St. Landry democrat. (Opelousas, La.) 1878-1894, 1888-03-17
FACTS ABOUT COWBOYS.
They Are Very Hard on Horses and Gem
orally Very Poor Shots.

They Are Very Hard on Horses and Gem
orally Very Poor Shots.
al have lived among the cowboys for
many years." said Mr. Gosnold, OF La
redo, Tex, who has lived on the 'front.'
Ter since 1853. 'and think know them
thoroughly. find that a general inn
preston prevails throughout the coun-
try that they are phenomenal horsemen,
miraculous shots. Neither of these
opinions is correct, although all have
foundations in fact First, as to their
horsemanship, as far as sticking on and
understanding what can be done in the
saddle goes. they certainly are second
to no riders in the world. For a Texas
cowboy to pick up a hat or silver dol
lar from the ground when at full speed,
to mount his horse at the gallop, or to
stop him in full career, and turn him
on saddle blanket, are everyday
feats. The best of the riders can stand
on the saddle of a galloping horse, or
pick up coin lying on the ground on
the left side of the horse with the right
hand, a most difficult feat, and one and
all can ride bucking horses. But here
their Craftsmanship ends, and beyond
this they are worse than the verest
tyro, because the cowboys have faults
from which the most ordinary park
rider of the East is free. l will venture
to say that if one thousand Texans start
on long march, where speed is neces-
sary, side by side with United States
cavalry regiment the latter will reach
its destination long before the former,
and have its stock in serviceable con.
dition, while the Texas horses will be
fit only for the bone yard. Men I'M
derstanding less about horses and less
able to keep their mounts in good con-
dition it would be hard to find. Ac.
customed to having a superabundance
of horses, they never undertake either
to train or spare them, and would
break down the best horse in America
in week. Although their horses are
small, a saddle weighing from thirty tc
forty pounds is used, the most of this
weight being useless leather. When
one bears in mind the old racing say
ing that the weight of a stable key will
win or lose race, the absurdity of
this style of saddle is apparent. Dur
ing the war the value of Texans as
cavalrymen was well proved. They
were greatly relied upon and much
dreaded, but when they came before
the enemy after a march of two
or three hundred miles not one horse
in five was in serviceable condition,
and the entire force was worse than
useless. Then they thought they
knew every thing about riding, and re-
fused to receive instructions, it being
impossible to make them into as good
cavalrymen as the rawest recruits be-
came after few months training. II
was practically impossible for a horse
to throw them, but outside of this they
were and are the most destructive and
worst riders in the world.
GAS to their shooting" continued
Mr.. Gosnold, "because every man used
to carry a revolver and was ready to
use it, people supposed they were fine
shots. One thing they did understand,
anu GhaI WAS quick sHootlng, Dut as 10
any accuracy, not one in hundred
possessed it. Pistol combats in Texas
were nearly always of the shoulder to
shoulder kind, where speed was of far
more Importance than aim. and
Texan could fire great number Of
shots in a given time. But when it
came to fine craftsmanship, they were
nowhere, and in an Eastern shooting
gallery would not begin to be able to
hold their own. As rifle shots they
are even worse, and could not hold any
position at all at Creedmoor or any
regular rifle range. st. Louis Post
Dispatch.