Like the cowboy hat, the diamond hitch and the lariat,the cowboy saddle is evolved from the Spanish adaptationof the Moorish saddle. The old-fashioned Spanish saddlewith the heavy wooden block stirrups, not the bent woodstirrups, but the big stirrups made out of blocks of wood(Fig. 273); such a saddle with stirrups often weighed over sixtypounds. These saddles were garnished with silver and gold,and the spurs that the rancheros wore had big wheels with"bells" on them, and spikes long enough to goad the thick skinof an elephant. I formerly possessed one of the picturesqueold saddles on which all the leather work was engraved byhand, by the use of some tool like a graver, probably a sharpenednail; consequently none of the designs was duplicated.
When the block wooden stirrups were abandoned and thethinner oval stirrups adopted, the latter were protected bylong caps of leather, the dangling ends of which were silvertipped. The cowboys themselves wore heavy leather breechescalled chaps (an abbreviation of the Spanish chaparejo).Thus with the feet and legs protected they could ride throughthe cactus plants and dash through the mesquite countrywithout fear of being pricked by the thorns, no matter what happenedto the horse. Not only did this leather armor protectthem from thorns and branches, but it also prevented many abroken leg resulting from kicks by burros, mules and horses.
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