Although a comparatively short song, 'Windy' has the distinction of having more technical terms per line than any other song I can think of. ... It's one side of the story of an argument that had been going on for a hundred years between the 'dally ropers' (an English corruption of the Spanish 'dar la vuelta' meaning to take a turn around the saddle horn) and the 'hard and fast' ropers from Texas, ... who used a shorter rope tied to the saddle horn. ... Bill was evidently a fellow who used his saddle stock hard and rough judging from the fact that his horse's "withers and back were raw", so maybe he deserved what he got. ... Bill's saddle, or tree, was made, according to the song, by Sam Stack (or Stagg, as the case may be) who was evidently a well-known saddle maker in Texas. His rope was a Mexican grass rope made from maguey fibers, shorter and stouter than the rawhide riatas used by many of the dally ropers back when this song was 'composed'. His 'taps' or tapaderos were short leather shields to keep the brush out of his stirrups, his bit was evidently a spade or curb peculiar to the Brazos River country ... And that just about takes care of Windy Bill. He may have lost his saddle but he'd never lose a finger or two getting caught up in a dally.