Saddles, Spurs, and Dark Horse Cowboys: A Study of Injury Prevention Beliefs
A dark horse cowboy is a historical term used to describe the “evasive” characteristics of the cowboy who reveals little about himself or his activities, especially his horse riding talents. Cowboys and recreational horse owners regard injuries as inevitable and unavoidable. Nurses are often the first to meet and greet the injured cowboy. Essential to the best care of this population is the understanding of the cowboy culture. Aside from rural health practices, care of the cowboy before or after injury is based upon the cowboy’s unique perspective of injury prevention practices and the seeking of care.
Rationale
Over the past ten years there have been little studies on the cowboy culture in relation to injury prevention and safety. As cowboys (and cowgirls) engage in extreme horse and competitive activities such as bull riding, barrel racing, bronc busting, roping,
reining, cutting, and working ranches, injuries are poorly documented while injury prevention beliefs are non-existent in the literature. What are documented are judgmental attitudes by health care providers in non-rural areas. These attitudes are reflected in
questions and explanatories such as: Why didn’t you wear a helmet? Why didn’t you wear sturdier boots?, Why do you rodeo or work horses? Growing up around horses and competitive horse related activities, the authors are aware of the stigma related to
safety attire among western cowboys and western recreational horse enthusiasts.
Methods
A Qualitative Ethnographic design was utilized. Interviews progressed until saturation was met at 45 participants. The participants were recruited by the researchers at rodeo events, horse boarding facilities, recreational horse events, and ranches in Weld
County, Colorado; Yellowstone County, Montana; and Roger Mills County, Oklahoma.
Results
A flagrant result from this study is the 179 injuries sustained by participants. Data analysis is in process in accordance with ethnographic methods of bracketing, thematic categorization, and coding. To date, the following themes have emerged: superstition and fatalism. Results will be
forthcoming by the time of the conference.
Implications
Raising awareness of this culture within a culture will serve to validate the cowboy perceptions, and opinions, and create relationships of trust in health care encounters after injuries.