ranchhand

Hired saddle help

A ranchhand is a worker on a ranch, performing manual labor such as herding livestock, mending fences, and maintaining equipment.

The term evokes the American West and its cattle-ranching tradition: The ranchhand rode out at dawn to check the herd.

Also spelled as two words: ranch hand.

western

cowboy

Mounted cattle herder

  • lassoLooped rope for catching
  • chapsProtective riding legwear
  • saddleMounted rider's seat

rodeo · spurs · corral · wrangler · bronco · prairie · homestead · frontier · mustang · bandana

livestock

herding

Managing animal groups

  • cattleDomesticated bovines kept commercially
  • brandingCreating distinctive identity
  • calvingIce mass separation

milking · fencing · pasture · feedlot · sheep · goats · horses · stables · barnyard · veterinary

skills

riding

Controlling while mounted

fencing · horsemanship · tracking · shooting · veterinary · doctoring · welding · driving · tractor · hauling

labor

farmhand

Agricultural employee

bunkhouse · wages · chores · fencing · mucking · hauling · feeding · grooming · saddling · mending

Opposites
employment hierarchy

ranchhandrancher

One who raises livestock

landowner · cattle baron · boss · employer · property owner

urban vs. rural occupation

ranchhandoffice worker

Indoor professional employee

white-collar worker · city dweller · urbanite · desk jockey · factory worker

Family

ranch, hand, ranches, ranched, ranching, rancher, ranchers, hands, handed

Familiarity
Top 500,000
Profile
Known to kids · Mostly American · Timeless · Concrete · Everyday, not technical · Rated G