La Criolla

After we had lunch with Sonia and her family yesterday, they asked us if we'd like to check out the traditional Gaucho rodeo, La Criolla, in town. We quickly said yes and hopped in our truck to follow them to the large park where a motorcyle race and the rodeo were taking place. We drove past the race track and parked in the middle of a field before making our way to the arena.

Wild horse are brought in by gauchos, and are then blindfolded so they calm down and strapped to a pole while they tighten a saddle onto them. A rider then mounts the horse, and when he's ready, everyone unties the ropes, takes off the blindfold, and gets the heck out of the way. The horses typically buck like crazy and start running full speed. Two gauchos on horseback catch up to the wild horse, pull the rider of the horse for safety, and wrangle the wild horse back to the pen. It's quick, intense, and fascinating.

This guy seemed to be one of the head gauchos of the event, coordinating the other gauchos in teams to prepare a horse, and going into help when a horse got too agitated by the saddling. At one point I watched as he approached the horse and pet its muzzle while talking to it - like an actual Uruguayan horse whisperer.


A lot of people seemed to know Sonia or Quique and his family. I guess that's what happens when you stay in the same town for a long time. And apparently there's no minimum age requirement for riding a horse. We actually spotted a girl (if I understood Sonia correctly) was seven years old and had been riding now for three years. Everyone seemed to know her, and she rode her horse around the event like a professional - riding boots, whip, and all.

If a gaucho didn't know Sonia or Quique's family, they seemed to know this guy. Multiple riders would walk over and greet him, or gauchos would offer a greeting as they rode past. I'm guessing he's been in this area a very long time.

It was raining when we first got there, but we weren't disappointed. Sonia put the hood up on her sweater, Scott had his raincoat, Quique's dad wore his gaucho hat, and the rest of us shared a big scrap of plastic sheeting that Quique found in his truck. I didn't care too much, because it was too much fun taking pictures and watching the horses, gauchos, and crowd at the event, but Quique's mom seemed pretty concerned when I was out in the rain. Luckily, the rain tapered off and we enjoyed most of the criolla under overcast skies.

Oh, and apparently this is a hint from Scott. It's always interesting to see someone else's perspective through the lense of their camera:

:)