Several people not familiar with horses have asked me what a bronco-buster means, and they seem to think all cowboys are bronco riders, which is not so. I sometimes talk to an old-timer that once rode broncs and broke horses, and like most all old-timers in every line of work they claim the younger generation cannot compete with them the way they did it in their day. But the old boys are only kidding themselves when they think those young fellows can’t ride a bucking horse. They have made a profession of it and keep in practice. Another thing, the old-tuners never flanked a horse like they do in contest today—that’s putting a strap around his kidneys and cinching it up to make him buck—and it does make him buck harder than without it. He gets in a twist when he is up off the ground. That the horses of the old days never did. I have been judge at several bucking contests and shows and I would venture to say that no old-timer could ever have rode those horses with that rigging on him without first getting used to it.

Another thing, in the old days of the range the good riders tried to keep their horse from bucking, whereas today they train and teach them to buck for the shows. So naturally the horse and rider have more practice.

There is a great difference between a bronc-rider and a horse-breaker, or a regular cowboy—and still they are classed as the same by a great many people. Not saying anything against the modern bronc-rider, but all he knows about a horse is to ride him while he bucks. I have seen some the best riders that didn’t have any idea what a horse should do after he quit bucking, from the fact he saddles him in a chute and gets on him in there—then he is let out and the skill he uses is to stay on that horse a few seconds until the whistle is blown by the time-keeper and the horse is caught by the pick-up man—and many a time that whistle has saved many a boy when he was all in. But the poor bronc-fighter has a hard time at best. He has plenty of competition and they can’t all win and most of them, if they follow it long enough, wind up broken physically and financially. So the old saying still goes ... “all it takes to make a good bronc-buster is a strong back and a weak mind” ... as all it requires is plenty courage and practice.

But a good horse-breaker really does something. He uses intelligence and studies the disposition of his horse, as every one is different and requires different methods—and I wouldn’t attempt to say which is the best. Some cowboys are natural horsemen and seemingly without taking very much pains get wonderful results, while the other fellow will try ever so hard and never get nowhere.

Nearly every state has a different way of starting a young horse. In Montana the first thing we did with a wild horse was to catch him by the front feet and throw him down, and take one hind leg away from him by tying it up so he can’t touch the ground with it (that way he can’t hurt you or himself). He stands on three legs and if he tries to kick or fight he usually falls down. After a few falls he will stand and let you rub him ............