subculture fashion

I choose to write about the different fashions that you see as a cowboy.  I especially know about this because I have worked as a cowboy from Arizona to Wyoming and have seen many different styles of dress throughout my travels.  As a rule the different styles you see depict the country that a cowboy works in.  Also you will see how a cowboy feels cattle should be handled and some influence of the climate that the cowboy works in.

First the Arizona cow puncher you will see taps on his saddle. 
These are the covers that are over his stirrups he will always have a rope on his saddle and full length chaps usually made out of a vary heavy leather. The saddle that he uses can vary a little but it will almost always be on either a will James tree, an association tree or either a low or bull moose tree.  All of these saddles have swells in front of the cowboy. They will most generally be caring piggin strings on their chaps.  These are used for tying cattle down, as well as hobbling their horse and tying anything that needs tied. The bridle that they use will depict some of the quality of horse that they are riding.

Next the Nevada buckaroo, these cowboys will have a saddle with a Wade tree in it.  Mmost of the time they will also always carry a rope on the saddle.  But the way that it is attached to the saddle is different from the Arizona cowboy.  They will tie their rope on with a narrow leather strap and their rope will be usually over 40 feet long and some times up to 60 or 70 feet long.  The horn on their saddle is usually warped with mule hide to allow them to be easier on the calf.  When they rope them they can slide more rope and make their horse pull on the cattle less.  In Nevada the chaps that they wear are made out of a much lighter leather and are shorter.  There isn't as much protection on their lower leg. This is because where they work there is not as much brush.

 This is a cowboy from New Mexico or Wyoming.   They use a mixture of both the Arizona and Nevada traits.  They will usually use a longer rope similar to a Nevada cowboy and chaps that are also similar to the cowboys from Arizona.  They will not use a breast collar on their saddles.

 Hat selection is mostly based on the climate that a cowboy works in. In cold weather you will see the black felt hats being worn more.   They hold up much better and don't fall apart as much when they get wet. In warm weather the straw hat is worn. This hat is much lighter and is not near as hot to wear.

The top saddle is a saddle that a cowboy in Arizona would use.  Notice the large swells in front of the seat. the lower saddle is a saddle a buckaroo would use. There are no swells in front of the seat and the horn is wrapped with mule hide.

There is also another type of cowboy and this is the rodeo cowboy. They do not make their money by working on a ranch.  They travel down the road to rodeos.  Their dress is more what you would see from a hockey player, with pads that help protect them from danger in the arena.  They do wear chaps that are similar to a buckaroo chap but they are longer to protect them from injury. This is necessary to protect them while they are in the bucking chutes.

Whats new

I was not in class for this Quest so instead I asked 5 people question about the future I had to think quite a bit about what question I was wanting to ask people I wanted to ask something that was relivent to me in my every day work so I decided to ask a question about cattle prices and what would happen to them in the next five years but also how that could effect or relate to the price of hay. The question was what do you think is going to happen to the price of cattle in the near future as well as in the next five years and do you think the price of cattle effects the price of hay.
The first person I interviewed was a hay broker out of camp verdi. The answer I received was that the price of cattle would probably hold steady for a while but taper of in the next five years. He also stated that not relay the price of cattle but the actule amount of cattle being fed dictated the price more than anything. 
The second person I asked was my boss a cattle rancher he said the he expected the cattle prices to take a small drop and than pick back up and in the next five years not be any lower than they are right now he said there will be some dips but overall they will hold. as far as the hay goes he said that inflation and the way the weather effects the crop will set hay prices.
The third person was a student from my math class he said that the price of cattle would not go down because nothing gets cheaper and said that hay prices must some how reflect cattle prices but he did not know how.
The fourth person was my mother she said that cattle prices would probably follow the trend of inflation and that hay prices would relate to cattle prices but where probably not directly related.
The last person was a was my bosses wife she also said that cattle prices would fluctuate but overall they would  hold fairly steady through  out the next five years and may increase a little as far as hay prices she said that she thought that is cattle men where making more money on there cows that they would probably have more money to spend on hay so hay would naturally go up.

George Strait

For the music website analysis I chose to look at George Strait.  He is right now one of the most popular country artists going and has had 59 number 1 singles.  When I first clicked on this web site there is a page with a picture of George Strait.  His name is written in the Texas stars.   This is right off the bat really saying a lot to me.  It shows his loyalty to Texas and the picture of him shows that he is a cowboy.  Then when you enter his actual web site  there is a Texas flag and the color skeam is red white and blue.  This to me shows that he is also loyal to the United States. I think that the web site definantly would help show his fans that he is a cowboy and does believe in the things that he sings about. When you go through the different pages the pictures of George all have cowboy written all over them, but more importantly they seam like you are looking at a king. You really are, George is often referred  to as the king of country music. Through  the whole web site you get the feeling of a fun loving cowboy without a care in the world.  But I also see someone who I would be nervouss to say the wrong thing to, and make mad.   In George's songs I think you also see this some songs are completely fun loving and others are very serious. Over all George;s web site reflects the music that I have listened to my entire life and I think it is set up very well.

Finding my tweeps

I chose to use the PBR professional bull riders association and the Jackson Hole rodeo for the two twitter feeds that I wanted to follow I love rodeo and like to stay up to date on the events that are going on while I am in school. I like these two different groups because they are on different levels of the field. The PBR is a world wide association that has several bull riding's in the united states Mexico and Canadian they are traveling all over and have the very best bull riders riding at there events they also have the largest pay outs of any professional bull riding association in the world. I feel like the PBR defiantly knows what they are talking about when it comes to rodeo and I like to see what they have to say because in the long run the decisions they make are going to end up affecting me as a rodeo bullfighter.
I chose the Jackson hole rodeo because I work for them all summer long at two to three rodeos a week they are Wyoming's second largest ameture rodeo the rodeos run from memorial day to labor day at least two days a week I have been fighting bulls for the rodeo in Jackson for 8 years now and have seen the rodeo have two different owners and watched it go through many changes I be leave this is a good representation of rodeo also on a lower level than the PBR but it shows what the smaller company's are doing tho help shape the large scale of rodeo.

Lovemarks

There are many brands that stand out.  They give you a promise to serve you through the bad times and the good times.  These are the brands that you cannot live without.  The brands that have changed the way we as people live today and how our lives will be shaped down the road. I would have to say one of my love marks is Dodge Trucks.  I am completely sold on there dependability and ability to get the job done better than any other truck on the market today.  I have owned Dodge trucks my entire life and have had vary little problems with them.  We also use them on the ranch, to do everything from getting groceries to pulling a 24 foot trailer full of cattle all around the ranch.  This sometimes can mean getting in some pretty bad spots, but our dodge pickup always seem to keep us going.  We have two trucks on the ranch with well over 200,000 miles on them and they just keep going.  They are unreal, the interior is outstanding. There are all the creature comforts you could need in them and the body is very strong and can take lots of abuse. The warranty  and service that I have seen from the factory has been outstanding. Every thing I have needed has been taken care of promptly.  Dodge has also stood the test of time, they have been in business for many more years than I have even been alive. I think that they will be around for a long time to come.

 The love mark is a positive idea that the company associates there product with. That makes you feel better about the product or more apt to buy it.  Dodge uses the idea of rodeo to help insure you that you are picking the vary best truck on the market.  The idea states that if you drive a Dodge you and your family will get to the rodeo.  It also gives the feeling that if every one going to rodeos drives a Dodge, then they must be the strongest  pickup on the market today. The next thing I see this saying is that most of the people being interviewed where professionals and had won several rodeos.  I think that this idea also says that if you drive a Dodge you will be a winner.  It looks like there are many other love marks also being used by Dodge.  They all seem to appeal to different groups.  I love rodeo so the Dodge rodeo thing appeals to me, but I see where Dodge has to take many angles to show everyone about their product.http://www.ramtrucks.com/en/proven/