A cowboy or ranch worker, especially one who specializes in breaking wild horses.
From Spanish 'vaquero' (cowboy), the word entered American English through the Southwest in the 1800s, with the 'buck-' being influenced by the bucking action of wild horses.
Buckaroos were mythologized in American Western culture, but the reality was harsh—they faced danger daily from unpredictable animals and difficult terrain, and many were Mexican or Black workers whose stories rarely made it into Hollywood films.
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