XXI 



The cowboy is in the saddle more than any man on 

 the plains. He rides what is well known as the cowboy's 

 saddle, or Brazos tree. It is adapted from the old Span- 

 ish saddle— is, in fact, almost similar — and differs sensibly 

 from the Mexican. The line of its seat from cantle to 

 horn, viewed sidewise, is a semicircle ; there is no flat 

 place to sit on. This shape gives the cowboy, seen from 

 the side, all but as perpendicular a seat in the saddle as 

 the old knight in armor. There are, of course, other sad- 

 dles in use. The Texas saddle has a much flatter seat 

 than the Brazos tree; the Cheyenne saddle a still flatter 

 one, with a high cantle and a different cut of pommel- 

 arch and bearing, and some individuals may ride any pe- 

 culiar saddle ; but all must have the horn and high cantle. 

 In no other tree would the cowboy be at home or fit for 

 service. Not only this, but in a flat English saddle the 

 cowboy cuts a sorry figure. One of the best-known men 

 in America, the owner of a big Western ranch — where, of 

 course, he rides d la cowboy, and when East noted as a 

 bold and skilful rider in the Meadow Brook Hunt, where 

 of course, too, he rides a flat saddle — told me that once his 

 ranch superintendent, a well-known bronco -buster, when 

 East, was compelled to ride an English saddle, and that 

 the man was fairly slipping off sidewise every minute or 

 two. He simply could not ride the thing at all, nor for a 

 long time get the hang of it. 



The cowboy is careful of his ponies, not only from a 



