On the weekend pretty much everyone disappears from the ranch. So I had a lot of time to relax, catch up on sleep and take it easy.I had mentioned to Johnny upon my arrival that I love to ride horses and asked him if I could possibly ride one here. Johnny graciously arranged one for me on Saturday and Sunday.
The type of farming practiced here is extensive, unlike the intensive farming we are used to hearing about in Canada and the U.S. What this means is that for every cow there is about 3 hectares of wild grass alloted to meet its dietary needs. To increase the intensity of the farming, the farm is working at digging up the wild grasses and replanting cultivated grass which decreases the land use per cow to one hectare each. Still there is a lot of land for the animals.
This means, we had to go find them on horseback. The first day we started by going to find the water buffalo. Many of the water buffalo had young, which made them much more aggressive. For this reason we kept our distance. It was neat to see the markings of a herd in the landscape including the mud pits that the water buffalo dig to fill with water when it rains which they then use to cake themselves in mud by rolling in the pit.
The first day I had a slow horse, probably because they were unsure about my comfort level with horses. We walked, trotted and cantered a bit. At the end of the day we had to herd the other horses into their corral for the night so that they don't get thieved. There is an entire herd of horses on the estancia because each gaucho, of which there are about 15, requires 3-4 horses per week to do the work they do. That means at least 60 horses need to be available.
The tack and saddle setup is different than anything I have ever seen as well. First you put a knitted wool mat, then a leather sheet, then a hard saddle shell with the stirrups, then a sheep wool mat, and last one more leather sheet. You then tie the girth around the entire layering of mats and sheets that make up the saddle.
You also ride with one hand on the reigns, western style, so that your other hand is free to use a whip or lassoo.
On Sunday, Jorge, the person that took me riding, brought me a much faster horse. The horses get trained around the age of five and mine was only eight years old. It was rearing to go, ready work the entire time we were out. When I let him go I flew!!! I loved it. Jorge and I raced at the end of the day back to the house, and my horse was faster.
Jorge also brought his five-year-old son riding. Martin loves to ride and was so adorable! He had his own horse and was wearing his own mini-gaucho outfit. I'm sure he wants to be just like his dad. I tried to talk to him but he was very shy. He did like to make his horse go fast too, but he had a much calmer horse obviously.
At the end of our ride on Sunday, we had to herd the horses again. The previous day Jorge had done the work and just asked me to wait where I was with my horse. On Sunday he asked Martin and I to go herd some of the horses. Honestly I didn't really have to do much other than sit on my horse as it galloped around getting the herd to go where they needed to go. Apparently my horse is a very smart creature and loves its work. I didn't mind being along for the ride and thinking that I was doing more than I really was doing.
One last thing, my entire body is sore from the minimal work I have done thus far. I can't help but laugh at how little physical work most of us normally do in our everyday lives.
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