Language of Cowboys and Horses II

Years ago, when I was writing Flight of Michael McBride, I researched the unique language used by cowboys to describe their horses, their activities, and even the different phases of their lives. As a writer, how could I not be captivated by an entirely new diverse lingo used to express the fullness of a life lived on the range. As I now have four grandchildren on their way to becoming buckaroos, I thought it worthwhile to revisit those lists and post them here. 

This list comes from "Cowboy Lingo of Texas." If you might want to read more, you can search it in a good library. Here's the call number: GR 115.B7

Of Horses:

Owl Head: an animal that cannot be trained either to work or to ride.

Stick Horse: has to be forced to do everything he does.

Cold Blooded Horse: not a thoroughbred horse

Night Horse: one staked near a cowpuncher's bed for immediate use in an emergency such as a stampede.

Cold Jaw Horse: is one that is difficult to rein or stop, because he ruins the rider's leverage by getting the bit between his teeth and holding on to them tenaciously.

Mocky: a young mare, perhaps called such because she mocks the bronco-buster in being frisky and mettlesome.

Top Horse: best of the group

Cutting Horse: one specially trained to separate or "cut" a single animal from a whole herd. (note from author: "I have seen one cutting horse who could "cut" a hen from a big flock of chickens. 

Outlaw: a killer horse

Salty Horse: a vicious beast

Cantankerous Horse: unruly

Hame-Headed Horse: stupid

Mount: one horse put a side for special riding jobs

Remuda: a number of horses corralled

Cavy: a variant of remuda for good riding horses kept close for roping and herding young calves.

Roller, Snorter, Roarer: a horse whose excitability appears to be due to the growth of small polyps in the nostrils which cause him to snort.