Gauchos Galore - Saturday, Nov. 7, 2009

Friday night the Argyles called to ask us if we would like to go with their family to San Antonio de Areco where every November there is a Gaucho Festival. It is about an hour and fifteen minute drive on the autopista (freeway). It is held on a Saturday and Sunday and people camp out there and are entertained with a Gaucho Rodeo where the Gauchos show off their cowboy skills with horses. They have bucking broncos like we do but they don't let them out of a shoot. They untie them from a post. This weekend event is similar to a Utah Mountain Man Rendezvous.

We drove in two cars to see the Gauchos. The President's family in one car and we followed them in the other car. Seeing the campos was a new experience for us. I thought out in the country it would be dirty, dusty roads with very humble dwellings. No way! It was fresh and beautiful with miles of green fields. We were impressed. It was a whole new side of Buenos Aires for us. There were populated "cities" along the way that looked like it would be a fun place to live outside of the busy commercial downtown areas of Bs. As.

We arrived to find out that the big field where the horsemanship activities are held was too muddy and swampy for them to hold the rodeo part of the festival. They have had lots of soaking rain and they had to cancel that part of it. That was disappointing! They still had Sunday to hopefully have it all take place. But, we decided to walk around and shop and see what there was to see.

This man had an asado (BBQ) cooking. We don't know what he was stirring in the pot.

The Gauchos don't use saddles very often. They strap lots of horse blankets onto the horse to make a soft seat for the rider. Some wear cowboy boots, but most wear a canvas like slipper that has a hard sole. That is the official Gaucho shoe. The tails of the horses are cut off like on the horse in the front.

The children ride on small horses and they get their training early in life. A Gaucho has a knife in a sheath stuck in his belt at the back of his pants. Even the children riding around had a knife on them too.

Gauchos on horses were riding all over the place in and amongst the crowd. They were waiting for something to happen.

There are several Gaucho hats. Most are the beret style in different fabrics with wool being the most common. But there are some straw type ones with straps under the chin. The pants are like knickers and, of course, boots round out the outfit.

Outdoor stores were set up to sell anything from saddles, horse blankets, panchos, hats, straps, stirrups, belts, buckles, vests, etc. Anything to do with horses and gaucho attire.

There was one activity going on, which was the one we have heard about and wanted to see. It is where riders race down a field and with a pencil type spear, try to put it through a small ring that is dangling from a strap. The ring is about the size of a 50 cent piece. Maybe a little larger.

It is unbelievable that they can actually do it. We watched for about one half hour with several trying (two race down together). The rider at the left of the picture did it.

The Argyle's daughter, Anika, wanted to buy a saddle as one of her souvenirs from Argentina. She is into horses and found the saddle of her dreams.

A ventilated straw hat was what Elder Kroff wanted and needed. There were many from which to choose. No, the Tilly hat on the table was not for sale. It belongs to the man trying on hats.

We chose not to eat any of the food at the festival as it looked a bit unreliable. So on the way back to town, we stopped off in Pilar at a McDonalds. What would the world do with McDonalds!!

We told the President that he wouldn't have to lead us back home as we could find our way with the GPS in the car. It would just be taking the right exit off the autopista. He was out of sight fast when we got on the highway. We were surprised that the exit we took was right by WalMart. I had been wanting to take a trip there, but it involved quite a bit of walking once we got off the bus, and we weren't about to do that with all the rainy weather we have been having. So, while having the car, we took advantage of stopping in to do our grocery shopping for the week, maybe two weeks.

We were tired when we finally arrived home at 10:00 p.m. Too tired and late to record the day's events. It's been a fun day!