Buckaroo Hall of Fame membership
by, about, and for today's buckaroos








the late Tom Dorrance



Bill Dorrance





Ray Hunt






Richard Caldwell "Hackamore Horseman"
shown here on a Western Horseman Magazine Youtube video,
a quick and simple way to attach a mecate to a bosal.








Mike Bridges
Mike Bridges is an internationally known clinician and bridle
horseman in the California Vaquero Style with more than 55
years of making his living on the back of a horse.







Great Basin horseman Martin Black delivers insightful DVDs for the aspiring bridle horse maker and admirer alike. In these DVDs, Martin will share with you what he has learned from his experiences buckarooing on some big outfits and working around top horseman using traditional gear and methods. Learn the function and use of this traditional gear, proper fitting and selection in the process of making of bridle horse. This is not the latest and greatest he is sharing, but rather an old tradition he wants to preserve and honor. His DVDs cover topics such as Sizes & Materials, Proper Fit & Function, The Art of Doubling, Guidelines of Acceptance, When To Move to the Two-Rein, and more.
(Music in this youtube video is "Vaquero", by artist Ian Tyson)






“And for a lot of people, they want it all to be fuzzy and warm and cosmic, but it’s no different with a horse than with a kid… You can’t always be the kid’s best friend. First you have to be the parent.” - Buck Brannaman



Sage Horsemanship, "Riding in lightness, collection on a loose rein, skillful and humane cow work, reata or vaquero style ranch roping - these are the things that make up the horsemanship called Californio. Contrary to popular belief, there is no official definition of what a vaquero, a buckaroo, a Californio, truly is. The local definitions change a little bit for each community, all the way up Alta California, all across the country and around the world. Furthermore, every hundred years or so even the local definitions somehow get adapted to the thinking of the day. This web site seeks to discover, discuss and define the traditional Californio and the modern Californio. Without abandoning the considerations of generations past, new definitions attempt to capture the flavor of the Californio of today, even if some of the ingredients are not true to historical fact. In its most refined form the Californio rider is costumed in the vaquero/caballero (Californio) tradition, the catch rope is long (often sixty feet or more) and the tack is Spanish/Moorish - and the horse holds his head up similar to a dressage horse. The jaquima or bridle and bit are what is appropriate for the horse and it's level of training - with the single most important feature that the reins are held slack - the collection is obtained on a loose rein and the horse is ridden from signals rather than through leverage and force. Please feel free to join in and participate in the understanding of a new (old) style of riding." ~ Bob Sagely (water color by Mark Kohler Studio)






Vaquero Enterprises
website of information compiled by Ralph Pavey in honor of his step-Dad, Ernest Morris, Californio Vaquero & artist.














Buckaroo Country. Photography & graphic design by Mary Williams Hyde. Marketing, Public Relations, Advertising, Tourism/Event Promotion, Buckaroo Photography, Commercial Photography, Fund Raising & more. Klamath Falls, Oregon tel: 541 883-7456; email. Mary attends many Vaquero roping and ranch rodeos. Mary has built a large archive of authentic buckaroo theme photography, and her website has lots of interesting links. Many photos on this site are hers, used with her permission, and are copyrighted.
(James Shoshone pictured here.)


Cowboy Showcase, Home of the Western Spirit. Photography by Lee Raine, articles by by Mike Laughlin, etc. Stay in touch with the western spirit, read about, and see authentic people, places, gear, and traditions of cowboys and buckaroos, past and present. Lee's website is a collection of both cowboy & buckaroo information, including photography, articles, Western cowboy tales or poems, recipes, art work, craft, horses & ranches; lots of links, including Cowboy Etiquette, Cowboy Glossary of Terms, etc.


Chris LeDoux. 1948 - 2005; Tougher than the Rest. Cowboy, Pro Rodeo Hall of Famer, CMA awarded Musician, Artist, a man of integrity & passion, missed by all who met him.


Dave Stamey. Cowboy musician and entertainer. "We like to think of this music as a celebration of shared heritage, and appreciation of the West as both a place and a state of mind." He's been awarded the Male Performer of the Year by the Western Music Association and is a three-time nominee for Songwriter of the Year. One of his most popular songs is "Buckaroo Man." (photo from website) Here's a great quote from Dave: "It’s A Good Life: We saw a large swath of this nation in 2007, including Arizona, New Mexico, Kansas, Texas, a couple of trips to Missouri, back and forth to Colorado and Utah several times—and the most rewarding part of it all was that the incredible beauty of this country is matched only by the friendliness and the smiles of its people. In every state we visited, in every town, there were open hands and open hearts. We don’t know what nasty little rugs the media looks under to find their constant gloom and doom, but don’t believe it for a second. America and the American Family are still alive and well, even if CNN or the major metropolitan newspapers won’t admit it."




Ian Tyson The Legendary Ian Tyson Official Website - offers news, awards, albums, reviews, and audio samples. "At the inaugural Elko Cowboy Poetry Gathering in 1983, a small coterie of saddle makers, rawhide braiders, cowboy poets and pickers discovered one another in this small cowtown in northern Nevada. Tyson was invited to perform his "new western music" and the overwhelming response at Stockman's Casino brought Tyson the realization that he had found his true audience." Canadian Ian Tyson has recorded a number of songs about buckaroos and their life. Photo from his website.





Adrian "Buckaroo Girl," "is a young singer-songwriter whose life and music is centered on cowboying. She starts colts, builds gear and works the ranch with her family. Her songs are about buckarooing today, the ranches and landmarks of Elko County and California, and her love of the ranching life. Adrian debuted her first CD, Highway 80, during the 2008 National Cowboy Poetry Gathering." ~ from National Cowboy Poetry Gathering site




Waddie Mitchell, buckaroo poet & humorist, at one time managed a 36,000 acre ranch in Lee-Jiggs, Nevada. In 1984, Waddie helped organize the internationally recognized Elko Cowboy Poetry Gathering; in 1994, he founded the Working Ranch Cowboy Association with a mission of creating scholarships and crisis funds for working cowboys and their familes.