The Vaquero's to Buckaroo's
The Vaquero is a horse mounted livestock herder of a Spanish tradition that goes way back into the medieval times of Spain when cattle were wild and spread over the land, they would hunt them from horseback using dogs, lances and pikes. Horses were used for hunting, fighting, showing and had to be very athletic, and fit. They had to be fast, pivot around, jump and run
sideways all in one thought. They had to be versatile in many maneuvers such as you see in today’s cutting, reining, jumping and dressage. There had to be a good working trusting relationship between horse and rider in order to get the job done and even to survive. I mentioned riders and horse were well trained for working with the lance ( In Spanish the lance is a called the garrocha.) they would also carrie the lance with them when in show and use it in there presentation. They showed many maneuvers dancing around with the garrocha. This style of riding turned into Doma Vaquero meaning Cowboy Dressage. The cattle were very wild and aggressive. The bulls with long and sharp horns would come at the horse and rider to mame and or kill. The bulls were very aggressive and bull fighting became a sport. This is where the garrocha came in handy for defense, and handling of the wild cattle and training of the fighting bulls, they learned how to herd theme around and trip them up to tier them out so they could change there direction, stop theme from charging at them and so they could be caught and or doctored. Latter the vaquero learned to catch live stock using a rope with a loop at the end of there garrocha they would ride hard and put that loop around there necks and catch them. The garrocha could reach out there (extension of the arm) and also help keep the bulls under control safely at a distance. Later they learned to rope by hand, Leaving the garrocha. They called there ropes Reata’s, and they made them of braided rawhide from 60 to 80 feet long. Moving into Mexico Vaquero traditions started to develop from the methodology brought to Mesoamerica from Spain and became the foundation of the North American cowboy. The vaquero’s kept developing there horsemanship riding and working skills. They learned to live on the land and ride very long distances. They lived in extreme conditions from below freezing and into the hundreds. We wear Flat Hats with wide brims to shadow our faces, Scarf’s to keep us warm and to catch a breeze. The vaqueros moved north in to the California areas and then in to Texas and spread out north in to Nevada and The Great Basin regions of Nevada, Oregon and Idaho, where the name vaquero has blended in to the word Buckaroo. “Vaqueros”, “Buckaroos” have been spreading out east and north and up into Canada
Today the Vaquero is Still part of the Doma Vaquera. They train for the lights touch for signaling there horse. Train horses to carry them self’s in collection such as Dressage. They teach there horses to be straight up in the bridle which takes years to develop wearing a bit like a frog mouth for introduction to two rein or a Spade bit. Developing a soft touch and or bridle horse takes patients and years to accomplish. If training techniques are skipped and or rushed, you can damage a horse’s mouth, legs, spirit and more. You Can lose your horses trust and partnership, and all the time you spent with them. A good Heart and Paitients is the key to a long lasting and trusting friend. More To Come.. "The Vaquero/Buckaroo Way's"
We Start the day before the sun rises often don’t get to bed till late hours after the sun die’s.. We work and ride in below zero conditions and into the season of blistering heat. Many of us work 7 days a week 365.2 days a year. We are caretakers of gods land and the life that lives on it. We Have our Good Days, and Bad, it gets Ruff, Tuff, and lets not forget the Painful times. We reap the rewards of that fresh morning air, beautiful sunsets, and landscapes to the family we raise and traditions we pass on, what could be a better reward? We don’t do it because we have to, we don’t do it for the money, we do it because we want to, we love it, and it’s the life.
