"hard to curry above the knees"!

[nq:1]This is another line from Louis L'Amour's Tucker - he describes a town as "wild and wooly" and the above. Googling, he seems to have borrowed from Owen Wister's The Virginian, but what does it mean? Hard to dress above the knees, perhaps?[/nq]
Possibly implying = Hard to comb or clean above the knees.
See http://

[nq:1]This is another line from Louis L'Amour's Tucker - he describes a town as "wild and wooly" and the above. Googling, he seems to have borrowed from Owen Wister's The Virginian, but what does it mean? Hard to dress above the knees, perhaps?[/nq]
To curry is to groom a horse with a (curry)comb.
I'm not sure about "above the knees" but the use of "hard to curry" in conjunction with the m

[nq:1]"wild and wooly" suggests that the town is disorderly . . .[/nq]
Wooly suggests woolly.
P

[nq:2]"wild and wooly" suggests that the town is disorderly . . .[/nq]
[nq:1]Wooly suggests woolly.[/nq]
I copy/pasted.
The "wooly" spelling is said by the OED to have been around in the 19th century.

Peter Duncanson, UK
(in alt.english.usage)

[nq:2]Wooly suggests woolly.[/nq]
[nq:1]I copy/pasted. The "wooly" spelling is said by the OED to have been around in the 19th century.[/nq]
And seems to be particularly USAn

John Dean
Oxford

[nq:2]This is another line from Louis L'Amour's Tucker - he ... does it mean? Hard to dress above the knees, perhaps?[/nq]
[nq:1]Possibly implying = Hard to comb or clean above the knees.[/nq]
Because so thickly haired, perhaps. The lower legs might have a shorter pelt and, besides, "knees" makes the rhyme with "full of fleas". There's a bit more of interest in The Erotic Muse :

[nq:1]This is another line from Louis L'Amour's Tucker - he describes a town as "wild and wooly" and the above. Googling, he seems to have borrowed from Owen Wister's The Virginian, but what does it mean? Hard to dress above the knees, perhaps?[/nq]
I would have thought that currying - or combing - below the knees was slightly more dangerous, and more likely to be muddy. I wonder if the speake

[nq:2]This is another line from Louis L'Amour's Tucker - he ... does it mean? Hard to dress above the knees, perhaps?[/nq]
[nq:1]I would have thought that currying - or combing - below the knees was slightly more dangerous, and more likely to be muddy. I wonder if the speaker is making a joke?[/nq]
Or possibly a reference to poor toilet hygiene?

(¯`·. ®óñ© © ²°¹° .·´¯)

[nq:2]Wooly suggests woolly.[/nq]
[nq:1]I copy/pasted. The "wooly" spelling is said by the OED to have been around in the 19th century.[/nq]
Oops. My remark needed a smiley. Sorry. Bit brusque.

Peter