It's no secret that the cattle ranching business is made up mostly of men, I mean after all 99% of the time it's called cowboying. But for the most part there aren't a whole lot of women who are hired cowboy hands, or who start their own ranches by themselves. Actually I can count on one hand the number of women I know that can hang with the boys, get the job done, and who are respected by the other cowboys as true hands!
And lets face it, it's a hell of a lot easier to make it in this line of work as a man. I mean look at what we have to do just to pee on the job... a guy can hop off his horse, take a leak, and get back on before anyone knows anything happened. But us girls? We have to find a horse trailer, or worse when you're out gathering you have to find a little hill with some brush and wait for the rest of the cowboys to ride off a ways, and then we have hurry like hell to pee, not get any on your pants, and zip back up before someone sees your whole backside! I can't count the number of times that I have wished I could pee standing up!
I grew up cowboying with my dad, and for a long time I was "the only girl allowed at cow camp" or at least that's how Dad put it. So from a young age I was "one of the boys" and as I grew older I tried really hard to make sure that fact remained true. I made sure that I could do anything that any of the other men could do when it came to cattle work. Flanking calves? no problem I'm 5'10" and built like a brick house, being strong was never a problem for me. Roping? " you swing a rope as hard as any man" was something I had heard since I was 13 years old. Cows were something that just came natural to me, a perk of being around the business since I could walk. A perk of having a dad who always wanted me to be a part of the business and always made sure I was learning more and more with each day spent horseback and working cows.
But here's where things got a little murky for me... did being a good hand mean that I had to be less feminine? I made sure that I didn't wear makeup when going to do anything on the ranch, my nails weren't done, and I made damn sure I wasn't seen or heard talking about anything that I thought would make me be seen as less of a cowboy.
But here's what I have learned, I have quite the advantage on most of the men I work with. Because not only can I be pretty handy, I also have the ability to do so much more. Being a woman I am literally hardwired to be more emotional than a man. Which means I might have a harder time when the calf that I have tried to nurse back to health for the last 72 hours but to no avail he dies, but that also means I might try a little harder to keep him alive. That means I might spend a little more time and care to help that lame horse heal up, and that also means that I might have a little more appreciation for the world I live in when things go right. It is more than just a job, & I can honestly say that there is nothing in this world that makes me happier than seeing calves running and bucking in the spring sunshine. I tend to think that I get more out of this line of work being a cowboy girl.
For a long time I thought that being "one of the cowboys" meant I had to show no emotion, and I tried really hard to be tougher than the guys I was working with so that they never could say "gosh you're being such a girl". But here is the thing, having emotions doesn't make me any less of a hand. Wearing make up and having my nails painted doesn't make me look weak.I can do anything a cowboy can do (heck sometimes I can even do it better (;) all while embracing the fact that I am a woman through and through. So here is to all the women in this industry who can do everything the boys can do and more! You go cowboy girl!
XOXO Syd
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