An orphaned Shetland pony back in 1950 would turn out to be the beginning of one of UW’s favorite long standing traditions.
Every year, the Farthing family of Cheyenne hosted a round up from their horse herd, said handler Laura Schuman.
The story says that in the late 1940’s, while doing their roundup, the family found a baby Shetland pony near its mother who had been killed by a wild animal. Rather than leave the pony, the family took him in and raised him as a pet.
In 1950, the family learned that the university was looking for a mascot and chose to donate the pony. Since then, the university has kept up the Cowboy Joe tradition and this year are debuting the next generation, Cowboy Joe V.
At the ripe age of 17 with 15 years of UW games and appearances under his belt, Cowboy Joe IV is set to be retired later this year after his replacement, who was donated in March, is fully trained.
“Since we have a new Cowboy Joe, we have the responsibility of getting him trained,” Schuman said.
The handlers have had to spend a lot of time with the new pony, exposing him to new people, and noises, including young children, the marching band and the cannon.
“It was really exciting for me to be the one who got to work with this new pony, and to train him to take over the tradition for the university,” Kendra Winslow, head handler said.
“By having the opportunity to work with Cowboy Joe V, I have been able to keep the tradition going for UW student to follow and also leave a piece of myself at UW.”
The Farthing family still hosts this roundup and more than 60 years of UW’s mascots have been donated by them.
“Growing up with two UW alums as parents, I learned about Cowboy Joe and started loving him from a young age,” Winslow said. “I have always had a love of horses, so when I saw that the university was looking for another handler I knew I had to jump on the opportunity.”
Cowboy Joe V will be doing much more than just running down the field at Cowboy’s games. Like his predecessors, he will make many public appearances throughout his career.
The pony will represent the university in parades around the area and will make appearances in Tailgate Park on game days, leading the band and team in the pre-game Cowboy Walk, according to the Wyoming athletics web site.
“My favorite part of being a handler is interacting with all of the Cowboy fans at the different events we attend,” Winslow said.
She said she loves answering questions about the pony and seeing the kids’ reactions to him because of how much they love him.
