It’s never too early to teach children about cowboy culture, and the kindergarten students at Lydia Rippey Elementary school in Farmington, New Mexico just got a week long lesson in all things cowboy. Instead of a Halloween celebration, the children dressed in their best western wear and had some great cowboy themed competitions as well as participated in school lessons centered around cowboy and western topics.

Volunteers from the Aztec High School Future Farmers of America, the Four Corners Rodeo Team and the 4-H Club were on hand to teach the kindergartners how to lasso, barrel race, ride bareback and sit in a saddle bronc saddle. Aztec Feed and Supply provided most of the rodeo equipment. The enthralled
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children were more than willing participants.

"It’s cool to see them get pumped up about something we do everyday," said rope-toss instructor Zach Lee, a junior at Aztec High School and a member of the Four Corners Rodeo Team.

Other children raced across the recess yard astride horses made of long cardboard tubes. The heads were made of folded and cut paper plates that the children decorated. The riders had to scream "yee-haw" before turning around and racing back when they reached a fence.

Hopefully those kids will grow up and want to continue the wester wear tradition in their own lives, Cacties style.

Photo courtesy of Lucas Ian Coshenet/The Daily Times

The Cowboys and Indians blog brought our attention to what is being called a “kim-chee Western”, South Korean movie The Good, The Bad and The Weird. Western culture being spread to other parts of the world? Maybe. We’ll let you check out the trailer below and see for yourself.

American Cowboy is offering free subscriptions for a year to all interested parties. Think you might be interested in American Cowboy? Here’s a description of the magazine for further information:

Each issue of American Cowboy reports on the contemporary western lifestyle with engaging profiles of country-western musicians, rodeo performers and western artists along with pictorials of the western landscape. Also includes feature articles on western decorating and fashion, current events affecting the West, travel, food, history, reviews and poetry.

While browsing the internet and looking for cool cowboy images I stumbled upon SASS. The Single Action Shooting Society is dedicated to the preservation and promotion of Cowboy Action Shooting and competive shooting. They also seek to preserve the history of the Old West and Cowboy Culture. We here at Cacties respect and salute that cause.

SASS has some pretty strict rules to participate in their events.

One of the unique aspects of SASS approved Cowboy Action Shooting™ is the requirement placed on costuming. Each participant is required to adopt a shooting alias appropriate to a character or profession of the late 19th century, a Hollywood western star, or an appropriate character from fiction. Their costume is then developed accordingly. Many event participants gain more enjoyment from the costuming aspect of our sport than from the shooting competition, itself. Regardless of a SASS member’s individual area of interest, SASS events provide regular opportunities for fellowship and fun with like-minded folks and families.

Contestants are also required to use firearms typical of the old west and each individual event is based on legendary western incidents or scenes in western movies.

If you are interested in Old West shooting or cowboy culture they just might have a shooting club near you. Shooting events are held monthly, annually, statewide, regionally, nationally, and internationally.

What do we use as a barometer of what clothing styles are “in”? What the “kids” are wearing? What shows up during New York City’s fashion week? Or how about what ever is the hottest new look in Paris? Well we at Cacties will take what’s hot in Paris for a thousand, Alex. Fashion house Hermes just showcased it’s new summer line designed by Jean-Paul Gaultier which is all western wear themed.

Gaultier’s 2009 Spring/Summer "cowboy chic" collection offered a new interpretation of Hermes’s equestrian roots - the fashion house started as a saddle maker.

Recurring items included crocodile-skin bustiers and jackets, fringed ponchos and floppy sand-colour suede hats.

But many other accessories such as tall leather boots and soberly cut leather bags, remained faithful to the classic Hermes style.

The Parisians have spoken: western wear it is.

Image by: Gonzalo Fuentes