Los Angeles daily herald., 1888-05-16
COWBOYS CANNOT RIDE WELL.
They are Very Hard ON Horses and
Generally Very Poor shots.


Generally Very Poor shots.
"I have lived among the cowboys for
many years." said Mr.. Gosnold, Of Lar
edo, Tex, who has lived on the frontier
since 1858, "and think l know them
thoroughly. l find that general inn
preston prevails throughout the country
that they are phenomenal horsemen,
miraculous shots. Neither of these
opinions is correct, although all have
foundation 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 Texas
cowboy to pick up hat or silver dollar
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 a
saddle blanket, are every day 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
hand, a most difficult feat, and
one and all can ride bucking,
horses. But here their horsemanship
ends and beyond this they are worse than
the veriest tryo, because the COWBOYS
udNC ldulto lIOLl NulCE lllc ulOSG ordinary
park rider of the EastNis free. I will
venture to say that if 1000 Texans start
on a long march where speed is nec-
essary side by side with United States
cavalry regiment the latter will reach its
destination long before the former and
have its stock in servicable condi-
ton, while the Texas horses will be fit
only for the bone-yard. Men
understanding less about horses
and less able to keep their mounts
in good condition it would be hard
to find. Accustomed to having super
abundance of horses, they never under
take either to train or spare them and
would break down the best horee in
America in week. Although their
horses are small, a saddle weighing from
thirty to forty pounds is used, the most
of this weight being useless leather.
When one bears in mind the old racing
saying that the weight of stable key
will win or lose a race the absurdity of
this style of saddls is apparent. During
the war the value OF Texans as cavalry
men was well proved. They were great
ly relied upon and much dreaded, but
when they came before the enemy
after march of two or three
hundred miles not one horse in five
was in serviceable condition and the en-
tire force was worse than useless. Then
they thought that they knew everything
about riding and refused to receive in
structions, it being impossible to make
them into as good cavalrymen as the
rawest recruits became after few months
training. 1t was practically impossible
for horse to throw them, but outside of
this they were and are the most de-
structive and worst riders in the world"
'As to their shooting" continued Mr..
Gosnold, because ever man used to
carry a revolver and was ready to use it,
people supposed they were fine shots.
One thing they did understand, and that
was quick shooting, but as to any
accuracy, not one in hundred possessed
it. Pistol combats in Texas we're
nearly always of the shoulder to
shoulder kind, where speed was of far
more importance than aim, and Texan
could fire a great number of shots in a
given time. But when it came to fine
craftsmanship, they were nowhere, and
i'll an Eastern shooting gallery would not
begin to be able to hold their own. AS
rife shots they are even worse, and could
not hold any position at all at Creedmoor
or any regular rifle range. list. Louis
Post-Dispatch.