Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
ARIZONA COWBOY COLLEGE
indulge your inner john wayne
SCOTTSDALE, ARIZONA
I have never had so much fun, done so much work, and been so tired in all
my life. I'd do it all over again tomorrow.
—John Hersey, student at Arizona Cowboy College
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Arizona Cowboy College is not a dude ranch. There are no cutesy hay wagons or line-
dancing lessons. You will get up at dawn. You will sleep on the ground. You will sweat. You
will ache. You will continue to be sore for at least a week after. But in the process of doing
these things, you will learn a dying art—an art that has more or less defined the American
West for more than a hundred years. You will also learn some amazing things about yourself:
that you're a lot stronger, more resilient, and more heroic than you ever dreamed possible.
The late Lloyd Bridwell, the fourth-generation cowboy who started the Cowboy College
in 1989, said he never coached a student who didn't consider the six-day crash course in riding,
roping, and rounding up one of the best experiences of his or her life.
Cowboys and cowgirls in training sleep under the stars, cook over campfires, and live like
actual cowboys for a week. Add some bucking broncs and ornery heifers, and you've got one
heck of a classic Western—with you as the star.
The first two days of Cowboy College are not the stuff epic Westerns are made of. You'll
begin at the Lorill Equestrian Center getting to know your horse and your equipment. You'll
learn to rope by lassoing a fiberglass cow on wheels. Other things you'll learn include how
to shoe a horse, brand a cow, and castrate a bull. But once you've got those basic cowboy
skills down, you'll be out on the high chaparral on an honest-to-goodness roundup, camped
and working side by side with real cowboys. Nearby ranchers claim the help they get from the
greenhorns at Cowboy College cuts their workload in half.
HOMEWORK ON THE RANGE
