If you nod "yes" to everything on Patsy Montana's wishlist in "I Want to Be a Cowboy's Sweetheart" (a yodel-along classic from 1935 and the first million-selling country song sung by a woman), Ashley Wineland's here to get you started toward riding off in the sunset on your trusty steed.
Wineland, an Arizona-born singer-songwriter, shows us the basics of saddling and riding with the help of a 13-year-old rescue horse named Mabel.
The lesson begins with some horse grooming tips.
"Now Mabel, even though she is as gorgeous as can be, needs to be groomed before we go throwing on the saddle," Wineland explains before demonstrating how to brush off a horse's mane, body and tail.
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After cleaning the horse's hooves, Wineland explains how to saddle a horse, from using a saddle pad to common practices regarding tossing on a saddle.
Tips on cinching, which means fastening the saddle to the horse (tight, but not too tight), follow, as does a how-to for attaching the breast collar.
In the spirit of Wineland's expertise on both western wear and western-style equestrian skills, revisit Montana's classic song about seeking the same adventures of real-life and silver screen cowboys.
"I Want to Be a Cowboy's Sweetheart" Lyrics
I want to be a cowboy's sweetheart
I want to learn to rope and to ride
I want to ride o'er the plains and the desert
Out west of the great divide
I want to hear the coyotes howlin'
While the sun sets in the West
I want to be a cowboy's sweetheart
That's the life that I love best
I want to ride Old Paint, goin' at a run
I wanna feel the wind in my face
A thousand miles from all the city lights
Goin' cowhand's pace
I want to pillow my head near the sleeping herd
While the moon shines down from above
I want to strum my guitar and odo-lay-eee-hee
Oh, that's the life that I love
I want to be a cowboy's sweetheart
I want to learn to rope and to ride
I want to ride o'er the plains and the desert
Out west of the great divide
I want to hear the coyotes howlin'
While the sun sets in the West
I wanna be a cowboy's sweetheart
That's the life that I love best
