ArizonaRealCountry.com 37 March 2019 In the Old West, the horses used on the ranches were not 15 to 16 hands tall and 1000 to 1200 pounds, fat, well-groomed, blue-blooded quarter horses. They were wild mustangs that had been captured and “broke”... sort of. They were 700 or 800 pounds and 13 or 14 hands tall as a result of hard living in the wild, poor nutrition, and inbreeding. They were turned loose on the range every fall and made it through the winter to spring by the will of God and a lot of luck. An old west rancher very seldom hired a big man for cowboy work because he would be too hard on those small mustangs. The horse a cowboy rides today has been selectively bred, is 15 to 16 hands tall and is well cared for all year. It gets proper nutrition, regular farrier visits, and veterinary care. A small one will weigh 1000 pounds. They are also far better trained than those of one hundred and fifty years ago. The height of a horse has historically always been measured from the ground to the top of its withers because that is about the only place that a measurement won’t vary. By extending all five fingers flat and tightly parallel a person would lay one hand on the ground and flat against side of the hoof of a front leg. They then put one hand on top of the other all the way up the front leg and to the top of the withers counting the number of “hands.” However, the fact that human hands can vary considerably in width had always been an issue. So, sometime early in the 20th century it was determined that the average human hand was 4 inches wide so 4 inches was made the official standard measuring unit for a hand when measuring the height of a horse. However, even though a horse is now first measured in inches, the total is divided by 4 and still referred to in “hands.” Old habits die hard. The cost of raising a three-year-old steer on one of the large open range ranches in the old west was roughly $4.75 in 1886. To get that steer to Chicago cost about another $5.75, making the total about $10.50.The average weight of a three-year-old, grass fed, Texas steer was about 950 pounds. The average low price per pound on the Chicago market was 3 cents. A little basic math shows a net profit of $18 per steer. A herd of 5000 steers at $18 each comes to $90,000. The 12 to 14 cowboys that spent 3 or 4 months getting them to market were paid about $100 each bringing the ranchers profit down to a little more than $88,000. CEO’s paying themselves an obscene amount of money isn’t anything new. By Lee Anderson, Old West Living Historian, Award Winning Author, and Old School Horseman Lee Anderson and his horse, Concho, are well known around the state doing presentations in schools, corporate events, and civic events. Learn more about them and his book on his website. historicaloldwest.org DID YOU KNOW, IN THE OLD WEST... Arizona’sUltimate,Year-RoundFamilyFunDestination.Arizona’sLargestCollectionofExoticAnimals. NorthernAve.andthe303Freeway•623-935-WILD(9453)•WildlifeWorld.com 20newspecies,including3newRhinos! Don’tMiss OurNew BabyGiraffe, Austin! Don’tMiss OurNew BabySeaLion, Sunny! Zoo,aquariumandsafaripark with6,000animals, 8showsdaily, tonsofrides, athousandthrills andamillionsmiles. AllinOneDay! Enjoythenew 8acreadditiontoour Off Admission Per Person/$20 Value Not valid with any other discounts $ 5