On the road with Martin Black…… I am happy to say that we are now off the road for a few months, it is so wonderful to sleep in the same bed for more than 3-5 nights in a row. I often awake wondering what bed I am in, for that matter, what country am I in? After a recent concussion while starting colts, I hope I will still be able to recall that information when the need arises.
So what have we been up to for the last couple months? Well we headed to Brazil after another month at the Alvord helping out with the fall work of weaning calves and processing cows. Martin is back in full swing, promptly roping a bull that was not inclined to leave his cows for the winter and tying him down by himself. It wasn’t the same bull that broke his leg, but I’m sure there was some satisfaction in it.
So then on to Brazil, we had the privilege of taking 4 of our most adventurous students with us and we spent a week at Cabana Libra, a purebred Brahman operation near Campo Grande (Central Brazil in Mato Grosso do Sul state). Andrés Sobalvarro, a good friend of ours that runs Cabana Libra and who spent a month with us last year at the Alvord was our host. We spent our days moving cattle, sorting, roping and doctoring calves Great Basin style, only in grass up to your horses’ belly. It was very enjoyable to see the buckaroo style at work in Brazil, but also enjoy the culture of the area.
We then set off on a road trip to South Brazil, stopping along the way at the Iguacu or Iguassu Falls, located on the Brazil, Argentine and Paraguay border, there are 275 falls formed by a large canyon at the mouth of the Iguassu River — Unbelievable! You don’t see water like that in the Great Basin.
Then on to Andres’ good friend, Francisco Martins Bastos, (Uruguaiana – city, Rio Grande Sul- state, Cabanha do Barulho- ranch). His family has been breeding and raising Criolo horses in Southern Brazil for over 100 years and he is as passionate about the Gaucho tradition as Martin is about the Vaquero tradition. Here we were fortunate enough to all ride out with the Gauchos and see their tradition at work. Francisco’s horses show at a very high level in both Brazil and Argentina and Martin was given the privilege of riding a mare that placed second in the golden bit show, the biggest show for the criolo breed. We spent 4 days there, they would show us the 
Gaucho method and Martin would share with them his methods. They roped cattle, started colts, and demonstrated the “Paleteadas” which is a sport that starts out a little like steer wrestling, but instead of dropping down on the animal, they “squash” it between the two horses, sometimes pinning it in mid air. It was used when they had big ranches and a lot of cattle, and they needed to sort one out of the herd and send it off in one direction, for example when they where selecting the fat cattle from the herd to be sent to slaughter.
I think it this was a very rich experience for everyone.
We then caught the midnight bus to Buenos Aires where we would spend a day site seeing and shopping before catching another bus…. (I know what you are thinking! I thought the same thing, but the buses there are quite roomy and comfortable and were 100 times better than the plane ride over there!)
To San Antonio de Areco which is quaint little town about 2 hrs from Buenos Aires where a lot of the top rawhide braiders and silver smiths can be found. We were lucky enough to have the connections that we could meet up with Armando Deferrari whom you might have seen in “Western Horseman” or “Range Magazine”, featured as one of the top braiders in the world. He is an outstanding individual and a generous host as he spent three days showing us around. This area is also rich in Gaucho tradition and gear which we very much enjoyed.
We then traveled back to Buenos Aires, spent an afternoon at a large expo of Artisans which was some of the most wonderful hand-made things you could imagine. From jewelry, braiding, clothes, dishes, musical instruments, furniture, just about anything you could think of. The last day we went
to one of the Semi-Finals Polo matches where we were able to witness the top Polo players in the World! The two Argentine teams playing, Ellerstina, a 40 goal team and Pilara, a 37 goal team, the perfect way to end your trip to South America and we are planning on another trip next fall.
