Well it's hard to find a night horse   That one sure-footed right horse   To ride a cowboy safely through the dark   The finest one I ever rode    Was a short-leg bay named Little Joe   When I signed on with this outfit in South Park   Well the night was still and the moon went down   Through the herd there was not a sound   That's the time an old hand knows a cow might run   Sure enough they jumped and ran   Went crashin' through the smooth strand   And twenty buckaroos knew what was to come      CHORUS:   They're runnin' boys, they're runnin'   You all go run along   Don't try to turn 'em back 'til they tire   Just let 'em run their course   Turn it over to your night horse   Let him bring you back on home to the fire      Well a lot of things that night happened   That later got us laughin'    'Though in the moment we were all strung out pretty tight   Joe Petty thought a clump of chimeeza   Was a bedded down herd of cows   So he circled around 'em singin' 'til daylight   Then his night horse stolen by the cook   Old Bill Jim got set afoot   Cussin' out that cook as they rode away   But they didn't go far and they had a bad wreck   Bill's horse died of a broken neck   And the cook stumbled through the night in a daze      CHORUS      Well it's gopher holes and steep ravines   That in the night cannot be seen   So he must use somethin' other than his eyes   Whatever birds fly south on    I guess that's what he counts on   Little Joe could carry me through to sunrise      CHORUS      Just let 'em run their course   Turn it over to your night horse   Let him bring you back on home to the fire