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Rodeo CowgirlHouston, TexasI thought Texas was still all open plains, cattle, and cowboys. Turns out, that was long ago. Houston is a huge city - much bigger than Elwood City! But we still found cowgirls and cowboys there.
I saw Tayler ride in the Cowboys of Color Rodeo. This rodeo was started by Cleo Hearn. He says that over one-third of Old West cowboys were African Americans, American Indians, or Mexicans.
 In a rodeo, there are many events: bull riding, calf roping, steer wrestling, bareback riding... and barrel racing. That's what Tayler does. Watch Tayler ride her horse Cowboy as fast as she can.
 Listen to I Want to Be a Cowboy by Los Viajeros, and feel the call of the old west. Yippy-i-o!
We visited Tayler and her family. They own Reveille Ranch. Her whole family competes in rodeos, too. It's a family tradition.
Tayler let me ride Streaker, who's just like he sounds - big and fast! Yee-ha! Well, okay - maybe he wasn't so big. But he DID refuse to stop once when I said "whoa." That's because I didn't say it right to him.
To protect the horses' hooves, they nail horseshoes to them. But that doesn't hurt the horses at all. Then they protect their legs with a cloth wrap. Tayler said the horses can get hurt if you don't take care of them.
 D.W. e-mailed me (with Arthur's help). She wanted to know if unicorns wear horseshoes, too, (or unicornshoes?). Then she said she thought slippers would be more comfortable.
When Tayler and her family go to the rodeos, they sleep in their truck. It has everything - beds, a sink, a microwave... even a TV. It's like a kitchen, bedroom, living room, and car all rolled into one!
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All animated characters and underlying materials (including artwork) © Marc Brown.
Buster and the other Marc Brown characters are trademarks of Marc Brown.
©2008 WGBH