Remuda

A remuda is the herd of horses being used by the cowboys on an outfit. A horse takes on his identity as a flesh and blood unit of an outfit when he begins the work of men and becomes a member of a remuda. The ideal remuda is composed of geldings only. Studs and mares fulminate trouble in a remuda because of the demands of their state as procreators in which their efficiency and trustworthiness to man can be stopped by natural forces such as phases of the moon. For geldings, the bachelor horses, man has arranged a life of work. Geldings have been altered to respond placidly to a society of horses doing man’s work. In Spanish, remuda also means a change of horses, a relay, a relief, The Mexican saying is ‘el caballo revolcado es caballo remudado” – a horse that has a good place to roll is a relieved and rested horse.