Well good for you! I suppose that the Cowboy is a symbol of America. And I could tell you a bunch of stories about tough cowboys I knew who were real and not symbols.
Unlike you I actually grew up with cows and horses. I was chasing cows, feeding cows, helping bail hay and castrating little bulls from the time that I was about 10. The back of my head is so bashed up from falling off of horses I was riding bare back and getting kicked that it is a miracle I can even form a sentence. My teachers used to pull me out of class frequently because they thought my dad was beating the crap out of me.
I chose my fireman screen name because that is what I did for 25 years not because it was a symbol of anything.
I would have gone to Wyoming, but my Messianic Congregation near Philly is very important to me, and I’m active in it. I’m 0laning on going back this year. Whete are you from?