Galloping Horse Is Galloping Again Over The Wrangler In Downtown Cheyenne

CHEYENNE — The Galloping Horse is galloping again — or at least it will be when someone at The Wrangler turns the power on.

After years of being inoperable, the iconic 400-pound folk art cowboy overlooking the entrance to the legendary downtown Western wear store has been fixed and refurbished.

A small crowd of onlookers gathered at the intersection of Lincolnway and Capitol Avenue early Thursday morning to watch as a crew from Black Cat Erectors hoisted the 8-foot-tall by 9-foot-long folk-art cowboy onto its post over The Wrangler’s entrance.

Although it took only minutes, the moment was emotional for Brandon Graham, who — along with his dad, Dennis, and uncle, Patrick Graham — put in more than 270 hours of combined labor to refurbish the Galloping Horse.

“Man, look at that,” Brandon said as the horse and rider were put into place. “His spurs are shining too, man. Look at that.”

The only disappointment was everyone had to wait to see the horse gallop again.

That’s because after getting the cowboy back home on The Wrangler and plugged in, its legs still didn’t move. The power to that circuit was still shut off.

“Well, that’s kind of a bummer,” Brandon quipped. “But it’s OK. It looks good up there.”

‘It Needed To Be Fixed’

Brandon also said he’s glad for all the Cheyenne Frontier Days visitors to see the horse gallop again, with the Daddy of ’Em All set to start its 2026 run Friday.

“I remember being a little kid, and every time we passed it on Lincolnway, just gazing out the window and looking up at the horse,” he said.

Thursday also was a proud moment for Dennis, who explained he had the idea to get the Galloping Horse galloping again because he saw it every day, “and every day I wished it was moving again,” he said.

“My office is across the street and we grew up here,” Dennis said. “We came to Cheyenne in ’74, and it’s an iconic piece of downtown and something we love to see gallop.

“When it quit working, I just felt like it needed to be fixed.”

He didn’t express any disappointment that the power was off early Thursday.

For Patrick, he said looking at the cowboy now will hold old and new memories for him.

Some of those will be all the “late nights and a lot of laughter” as the trio worked on the contraption. “We tend to feed off each other in the humor side of our lives.”

He said the working horse is the result of “a lot of evenings after work with good family time together rebuilding.”

He also praised Cheyenne artist Jordan Dean, who painted the renovated Galloping Horse to look like its old self.

“He did a phenomenal job,” Patrick said.

Gallop On

The goal was the have the Galloping Horse running again in time for Frontier Days, and the Grahams said they hope people notice.

“It’s just awesome to see it refurbished,” Dennis said. “I think the locals love it because they grew up with it.

“I think people from out of town (do too). I see people taking photos with it all the time.”

Now when he looks out of the window of his office across Lincolnway from The Wrangler, Dennis will see it galloping.

Contact Greg Johnson at greg@cowboystatedaily.com

Greg Johnson can be reached at greg@cowboystatedaily.com.