© Richard Dunwoody

The Gaucho Derby

By Adele Severs / The Adventurists

“He has taken his first lessons in riding before he is well able to walk,” said David Christison in the 1882 Journal of the Anthropological Institute. Christison was referring to the South American Gaucho, a renowned free-roaming horseman revered in legends, folklore and literature.

Reputed as being brave and at times unruly, the Gaucho traversed the pampas (grasslands) of Argentina, Uruguay, Chile and Brazil on horseback herding half-wild cattle that had escaped British, Dutch, French, and Portuguese traders in the mid-18th century.

The legend of the Gaucho has lived on and most recently has been reflected in an unusual equine challenge through the wilds of Patagonia, a region of pristine wilderness encompassing the vast southernmost tip of South America, shared by Argentina and Chile. The Gaucho Derby involves navigating some of the wildest terrain on Earth, and it’s not for the faint hearted....

Read the full article in the May issue of Equestrian Life magazine here.

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