Never tell a man he can’t go to work in his boots. That’s what Sheriff Stephen Haskell found out when 28-year veteran deputy Gene Bryson turned in his resignation.

After he took over as sheriff of Sublette County, Haskell outlawed cowboy boots and hats.

"I had my patrol deputies wearing one uniform. I had detention wearing another uniform," the new boss told the Casper Star-Tribune. "We had a rainbow of colors."

The new mandated uniform for deputies includes black pants with a tan shirt, black boots and a black ball cap.

But for Bryson, “that’s not going to work.”

“I’ve had a cowboy hat on since 19-I-don’t-know," he told the paper. "I’ve always worn a cowboy hat, all my life.”

Haskell defended his rules on the department's Facebook page, writing "Have you ever stood on the side of the highway on a blustery Wyoming day and tried to keep a cowboy hat on your noggin? I'd rather my deputies were concerned with their safety and the safety of the public than trying to chase down a fly-away cowboy hat."