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'''Jinete''' is a Spanish word meaning "horseman", but in some cases this is applied to the horse, the rider or both.
As a military term of art, ''jinete'' (also spelled ''ginete'' or ''genitour'') means a Spanish light horseman armed with a javelin, sword and a shield, a troop type developed in the Middle Ages in response to the massed light cavalry of the Moors. Often fielded in significant numbers by the Spanish, and at times the most numerous of the Spanish mounted troops, they were proficient at skirmishing and rapid maneuver, and played an important role in Spanish mounted warfare throughout the ''Reconquista'' until the sixteenth century.
Contemporary usage, at least in Mexico, means "rodeo rider", hence "cowboy".