The Rural
This weekend is the “Expo Rural de Neuquen.” Neuquen is the province that we are in and the Rural is their state fair. This weekend is partly why I wanted to be in Argentina during the last 2 weeks of January, to witness this annual gathering of gauchos, landowners, craftsman and display of livestock, horsemanship, local crafts, and gaucho styles.
The Rural is held at a fairgrounds and people come from all corners of Neuquen to take part in the camaraderie. There was a barn of cattle, each in its own wooden stall. The horse barn was similar, it was so neat to see the different types of horses, each unique. There are 3 horse types that are seen in this region of Argentina – the Criollo, the Quarter horse and the Thoroughbred. There was also a barn of rabbits, sheep and chickens, some llamas, alpacas and vicunas.
There were venders of all types, lots of farm equipment, even a wooden squeeze chute and load out ramp! There were weaving and panchos and tack and clothing and jewelry and many goods from artisans – all great fun to barter with!
I was most fascinated with the gaucho’s clothing styles. Their pants are called bombachas – pants with pleats at the top, roomy in the thighs and narrower at the feet with a button closure, tucking into their boots. They wear either boots or alpargatas (slipper type shoes that they can ride in). The belts are spectacular! Under the leather belt is the faja and then the belt (rasta) goes over, with beautiful silver buckles. And then EVERY gaucho, no matter the age, has a belt tucked in the back of his belt. This fascinated me so much, I took so many pictures of butts, to show the different knives, some antiques with fancy silver engravings. They all wear hats – either sombreros with short, flat brims, or boinas in a variety of colors. I think watching the people and all of the fashions was one of the highlights of the Rural!
We watched the cattle show – Herefords, Black and Red Angus – heifers and bulls. It was interesting to see, like most cattle shows in the states, yet there were some differences. The cattle were not very inclined to lead and very few had show sticks. It was simple and nothing flashy.
There were some horses classes, interesting but confusing to watch because they didn’t explain what the classes were or the pattern that they were supposed to perform. It was very random with each horse/rider combo doing something different, but it was intriguing to see the gaucho’s horsemanship styles and the different types of horses.
Maria Luisa, Marcia, Mom and me went back on Sunday because there was supposed to be the jumping show. Well, there was no show jumping, but what was in its place was amazing! The only way I know how to name it is their version of team roping! It was fabulously wild!
For this also, they didn’t explain any rules other than no more than 3 loops are allowed. First, they let about a dozen big fat Hereford steers into the arena. Then, then the “teams” entered and all stood at one end of the arena. When their turn was up, each team went to the middle of the arena, with their huge loops in hand, to where the steers were patiently gathered. One of the men would head a steer and then run the opposite direction to pick up his slack. Their saddles do not have horns, instead the ropes are attached to the lower right sides of the saddles (see picture, I don’t know how else to describe it). So there is this big fat steer attached all the way out at the end of the rope, flailing like a marlin that has just been hooked! As soon as the steer is caught, the other gaucho jumped off his horse, untied his rope from his horse and would then run out to the steer and try to heel it. This is where I got confused as to what they were trying to achieve – but I don’t think it mattered if they got the front legs or hind heels. Whichever they caught, the crowd cheered the loudest when they roped two legs, thus knocking the steer over. If they missed their loop, they would drop their rope, run up to the steer, and tackle it, trying to take the rope off from around the neck. It was nuts! These were some tough guys! I was in awe the whole time. One rope even snapped, flailing back across the arena and cracked like a bullwhip.
I took a ton of pictures; I think they will describe the extravaganza much better than I can put words to. The whole weekend was a blast!
the cattle show...
check out the judge!
part of horse show
everyone had a knive tucked in his belt
Aunt Frannie's shock at the sizzling meat that kept coming for lunch
huge loops
gauchos waiting
it was wild!
who needs a horn when you can be permanetely attached?
ok, 1- nice breast collar. 2-it's a headstall with halter-thing over. 3-check out all the pads/blankets under his saddle. 4-notice the belt. 5-and then the knife.
this one was doing the pole bending
wood chute...I don't think they make these in a hydrolic model!
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