I live in rural New England and am involved with a local horse ranch; therefore most of my wardrobe is from Tractor Supply and Sheppler's.

Anyway, I find it's very difficult at times to cross cultures for the public--that is, work in one culture and wear my work clothes in public, in the general American culture. People just don't seem to accept that someone can feel perfectly comfortable wearing cowboy clothes. One time I went into town to get supplies at the local department store wearing my work clothes, cowboy hat included, and this one lady at the checkout line just wouldn't stop staring at me. We seem to have a really tough time educating people on the cowboy culture--most people seem to have the mindset that the cowboys' heyday was in the 1880s and that there are none left today. I also have had a lot of issues with other people, who seemed to think that just because I was from farm country and lived on a farm and worked on a ranch that I could wear stilletos with designer jeans and tops that showed more than I cared to show. People just seem to take for granted that cowboys aren't supposed to exist nowadays. They try telling us that since we refuse to change, we'll die out. Sorry, we tell them, but we're trying to keep a dying cultural tradition alive and that alone isn't the easiest thing to do in today's social reliance on all things electrical and artificially powered. I don't mean to loudmouth anybody for their beliefs, but these are just my experiences working in the cowboy culture and interacting with American culture in general.

But here's some interesting things I've noticed about the cowboy culture in general:

1) It's extreme taboo to touch another cowboy's hat. Variations of "Here, hold this for me" have no effect on this taboo; the cowboy is basically giving his hat to you for safekeeping. But do anything with that hat other than hold it or set it down out of the way (don't run off with it, though), you're being wrestled to the ground in 2 minutes flat in a succeeding attempt to retrieve the stolen article. Or you're eating dust. Literally.

2) It's also taboo to spook a cowboy's horse in any way, shape, or form. This is due to the fact that a spooked horse can be extremely dangerous (from personal experience) to the rider, the horse itself, or other people/horses in the general area.

There are other interesting taboos, customs, etc. concerning the cowboy culture which I will post separately.

Edit: Will not be posted due to the fact that the taboos/customs/etc. material contained trigger words

This message has been edited. Last edited by: gwynhwyfar,