Updated March 31, 2026
"Hi, I am Mary Fichtner. I'm gonna read you a story I wrote today called Rusty's Cowboy, a Rusty the Ranch Horse Tale.
My daughter did the illustrations in watercolor. She's a student at the University of Wyoming in the art education program.
I bet a lot of you love cowboys and cowgirls. They're very special and unique.
Did you know that almost everything they wear has a reason and meaning behind it, and that's what this story is about. I'm gonna share a couple of my favorites with you before we read the story.
The first one is the Cowboys chaps. The chaps are the leather pants that they wear over the top of their jeans.
Now, some people pronounce it chaps, but that is not correct. They're pronounced chaps because they're named after the plant Chaparral.
The Cowboys used to work and have to ride through the Chaparral plant, and they are very thorny and sharp. So they designed the leather pants to protect their legs from the plant Chaparral.
Today, the chaps still protect them from barbed wire and cactus and tree branches and the weather, and it's a great tradition.
The rough stock riders still wear chaps in the rodeos. The bucking horses and the bull riders wear their shafts. Some of 'em are colorful and fun to see.
One of my other favorite things is the cowboy spurs.
Now the Spurs go on their boot and they're typically made of metal and they can be very fancy works of art. They serve a very special purpose too.
They're made to be an extension off the back of the Cowboy's Boot or the cowgirls, so that while they're riding, they can reach each side of their horse with the spur.
The Spurs are not meant to hurt the horse or jab them. They're meant to guide them and direct them, tell them when to stop, when to go, and when to turn. So I love the Spurs too.
Let's read about all of the Cowboys things.
'Rusty and his cowboy make the perfect team as they work together through each and every scheme.
Lots of tales have been told of this ranch steeds days, but listen now about his cowboys ways.
Cowboys strong style has meaning and reasons. It keeps him and serves him through all of the seasons.'
-from Rusty's Cowboy
Another favorite thing of mine of the Cowboys is his horse. Horses are awesome. They're a lot like people. They come in lots of different colors. They have different styles, different talents, different gifts, different personalities, and the names of the colors of horses are very interesting.
For example, a yellow or gold colored horse with a white mane and tail is called a palomino or a gold horse with a black mane and tail is called a buck skin, a brown horse with a black mane and tail is called a bay, and those are just some of the names. You can look 'em all up. It's fun and interesting.
Another neat thing about horses is they have this little bit of hair that comes down between their eyes, which is called a forelock.
This hair right here on their neck is called a mane, and those actually have a purpose too. They're to keep flies off and keep rain from running down their neck.
Another interesting thing is this little spot, some of them have on the front of their face, it's called a blaze. Rusty has a very interesting and unique blaze.
It's two pieces. And my daughter paints it perfectly.
That's what I love about horses. They're all unique and different just like you guys. Thank you so much for listening today."
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