“Save a Horse (Ride a Cowboy)” was a 2004 country music hit for Big & Rich, who also made a popular music video of the song.
The phrase “Save a horse (ride a cowboy)” and “Save a horse (mount a cowboy)” had been on t-shirts and bumper stickers since the 1990s. The phrase offers a sexual innuendo-filled twist on “drive a car and save a horse.”
Wikipedia: Save a Horse (Ride a Cowboy)
“Save a Horse (Ride a Cowboy)” was the second single by country music duo Big & Rich from their 2004 debut album, Horse of a Different Color. It reached #11 on the US Country chart, making it the duo’s highest-charting single until Lost In This Moment reached the top ten in 2007. The song received wide exposure when ESPN featured the song in commercials for its coverage of the 2005 World Series of Poker. The song was also used in Dancing with the Stars at least twice.
Big & Rich also released a remixed dance version of the song which appeared on their compilation
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One World Gear controversy
In April 2007, the song was parodied by t-shirt manufacturer One World Gear, who began to offer a series of products on CafePress.com featuring snowclones of the slogan “Save a Horse, Ride a Cowboy”, in which the word “cowboy” was replaced with the name of any one of 177 different nationalities, including “American”. The version of the t-shirt featuring the slogan “Save a Horse, Ride a Taiwanese” was singled out as “racially discriminatory” and “insulting to Taiwan” by Taiwanese and Hong Kong media.
Google Groups: rec.sport.golf
Newsgroups: rec.sport.golf
From: Heather Fenstermann
Date: Wed, 5 Oct 1994 14:35:04 -0500
Local: Wed, Oct 5 1994 3:35 pm
Subject: Help
Save a horse, ride a cowboy!
Google Groups: rec.sport.rodeo
Newsgroups: rec.sport.rodeo
From: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) (Cathi Kietzman)
Date: 1996/04/21
Subject: Re: Great bumper sticker
I have the t-shirt on right now and I was wrong!!
actually it says:
SAVE A HORSE
MOUNT A COWBOY
my new favorite.
7 February 1997, Madison (WI) Capital Times, “(David Foster—ed,) Wallace’s Manic Style Leaves Reader Breathless” by John Nichols, pg. 13A:
As with New Yorker cartoon, there’s an elusive sameness about the shirts’ messages. A lot serve to I.D. the wearer as part of a certain group and then congratulate that group for its sexual dynamism—`Coon Hunters Do It All Night’ and `Hairdressers Tease It Till It Stands Up’ and `Save A Horse: Ride A Cowboy.’
24 March 2001, Capital Times (Madison, WI), pg. 7C:
Late news update: Ursula saw a cute bumper sticker the other day: Save a horse. Ride a cowboy.
Urban Dictionary
Save a horse
To have sex in a position where the woman is on top. From the song “Save a horse, ride a cowboy”.
I’d like to save a horse with that sexy hombre tonight.
#sex #woman on top #ride a cowboy #sex positions #country
by urbanlegend1001 May 23, 2011
(Trademark)
Word Mark SAVE A HORSE RIDE A COWBOY
Goods and Services (ABANDONED) IC 025. US 022 039. G & S: Shirts, Pants, Hats, Socks, Underwear
Mark Drawing Code (1) TYPED DRAWING
Serial Number 78125581
Filing Date May 1, 2002
Current Filing Basis 1B
Original Filing Basis 1B
Published for Opposition November 19, 2002
Owner (APPLICANT) YMI, inc. CORPORATION ARKANSAS 995 N. Shiloh Dr. Fayetteville ARKANSAS 72701
Type of Mark TRADEMARK
Register PRINCIPAL
Live/Dead Indicator DEAD
Abandonment Date August 12, 2003