Florida Cracker Cow Whip

by D Hackett

Title

Florida Cracker Cow Whip

Artist

D Hackett

Medium

Photograph - Digital

Description

Florida Cracker Cow Whip by D Hackett

In cracker country, they use cow whips, not bullwhips. The cow whip, also known as a stock whip, is a braided whip attached to a handle, typically sixteen inches long. The longer handle extends its reach, and can help put a little more space between an overly aggressive bovine and a horseman.

Florida￿s Cracker Cowboys used their horse and a whip to round up scrub cows. Florida has been big cattle country since the 1800s and remains so today. Florida￿s horseback herdsmen are known as ￿cracker cowhunters,￿ named after their expert use of a whip. Used to roust cattle from dense, tangled vegetation and keep them moving on swampy trails, the tool does not strike the animal. The distinctive crack of a well-placed throw just over their heads usually elicits response. These whips were also used to communicate as the crack of the whip could be heard from some distance.
Incredibly, the whip is likely the first human invention to break the sound barrier. It￿s tapered end moves faster than the speed of sound, which results in a tiny sonic boom￿the crack.
**My Great Grandfather was a Cracker Cowboy and family legend is that he was so good with the whip that he could ￿pop the head off a rattlesnake￿ while on his horse.

Uploaded

November 10th, 2014

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