South West

Arkansas, Arizona, and especially Texas come up in the popular imagination as much as the north west if not more. Texas especially comes to mind when someone mentions the word ranch, though normally they are thinking of cattle ranches.

Just like the north west Horse ranches in the southwest there is a great deal of real work to be had for horses. The wide open plains allow for massive amounts of cattle to be raised and these cattle in their millions, often several thousand per cattle ranch, have to be moved back and forth. Just like in the northwest it is still cheaper to move them short distances by horse back than it is by truck.

Furthermore, just like in the north when cattle need to be moved from one pasturage to another horses are used to get the job done as loud noisy trucks will spook the cattle more and there is a greater ease to the process from horseback than there is from a vehicle. It is distinctly more difficult to lasso an unruly cow or steer from the back of a truck and the likelihood of being ripped clean off the back of that moving vehicle is very high. On horseback a cowhand can have stability, balance, and can hold on tight. A well trained horse will be directed solely with the feet and knees to where it needs to go leaving the hands of their rider free to chastise or redirect the cattle.

There are more dude ranches in the south west than anywhere else on the average as well. People go to Texas and Arizona frequently looking to live the cowboy lifestyle and get away from the mundane city life.