Chilean Traditional

Argentine Saddles NZ

HANDMADE TREKKING ARGENTINE SADDLES - NEW ZEALAND

Sit all day on your horse in a saddle that is as comfortable as your lounge couch

The Argentine and Chilean saddles are widely used in Argentina and other countries of the region (South America, Central America, some parts of North America).
They are used for working all day in the farms, and for long journeys
Advantages:

More stable, suitable for younger children
More comfortable, ideal for long days on top of the horse, long scenic walks, work (real or synthetic sheep skin on top)
Durability, authentic Argentine leather
Hand made in Argentina

There are two main types of saddle:

The chilena (Chilean type) which was more commonly known in Patagonia for riding in the mountains as it is supported with a saddle tree.

The from the pampas (Recado). These are a flat type of saddle constructed with two tubes (bastos) stuffed. Then the top is made with various throws of leather and sheepskin for added comfort. The gauchos used these saddles in the pampas as they’re comfortable for the rider, kind on the horse and are often doubled as a bed.

Gaucho Horses

To talk about of the Criollo horse is to talk about the Gaucho. The Gaucho is proud and adventurous, but at the same time simple and noble. Throughout history, the Gaucho has been the master of the pampas (grasslands), even though he possessed no lands.

Rain or shine, he spent most of his life traveling cross-country with his horse and dogs, who became inseparable and faithful companions. The Gaucho slept under the stars with his recado, a traditional Gaucho saddle made of layers of cloth and sheepskin. The recado was comfortable for long rides by day and used as a sleeping bag at night

Almost all daily activities (bathing, hunting, herding ...) were performed from the back of his horse, giving credibility to the saying, “a gaucho without a horse is like a man without legs.” Though modern life has led to the end of the nomadic culture, gauchos still exist at every corner of the Argentine countryside with the essence of their character almost untouched.

For four centuries, they ran wild, gradually becoming indispensable to the local Indigenous people, who raised semi-wild herds to use for hunting, herding, transport and games. Towards the end of this period they also became the favourite mount of the gauchos, and between the wild herds, the horses of the Indigenous peoples and the horses of the settlers, the Criollo wove itself into the very fabric of South America. Gaucho culture evolved around the Criollo, from the recado that doubles as both the gaucho’s saddle and his bed to the poncho that keeps him warm and dry.

“The gaucho saddle is a multi-layered design. The saddle, or recado as gauchos call it, evolved on the treeless Pampas, where wood was scarce. To build their saddles, gauchos used the materials at hand: leather (from both cattle and horses), wool and bunch grass (used for stuffing). On the Pampas, beds were just as scarce as wood. Gauchos roamed endlessly across the frontier, and their saddles could be disassembled and laid out across the ground when night fell.

“When riding these saddles, you realize how comfortable they are because of the sheepskin blanket”