I've known a few real Cowboys, one a very good poet. I asked him at a Cowboy Festival once why so may Cowboys (and Cowgirls) had such a spiritual bent. His answer:
"Well, when ya spend so much time alone out there under the sky, you'll go crazy if ya don't have a strong relationship with God. And if'n ya don't, when yer hangin' from yer spooked horse by one stirrup and a barbed wire fence is comin' up, yer about to develop one ....".
Amen to that!
Another Cowboy pal and very good CAS shooter is a brother in the 12 Steps. We both recently marked milestones of sobriety - him 13 years, me 28 as of today. We totally understand each other in a way we can't relate to others. I gave him a polished rock with the word "Gratitude" painted on it for his sobriety anniversary.
He looked at it, closed his eyes in silent prayer then thanked me, saying that it was gong in his pick up truck right now to be placed where he could see it every day.