Five minutes for cigarettes and centerfires

I was raised on a ranch northwest of Belle Fourche (SD). When I was a boy riding with my dad, I heard quite a little lore from the days in the ‘20s and ‘30s when he was hanging with the last of the open-rangers. There were quite a few old cowboys around Belle in those days who had come up from Texas with the big cow outfits.

Just about every time we’d ride up a tough slope--out of a creek crossing, say--Dad would announce at the top, “Five minutes for cigarettes and centerfires.”

Saddles are configured with one or two cinches. The latter are preferred by cowboys who have occasion to tie onto a large critter with a rope. The back cinch, which is usually not as tight as the front cinch, circles the horse’s stomach, and comes into play to prevent a large animal out in front of the horse from tipping the saddle forward or pulling it over the horse’s neck.

“Centerfire” saddles have only one cinch, a little farther back towards the center of mass of the saddle than the front cinch of a two-cincher. They are held in some contempt by “serious” cowboys, who think they slip more than two-cinch saddles. In both cases the main cinch is snugged around the horse’s rib cage immediately behind its front legs.

During a hard climb, a horse tends to lunge, which narrows its girth momentarily, allowing the its saddle to slip back a little. At the top of the climb, it’s wise to dismount and reposition the saddle forward, and to allow your horse a breather.

Bull Durham smokers might also take advantage of the break to twist one up in the lee of their mounts.

Five minutes for cigarettes and centerfires. Dad said it was a standard call from the leader of the crew after a hard climb. He seemed to get a kick out of singing it out. I must have gotten a kick out of hearing it.