* Everything a cow boy wears helps him be a better cowboy.
*That big hat shades his face. In the rain it becomes an umbrella. He uses his hat to dip water and even to give his horse to drink.
* The handkerchief around his neck is called a bandanna . Often he pulls it across his mouth and nose as protection from swirling dust when driving cattle.
* Over his tight pants he wears a second pair called chaps. They are leather or woolly sheepskin. They keep his legs from being scratched when he is riding through cactus and brush.
* His high-heeled boots keep his feet from slipping through the stirrups. And when he gets off his horse to rope a steer, he braces himself by digging the high heels into the ground.