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One of the largest countries in the world, Argentinaoccupies much of south America, and from its aridhigh plateaus, valleys, canyons and colorful hills to

Patagonia, land of lakes, volcanoes andglaciers, it is unique. The fertile plainsof the Pampas, in the center, supportmost of the country’s cattle ranching.

It was during spain’s first attempt tocolonize south America in the 16thcentury that spanish settlers broughtshiploads of livestock from Europe.They brought them to the Pampas—avast region with an abundance of pas-

tures and an ideal climate. Cattle adapted well to the pampaand spread widely, becoming wild between the mid-1500sand 1700s. It was during the spanish Crown’s second attempt

to colonize south America in the late18th century that the spanish settlersencountered thousands of head of wildcattle and horses, descendants of thelivestock brought by spaniards manyyears before.

With the abundance of feral livestock rose the need to domesticatethe horses and hunt and slaughter thecattle for their hides and tallow; out of

THE GAUCHO

Horseman of the PampasDifferent language, nation, and customs, but the same passion for the cowboy life.

Words by Armando Deferrari, D.V.M. Photos by C.J. Hadley.Translated and assisted by Domingo Hernandez.

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Pablo Lozano, Nestor Hirtz and Armando Deferrari bring the maresand foals to the pens for inspectionand inoculating.

The parts to Nestor’s fancy gaucho saddle. The soft wool

blankets are used as pillows andcovers whenever the gaucho spends

nights out on the range.

The Estancia Las Yerbas in Tapalque, Argentina. For branding, gauchos usually catch the calves fromthe ground, roping the hind feet to prepare for the hot iron. RIGHT: Nestor Hirtz and son Santos aresharing a traditional maté, which is a bitter tea made from the leaves of a Pampas shrub. BELOW:Nestor’s wife Mercedes helps get ready to ride. Her family owns several estancias in the Patagonia andPampa regions of Argentina. There are eight layers to the saddle and she is about midway. OPPOSITE:The gaucho’s facón is always tucked in the back of a belt, sometimes adorned with silver. The knife isused to remove the hide of an animal, to cut wire, totrim hooves, to eat meat, and even as a toothpick.

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this came the gaucho, the nomadic horsemanof the Pampas. In this vast rangeland ofunimaginable dimensions and plagued withtopographic accidents there was a need for arugged individual with horsemanship skills,courage, good judgment and common sense.The traditions of the gauchos and of theAmerican cowboys are similar in many ways.

Through the years the estancias (cattleranches) were built and became productiveestablishments. Nomadic gauchos becamehired hands, tending the cattle and horses. Tocope with the needs of ranching, the gauchocreated specialized tools such as the lazo,similar to the reata. It was made by hand offour, six or eight strands of braided rawhideor two or three strands of twisted rawhideand kept supple with tallow. To one end isattached an iron ring called argolla in lieu of ahonda, through which the other end ispassed and fastened to the girth of the saddleby the presilla, a type of fastener made ofrawhide that utilizes a loop and a button.

The lazo’s type and length depends onwhether it will be used in a corral or out onthe open range, and also on whether it will beused on foot to pialar (fore-footing) or onhorseback to catch the animal for doctoring,branding or castrating. On average, the lazomeasures between 18 and 25 meters (59-82feet) in length. A design feature unique to thelazo is the yapa, a segment approximately twometers in length where the argolla will beattached, and consisting of additional strandsof rawhide braided to provide more strengthbecause it gets the most wear and tear.

Gauchos also depend on boleadoras,which is used for catching wild horses, cattle,deer-sized animals, and the ñandú (Rheaamericana), a relative of the ostrich native tothe Pampas that is an important part of theirdiet. The boleadoras consists of three ballsmade of wood, bone, or stone covered withrawhide and connected by three strands oftwisted or braided rawhide of an equallength. One of the balls is smaller and iscalled manija (handle). This ball is held in thehand as the boleadoras is swung around andover the head and thrown by the gauchowhile riding at a full gallop. The objective isto throw so that the balls swing round andround until the hind legs are tied together,and the animal falls to the ground.

Gauchos also need a tropilla (a personalstring of horses), to cover the vast tracks ofland on the Pampas. A tropilla consists ofbetween eight and 20 geldings led by a domi-nant bell mare referred to as madrina. Thebell mare usually is only halter-broke. The

gaucho places a wide strap of softenedcowhide on the mare’s neck from which hehangs a bronze or steel bell of a variety ofshapes and sizes known as cencerro.

The sound of the cencerro helps the gau-cho identify the location of his tropilla atnight or during conditions of low visibility.Also, the horses identify the sound of their

Fancy rawhide and silver reins and headstall made by Pablo Lozano for Nestor Hirtz. This set won Bestof Show at La Rural, the national agricultural show in Buenos Aires. It took Pablo several months tocomplete. This is one of Nestor’s favorite horses in the garden of the Estancia Las Yerbas in Tapalque.

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cencerro and remain in theproximity of the madrinawhile grazing or traveling.Even if they cannot see themare, the sound of thecencerro helps vector thetropilla towards the madrina.It is a luxury for a gaucho toassemble a tropilla in whichall geldings bear the samecolor or pattern. Often ahorse in a tropilla bears a dif-ferent color or pattern; thishorse is referred to as a lunar,and is sometimes the gaucho’s favorite mount.The gaucho travels with the madrina on alead line and every other horse in the tropillais loose.

No gaucho can leave home without hisknife, called facón. It has a blade of approxi-mately 12 inches and is carried on a rawhidescabbard stuck in the back of his belt. he uses

the facón for every con-ceivable purpose: toremove the hide of ananimal, to cut wire, totrim the hooves of hishorse, to eat meat, andeven as a toothpick.

The broad leather beltthat the gaucho wears iscalled tirador and isoften decorated withantique silver coins thatwere minted in Potosi,Bolivia, for the spanish

Crown centuries ago. The buckle that holdsthe tirador is called rastra and is generallymade of silver, consisting of a large center-piece decorated with a traditional motif andattached to six short pieces of silver chains(three on each side) that on each end will fea-ture a silver coin or a silver button.

Like the American cowboy, the gaucho

wears either specialized leather boots or themore traditional botas de potro made fromthe hind legs of a horse. The hocks form theheel and the leg is cut off just above the fet-lock joint, so that when the skin has been cutthrough at the top of the leg, the whole of itcan be drawn off like a glove. The hair isscraped off, and the boot is rubbed by handuntil it becomes soft. The toe is either open orsewn closed. The boots have to be tied upabove the calf with garters and resemble a softleather sock. A pair of elaborate, fine silverspurs are often strapped to the ankle of thebotas de potro with thin strips of rawhide.

Of course, the gaucho’s all-purpose gar-ment is the poncho, a simple woolen blanketgenerally rectangular in shape with a slit inthe center to fit the head through. It hangs onthe sides down to the knees and protects thewearer’s back and chest from cold weather.Argentine ponchos range from the heavy andutilitarian type made of sheep wool to the

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: Silver headstall and traditionalArgentine bit. ■ Boleadoras are attached to the rig under -neath the blankets. ■ Fancy stirrup. ■Traditional beltwith antique coins. ■Horsehide boot, with spurs. ■NestorHirtz’s collection of fine, handwoven matras (blankets),made by the Tehuelches, Mapuches, Araucanos andPampas Indians from different regions of Argentina.

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very fine made of vicuna wool. It is said thatthe finest ponchos made of vicuna will slidethrough a ring. Beyond its multiple uses andgreater or lesser degree of quality and decora-tion, the poncho is a distinctive sign ofregional and personal identity.

The gaucho’s saddle is called a recado andit varies according to the taste or means ofthe owner. The topography of the terrain inwhich a saddle will be used determines theheight of the fork in this hornless saddle. Therecado is made of wood, covered with leatherwith a fork in the front and the rear, or inmany cases they are made of two long rolls ofstraw covered with leather. In this rig consist-ing of several layers, first goes a sheepskin putnext to the horse’s back with the flesh side up,and next the wool blankets known as matras.Traditionally the matras are handmade bythe native Indians—Mapuches, Araucanos,Pampas and Tehuelches—in a rectangularshape. several folded matras will provide a

When you find a gaucho, you will always find horses. This is one gaucho’s tropilla in the Pergaminoparade, which draws gauchos to the Fiestas de la Tradicion, some from thousands of kilometers away.They celebrate the gaucho heritage each November. AT TOP: One of the gauchos who traveled with histropilla to the festival is getting his horses ready for the parade. During the later contests, other gauchoswill try to steal his horses to add to their own tropillas. After the parade, hundreds of chorizos anddozens of rib cages of steers and whole sheep are barbecued to feed the gauchos at the fairgrounds.There is also bread and wine, but the meal is mostly unadorned and tasty meat. Dinner goes pastmidnight, and then the dancing starts and continues till early morning. To thank them forparticipating, three meals are fed to close to a thousand gauchos and their families at no charge.

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more comfortable ride for both the horse andrider, and they will make the gaucho’s bed atnight.

The next layer is the carona, a saddle padmade of heavy leather stamped into patterns,trimmed and bound to protect the saddlefrom sweat. The whole rig is held together bya broad girth made of softened cowhidecalled the cincha that goes on the bottom,and another broad piece of softened cowhidecalled encimera that goes over the top. Bothwill be fastened with two wide straps of soft-ened cowhide that will secure the rig to thehorse. Above the encimera goes the cojinillo,which is made of sheepskin and secured by anarrow strip of softened cowhide. And abovethe cojinillo goes a small piece of well-soft-ened leather such as the hide of a carpinchoor capivara, mountain lion or deer that iscalled sobrepuesto.

The stirrups are normally made of onepiece of wood, but could be made of metal

It was hot and muggy in Pergamino during parade weekend in November, with temperatures climbingabove 90 degrees. These visitors and friends of contestants are watching the tropilla event and are happy tofind some late afternoon shade. There are more than a dozen gauchos competing, each with a tropilla offrom eight to 20 horses—most groups of matching color and led by a bell mare. They are competing for thebest tropilla. Other gaucho events include jineteata (bronc riding), team penning, barrel racing andcorrida de sortija—a timed event where gauchos race to a small one-inch ring hanging on a post and—atincredible speed—attempt to put a small lance the size of a pencil through the ring.

Poppy Colarden and husband Alejandro Moreno farm in Pergamino and Pila in the province ofBuenos Aires. The Morenos grow soy beans and raise Aberdeen Angus cattle. For pleasure they competein hackney races around Argentina. BELOW: Poppy, daughter Clarita (right) and a friend ride in ahackney in Pergamino’s gaucho parade.

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Pampa Cura runs Pulperia El Recreo, a gaucho museum in an 1880s old country store inChivilcoy. Several buildings display artifacts from the height of the gaucho days. This is thewagon shop. LEFT: Pablo Lozano visits with Pampa and his dog at the museum’s entrance.

Pablo Lozano is one of Argentina’s great rawhide braiders. He has won numerous national awards for his work.Pablo’s workshop is in the hill country of Tandil, severalhours south of Buenos Aires. He works with an apprentice,Martin Teils, who has been studying with Pablo for sevenyears.

TOP RIGHT: Pablo’s hobbles are unique, each with differentdesigns and buttons. This set of 12 was sold to a collector inArgentina. Some pieces of Pablo’s braided work includemore than 100 strings. One cinch took him six months tomake and included 68 different braids and 690 strands ofrawhide.

Pablo selects skins carefullyand cuts his rawhide by hand.These are not the smalleststrings he uses.

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and inlaid with silver, made completely of sil-ver, made of horn, or made of a combinationof materials. They feature a somewhat smalland narrow throat, intended for the gauchoto ride with the ball of his foot or his toes,whichever suits him best.

The bits in use by gauchos have changedlittle since the time of the spanish conquis-tadors, from the snaffle with the mouth-piece split in the middle, to the more severering bits and the port bits, which are raisedin the mouthpiece and feature a cricket orroller called coscojo, placed inside the portto give the horse something to do with itstongue and to relieve tension. Nowadays thebits have short-shank cheek pieces and fea-ture a medium port with a cricket, oftenembellished with large silver conchos and asilver shank hobble called pontezuela, whichhelps prevent the horse from grazing whilewearing the bit.

The headstall, reins, bosal, and halter aremade of rawhide for everyday use. however,they are also made of fine braided rawhide,rawhide and silver, or pure silver dependingon the intended use and according to the tasteor means of the gaucho. historically the gau-cho has been willing to spend most of his

earnings on his horse, his true and loyalfriend, and shows him with pride duringsocial gatherings and festive occasions. Eventhe least well-off gaucho would wear hisnazarenas (ornate silver spurs).

Like his American counterpart, the gau-cho is an icon, but he is also threatened bytechnological advancement. But thanks toefforts by many stewards of his culture andheritage, the gaucho will remain on the Pam-pas for many generations, and in Argentinehearts and history even longer. ■

Armando Deferrari gave up his veterinarypractice to pursue his passion for rawhidebraiding and silversmithing, and his work ishighly respected throughout Argentina. In2008, along with fellow braider Pablo Lozano,he was accepted as a member of the Tradition-al Cowboy Arts Association. The TCAA, inalliance with the National Cowboy & WesternHeritage Museum in Oklahoma City, is com-mitted to preserving the traditions of the NorthAmerican cowboy. Domingo Hernandezwasborn in Cuba, lives in Miami, Fla., and fre-quently travels to Central and South America.He says, “I like helping to connect my cowboyand gaucho friends.” Photographer C.J.Hadley is editor/publisher of RANGE.

The gaucho parade in Pergamino offers everykind of flash and tack. Even tiny gauchos get toride. BELOW: Rawhide braider/writer ArmandoDeferrari, left, with his friend Nestor Hirtz fromTapalque.