From Songs of the Cowboys collected by N. Howard Thorp (Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1921), page 23:


CHOPO
By N. Howard ["Jack"] Thorp

Written in Devil's River, Texas, 1901, at Jeneaw, or Juno, Lake, when in camp with Frank Wilson. This little horse I got from Antelope George at Sierra Blanca, was branded O. I rode him from Sierra Blanca to Paris, Texas. This song was in my first publication, copyrighted in 1908.

Through rocky arroyos so dark and so deep;
Down the sides of the mountains so slippery and steep;
You've good judgment, sure-footed, wherever you go
You're a safety conveyance, my little Chopo.

Whether single or double, or in lead of a team,
Over highways or byways or crossing a stream,
You're always in fix and willing to go
Whenever you're called on, my Chico Chopo.

You're a good roping horse; you were never jerked down;
When tied to a steer, you will circle him around;
Let him once cross the string, and over he'll go.
You sabe the business, my cow horse Chopo.

One day on the Llano, a hail-storm began;
The herds were stampeded, the horses all ran;
The lightning it glittered, a cyclone did blow;
But you faced the sweet music, my little Chopo.

Chopo, my pony; Chopo, my pride;
Chopo, my amigo; Chopo I will ride
From Mexico's border 'cross Texas Llanos;
To the salt Pecos River I ride you, Chopo.

[Sung by Don Edwards on "Saddle Songs," Rodney Hayden on "Rodney Hayden," Horse Crazy on "Cowboy Rhythm," William Clauson on "William Clauson Sings Songs from High Chaparral," Yampa Valley Boys on "Tales of the Trail," and Tex Fletcher on "Riding the Range."]