"And I find that if you want to figure out who's a working cowboy and who isn't, look at their boots...."

Not necessarily, in recent years, a lot that I have ridden with prefer Ropers or something similar. You're a lot less likely to break an ankle on rocky ground and sooner or later, on rough terrain you've got to get down off your horse.

Something with enough heel for safety in the stirrup is a lot more practical than tottering around in high heels on rocks like a sailor without sea legs.

I don't consider myself a cowgirl, although I did manage to rope and tie a herford to a tree that was careening around loose in the neighbourhood once...but I did that on foot, not on horseback. LOL.

I've been riding horses for over 50 years now and caring for my own for the last 15 of those. While I will wear a "cowboy hat" on occasion, for practical purposes, you will never catch me in a "cowboy boot" on the kind of trails I prefer.

I've no desire to break an ankle and around here in recent times, when I'm not being sloppy, I prefer my steel toed work boots for ground work, I've had too many crunched toes over the years and my bones are probably not as robust as they used to be.