was called a lariat. The modern rope is a well-made
three-quarter-inch hemp rope about thirty feet in length, with a
leather or rawhide eye. The cowboy's quirt was a short heavy
whip, the stock being of wood or iron covered with braided
leather and carrying a lash made of two or three heavy loose
thongs. The spur in the old days had a very large rowel with
blunt teeth an inch long. It was often ornamented with little
bells or oblongs of metal, the tinkling of which appealed to the
childlike nature of the Plains rider. Their use was to lock the
rowel.

His bridle--for, since the cowboy and his mount are inseparable,
we may as well speak of his horse's dress also--was noticeable
for its tremendously heavy and cruel curbed bit, known as the
"Spanish bit." But in the ordinary riding and even in the
exciting work of the old round-up and in "cutting out," the
cowboy used the bit very little, nor exerted any pressure on the
reins. He laid the reins against the neck of the pony opposite to
the direction in which he wished it to go, merely turning his
hand in the direction and inclining his body in the same way. He
rode with the pressure of the knee and the inclination of the
body and the light side-shifting of both reins. The saddle was
the most important part of the outfit. It was a curious thing,
this saddle developed by the cattle trade, and the world has no
other like it. Its great weight--from thirty to forty pounds--was
readily excusable when one remembers that it was not only seat
but workbench for the cowman. A light saddle would be torn to
pieces at the first rush of a maddened steer, but the sturdy
frame of a cow-saddle would throw the heaviest bull on the range.
The high cantle would give a firmness to the cowboy's seat when