would be flawed. ;)

 

On a drive one cowboy would be charged with care of the remuda. He would ensure that they were where they needed to be and were in shape to work. During a roundup, with it's intense work, a cowboy might use 4-6 horses per day. On a drive with it's slow pace one or two. The horses traveled at the speed of the cattle and were given ample opportunity to graze.

 

If you were a farm or town dweller and used a horse when you got up in the a.m. you went and fed the stock while your wife (legal, common law, or otherwise) made breakfast. In most instances it would mean forking hay from the loft, rack, etc. into stalls or over a fence into a feeder. Bales were unknown in those days (I'm not sure when the hay baler was invented). Cutting and drying hay was hard work and you didn't waste it. Horses doing hard work might also get a grain suppliment (corn, barley, wheat, oats, etc.). The horses that would be working would be harnessed or saddled and the rest turned out into a pasture to graze.

 

During a work day one of the jobs would be cleaning the stables. The manure would be used as fertilizer for the various crops being raised (including the kitchen garden).

 

In the evening the stock would be brought in, checked for condition, then restrained for the night (stall or small paddock). Horses in work might get more grain suppliment. All would likely get a hay ration appropriate to their job.

 

Big ranches kept few horses in close confinement, but might have serveral dozen running in large pastures when not in use. During roundups, etc. they would also be confined close in for night and a crew would be assigned to feed, clean, etc. as required.

 

The vast majority horses in use during the Age of Horsepower were used in drayage of some sort. From my reading less than 20% of the population in the rural U.S. traveled astride on a regular basis. Most would harness a horse to some sort of wheeled vehicle. This percentage could vary widely by region. Where roads were few lots of folks rode; where roads were good the vast majority drove.

 

The precise way things were done would also vary by region, season, skill of the owner, etc. Rich folks had stable hands who might be very professional; poor folks were usually DIY types). The horse's lot was a hard one and they were usually worn out by the mid-teens (assuming they hadn't died of one of the many diseases that killed horses in those days). Even the best of care was rather primative by today's standards.

 

There was a very large and varied industry that supported working horses including saddle makers, harness makers, farriers, wrights of many types (wheel, wagon, iron, etc.), etc.

 

Little of this world is ever shown in a typical Western and what is shown is often wildly wrong. :blink:

 

SQQ

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not ta change the subject... but when i was younger and had to feed the horses ....

i would give em a cake a hay and a scoop of grain (riding in the back of a truck)

and then off to the next horse while driving i would find my hand in the grain and

gettin me a hand full .... it was like honey coated oats ......

my cousins did it too and my uncle thought we was all nuts ....

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my grandad farmed with horses dad said every thing was about the horses when working them they got 2 ears of corn moring and night at night they got hay when working they were keep in tie stall you would work a horse 6 days 1 rest day after 2an week you went fishing or something that didn't need work horses horses were put out to pasture for at lest 1 week grandad said after he got a tractor he didn't have to rest it and never got to go fishing again and this is more than i have said in 13 yrs on wire

hey galloway

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Horses back then were different critters than we have in our pastures today. First thing ya gotta do is put the 21st century mindset out of yer brain. Remember Pony Express riders rode full out for 20 miles or more. Horses were not as picky as to what they'd eat as our spoiled rotten barn turds of today are. Forage was abundant in some places, scarce in others. It was very important to know the trails you were taking for that reason. There were stations along the trails where you could get hay and maybe grain for your horse, but you'd need money for that. Plan ahead for your trip. Water... BIG DEAL then as now. If there was water, there was forage (unless drovers took a big herd through before ya got there). Saddle bags- what do you think was in them? You better believe that a cowboy on a long trip had some grain stuffed in there for when forage was scarce. There's more to it but that will give you a general idea. Agian, it is important to studying history to try and push modern perception out and do your best to think in the period. What was available, what wasn't, "what would I do if I only had xxxx...."

 

Bodine

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Hay bailers might have been seen on a 'modern farm' west of the mississippi. By the 1880s patent improvements were going through the process if getting their patents quite frequently.

http://www.google.com/patents?id=lSdJAAAAEBAJ&pg=PA3&dq=hay+baler&hl=en&ei=VRZoTveqFNTK0AG39fnDCw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=3&ved=0CDUQ6AEwAg#v=onepage&q=hay%20baler&f=false

 

they were until the early years of the 20th century large machines that would be wheeled into place and be powered by large steam tractors or so called portable steam engines (these were not able to move by their own power like a shame traction engine but would be pulled into place by a team)

 

I build model steam engines for a hobby and I have seen at model exhibitions quite marvelous models of these bailers all in scale to a model 1890s traction engine the might be 2 o 3 feet long and set to drive the model bailer with long leather belts and cranking out perfect scale bails of hay about 4 inches long

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Another thing that is hard for 21st century folks to wrap their head around is "free-range" or "open range."

 

Barbed wire came into use in the late 1870s, but it was many years afterward before all the western ranges were fenced in. The 'Great Plains" were just that; grasslands as far as you could see in any direction. The land scape has changed drastically since the days of cowboys and drovers etc. Not as many folks, not as mant towns, rules, etc. etc. just hard to imagine if you wasn't there.

 

Bodine

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My grandmother was born in the 1890's. She rode horse back and side saddle.. and most of the time she rode a paint or mustang stock. They owned land, lots of it and per her conversations with me in the past they had a string of horses, so you didn't always ride the same one, so they got a chance to rest. Grandmother had carriage horses and plow horses still, but they were not in use much. The carriage were a bit for a bit of fun.

 

By the time I was old enough to ride an be a pretty good help we rode out and back in on the same day most of the time. So, I rode the same horse a lot, but not always. After the ride was a hose off if they were hot, rub down on the legs to keep them sound, checking their feet too for hoof or shoe problems, and we oiled their feet with linseed oil bad then.. lol.. If we worked the horse on cattle or rode a lot that day we had to cool down the legs too before we put them up.. or get our hinny's in trouble..... a lesson that lasted a life time..

 

Dads place was not so big, so we did not need to use horses a lot, but we did use them for cutting a steer out for .. ah.. work lets say.. lol.. Dad liked the dairy industry since it brought in a pay check monthly.. so we could not "rush" the cows when bringing them in.

 

Food, gosh, grazing comes to mind... and our horse ate with the cows mostly. But I did have a couple show horses back then that I feed a bit of extra feed to. They do best on grass hay, and oats are okay if you work them alot was dad's advice. Later on I moved to grass hay, and Moor Glo ... loved that stuff.. lol

 

It has to be amazing to see so much country everyday on a cattle drive back then. While I envy that, I also know it was really hard, romantic, but difficult...

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my grandad farmed with horses dad said every thing was about the horses when working them they got 2 ears of corn moring and night at night they got hay when working they were keep in tie stall you would work a horse 6 days 1 rest day after 2an week you went fishing or something that didn't need work horses horses were put out to pasture for at lest 1 week grandad said after he got a tractor he didn't have to rest it and never got to go fishing again and this is more than i have said in 13 yrs on wire

hey galloway

 

 

And we're pleased you said it, Hey. Thanks.

 

LL

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SO if you were an 1870's cowboy in New Mexico, Arizona or Texas, what would you need to do every day for your horse? Can you really leave them hobbled out in the rain every night? Is grazing some dried up grass enough to keep them going? How often do you need to find water for them? What's the practical side of needing to keep your horse going?

 

LL

 

Well since you are addressing Hollywood's version of the reel west remember it is far different from real life.

 

Yes you can leave a horse hobbled all night but that doesn't mean he will still be there in the morning. I have heard stories of how some horses learn to jump with hobbles on and can cover a lot of ground.

 

The drier the grass the lower its value and the more they need to eat. I feed my pasture pets 3-4 flakes of hay in the morning and again in the evening. I have a older horse that is losing weight on hay alone so we have started her on a senior horse feed.

 

Horses drink 4-8 gallons a day. I think mine are drinking closer to 10 gallons a day during this 100+ heat wave.

 

Now for the real west;

 

Most cowboys didn't own their own horse. They supplied a saddle and the ranch supplied the horses.

 

It was the plow that sttled the west thus horses were most commonly used for drayage. If you look at period correct photos of 1800's cities (both eastern and western) you will see wagons. A saddle horse had little use on a farm where the main jobs are plowing and hauling supplies. As a merchant I would need a wagon to deliver supplies.

 

Cowboying was usually short-term employment by young men. The farmers raised pretty daughters :wub: along with their crops and if the cowpoke wanted to get married it meant settling down. :mellow:

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