Yeeha! Meet the Tuscan cowboy

With their rugged masculine looks, no-nonsense attitude and a starring role in many classic Hollywood adventure films, the American cowboy is legendary. But behind all the high-noon duels, saloon door swinging and rodeo bull-riding bravado, is the real business of being a cowboy – steering and protecting livestock across the land.

The US isn’t the only country with a long history of cowboys. You’ll also find them in the wild wild west…of Italy, herding many of the cattle that helped create a thriving leather industry.

Tuscany’s cowboys are known as boveri, or butteri. They’ve managed cattle on the Tuscan plains for centuries. And while their numbers may have declined as grazing land is developed, you may still catch a glimpse of them in rural parts of Tuscany. In the hills of Maremma and Alta Maremma, things are pretty much the same today as they’ve always been.

From the careful herding of beasts across rugged terrain, to the rounding up of strays on horseback, a cowboy’s skills are for life. And on the first Sunday in August, you can catch the real-life butteri demonstrating their rope skills and branding cattle in the Maremma Regional Park.

America’s cowboys and the butteri may be continents apart, but just like their skills, they share some of life’s simple pleasures. Epic landscapes, the call of the wild and the well-earned pleasure of smoking a cigar by a roaring campfire. Many American cowboys have their Mexican comrades to thank for introducing them to tobacco, the butteri can thank Toscano.