ornamental headgear for prairie horses and ponies. A new saddle, as well
as bow and tassel decorations, also came in at this period, and it is to
be admitted that for a time exaggeration in clothing became general. It
is an old joke on the prairie that the average man's hat costs him more
than his clothes.

Many a cowboy earning $30.00 a month has spent three times that sum on
his saddle alone. More than one man earning $25.00 a month has invested
every cent of his salary in silver buckles for his strange looking hat.
Equally extravagant is the average man as to his saddle, bridle, and
even spurs and bit. Those who talk so much about the bad habits of these
people, will hardly credit the fact that many a cowboy abstains from
liquor and tobacco for an entire year at a stretch, simply because he
wants to purchase some article of attire, which he thinks will make him
the envy of the entire ranch.

The cow pony is worthy of as much attention and thought as the cowboy.
It is often said that the latter is hard and cruel, and that he uses his
pony roughly. This is far from being correct. Between the cowboy and his
pet pony there is generally a bond of sympathy and a thorough
understanding, without which the marvelous feats of horsemanship which
are performed daily would be impossible. Perhaps in the preliminary
breaking in of the pony there is more roughness than is quite necessary.
At the same time, it should be remembered that to subdue an animal which
was born on the prairie and has run wild to its heart's content, is not
a very simple matter. The habit of bucking, which a Texas pony seems to
inherit from its ancestors, is a very inconvenient one, and an expert
rider from the East is perfectly helpless upon the back of a bucking
pony. The way in which he mounts assures the animal at once that he is a
stranger in those parts. A natural desire to unseat the daring stranger