When one thinks of cowboys, it’s usually Texas that comes to mind. But when I think of cowboys, I think of Idaho.

Idaho cowboys -- and cowgirls -- know a lot about working cattle. (Journal photo)

I know, I know. Idaho is where they grow potatoes but it’s also one of the few places left in the United States where real cowboys are.

You know those beautiful photos by David Stoecklein that you see often in America’s Horse and the American Quarter Horse Journal? Many of those photos are of Idaho cowboys. Matter of fact, it’s near the Idaho Sawtooths where David lives.

I lived in eastern Idaho for five years in the early ’90s and fell in love with its beauty and its people.

The state only has a population of 1.5 million. For a girl raised in the Texas Hill Country and who had never left the state until she was 24 years old, the thought of wide open places and so few people was completely alien. Think about it, there are more than 5.7 million people in the Houston Metro alone.

But coming to Nampa, Idaho, this week for the Region One Experience was a little bit of a homecoming for me. It was wonderful seeing the Snake River, the rugged mountains and the fields of spuds and sugar beets. But most of all, it was wonderful seeing cowboys again.

The cowboys here in Idaho are real working cowboys and live much like the cowboys of the Old West did.

Although there is less than 2 million people in Idaho, its size is not all that small at 83,564 square miles. And the majority of that land is owned by the government. Each spring, cattle is turned out on public range and then gathered back up again in the fall before the harsh Intermountain winter hits.

That means many of Idaho’s cowboys are out in the wilderness for a good portion of the year riding the range and keeping an eye on the cattle. And you will find them riding some of the best and toughest American Quarter Horses around.

And some of those Quarter Horses could be found in Nampa this week.

The first day of the Regional Experience, which kicked off on July 22 at the beautiful Idaho Horse Park, was full of cowboys and cow horses. Cutting started off the day, moving to working cow horse and ranch sorting. Pole bending and barrel racing closed it out.

It was a great start for the 5-day show. I can’t wait to see the rest of it.

Tonya Ratliff-Garrison
Field Editor
American Quarter Horse Journal

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Check out photos from the first day of the Region One Experience on July 22. Click on the photos to see the captions. Some of the photos are available for purchase at the AQHA Photo Store.