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The idea of the Gaucho – the tough as nails Argentine cowboy out riding the plains with his saddle, his knife, his horses, and little else – is one of the foundational archetypes of the Argentine character. Self reliant, taciturn, loyal, and incorruptible, the image of the classic gaucho still infuses the modern Argentine imagination. Like the cowboys of the American west, the gauchos inform our sense of ourselves and recall for us a purer time, over the horizon, in the past we just left behind.<\/p>\n
Life for the gauchos of the 21st century is a little more complicated. Global commodity trading and increasing soybean production have contributed to a shrinking industry. Many of the old estancias, or grand estates, have been broken up as land increases in value, and many families move away from the countryside for the relative comforts of the city. The populist government that has been in power for the last few years and domestic policies that keep Argentine beef prices artificially low haven\u2019t helped much either. From a 55 million head herd in 2003, the overall Argentine herd slumped to 48 million in 2011 as farmers started to cull young animals due to low prices, with numbers recovering to 51.6 million at the end of 2014. This month the United States will lift a 14 year ban on the import of Argentine beef, and it remains to be seen what kind of boost it will give the industry. But what\u2019s for certain is that as there are fewer and fewer cattle to run, the lone horseman finds himself increasingly out of demand.<\/p>\n
Photographs and text: Victor J. Blue\/Bloomberg<\/em>[\/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image=”8800″ alignment=”center” border_color=”grey” img_link_large=”yes” img_link_lightbox=”” show_caption=”yes” img_link_target=”_self” el_class=”lightbox”][vc_single_image image=”8750″ alignment=”center” border_color=”grey” img_link_large=”yes” img_link_lightbox=”” show_caption=”yes” img_link_target=”_self” el_class=”lightbox”][vc_single_image image=”8752″ alignment=”center” border_color=”grey” img_link_large=”yes” img_link_lightbox=”” show_caption=”yes” img_link_target=”_self” el_class=”lightbox”][vc_single_image image=”8754″ alignment=”center” border_color=”grey” img_link_large=”yes” img_link_lightbox=”” show_caption=”yes” img_link_target=”_self” el_class=”lightbox”][vc_single_image image=”8756″ alignment=”center” border_color=”grey” img_link_large=”yes” img_link_lightbox=”” show_caption=”yes” img_link_target=”_self” el_class=”lightbox”][vc_single_image image=”8758″ alignment=”center” border_color=”grey” img_link_large=”yes” img_link_lightbox=”” show_caption=”yes” img_link_target=”_self” el_class=”lightbox”][vc_single_image image=”8760″ alignment=”center” border_color=”grey” img_link_large=”yes” img_link_lightbox=”” show_caption=”yes” img_link_target=”_self” el_class=”lightbox”][vc_single_image image=”8762″ alignment=”center” border_color=”grey” img_link_large=”yes” img_link_lightbox=”” show_caption=”yes” img_link_target=”_self” el_class=”lightbox”][vc_single_image image=”8764″ alignment=”center” border_color=”grey” img_link_large=”yes” img_link_lightbox=”” show_caption=”yes” img_link_target=”_self” el_class=”lightbox”][vc_single_image image=”8766″ alignment=”center” border_color=”grey” img_link_large=”yes” img_link_lightbox=”” show_caption=”yes” img_link_target=”_self” el_class=”lightbox”][vc_single_image image=”8768″ alignment=”center” border_color=”grey” img_link_large=”yes” img_link_lightbox=”” show_caption=”yes” img_link_target=”_self” el_class=”lightbox”][vc_single_image image=”8770″ alignment=”center” border_color=”grey” img_link_large=”yes” img_link_lightbox=”” show_caption=”yes” img_link_target=”_self” el_class=”lightbox”][vc_single_image image=”8772″ alignment=”center” border_color=”grey” img_link_large=”yes” img_link_lightbox=”” show_caption=”yes” img_link_target=”_self” el_class=”lightbox”][vc_single_image image=”8774″ alignment=”center” border_color=”grey” img_link_large=”yes” img_link_lightbox=”” show_caption=”yes” img_link_target=”_self” el_class=”lightbox”][vc_column_text]In San Antonio de Areco, close to the heart of gaucho country in the Argentine Pampas, gauchos still manage to work the fields and live the life, preserving the culture and traditions of the paisano<\/em>. Some have had to migrate overseas to make money, training polo ponies in England or racehorses in Italy. Some work odd jobs when they aren\u2019t working on horseback \u2013 one guy works as a baker when he isn\u2019t breaking horses. Some push the notion of the gaucho into the future, becoming experts at bovine biotechnology and augmenting the traditional cattle driving with artificial insemination, embryo collection and vaccinations. They cobble together, on their terms, a life of horsemanship and cattle running. They do what they can to keep the dream alive and earn their living, or at least some part of it, under the broad open sky.[\/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image=”8776″ alignment=”center” border_color=”grey” img_link_large=”yes” img_link_lightbox=”” show_caption=”yes” img_link_target=”_self” el_class=”lightbox”][vc_single_image image=”8778″ alignment=”center” border_color=”grey” img_link_large=”yes” img_link_lightbox=”” show_caption=”yes” img_link_target=”_self” el_class=”lightbox”][vc_single_image image=”8780″ alignment=”center” border_color=”grey” img_link_large=”yes” img_link_lightbox=”” show_caption=”yes” img_link_target=”_self” el_class=”lightbox”][vc_single_image image=”8782″ alignment=”center” border_color=”grey” img_link_large=”yes” img_link_lightbox=”” show_caption=”yes” img_link_target=”_self” el_class=”lightbox”][vc_single_image image=”8784″ alignment=”center” border_color=”grey” img_link_large=”yes” img_link_lightbox=”” show_caption=”yes” img_link_target=”_self” el_class=”lightbox”][vc_single_image image=”8786″ alignment=”center” border_color=”grey” img_link_large=”yes” img_link_lightbox=”” show_caption=”yes” img_link_target=”_self” el_class=”lightbox”][vc_single_image image=”8788″ alignment=”center” border_color=”grey” img_link_large=”yes” img_link_lightbox=”” show_caption=”yes” img_link_target=”_self” el_class=”lightbox”][vc_single_image image=”8790″ alignment=”center” border_color=”grey” img_link_large=”yes” img_link_lightbox=”” show_caption=”yes” img_link_target=”_self” el_class=”lightbox”][vc_single_image image=”8792″ alignment=”center” border_color=”grey” img_link_large=”yes” img_link_lightbox=”” show_caption=”yes” img_link_target=”_self” el_class=”lightbox”][vc_single_image image=”8794″ alignment=”center” border_color=”grey” img_link_large=”yes” img_link_lightbox=”” show_caption=”yes” img_link_target=”_self” el_class=”lightbox”][vc_single_image image=”8796″ alignment=”center” border_color=”grey” img_link_large=”yes” img_link_lightbox=”” show_caption=”yes” img_link_target=”_self” el_class=”lightbox”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Argentine cowboy – self reliant, taciturn, loyal, and incorruptible.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1586,"featured_media":8798,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[1322,1324,1320,1326,1318,1312,1332,1314,1316,1328,1330,1206,1310],"class_list":["post-8802","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-photos","tag-animal","tag-animals","tag-argentina","tag-argentine","tag-cowboys","tag-domadores","tag-gaucho","tag-horse","tag-horses","tag-ranch","tag-ranchers","tag-south-america","tag-victor-j-blue","product-photos"],"yoast_head":"\n