Farm life in Los Llanos, Colombia

Horse riding across the prairie

Los Llanos is a region of endless grasslands nestled between the Andes in the north-east and the Amazon basin in the south-east. This desolate landscape is the domain of the Llaneros. These cowboys live on traditional farms known as hatos. Over the next few days, I’ll be staying at Hato Mate de Palma and getting to know Colombian farm life in Los Llanos.

We get up at the crack of dawn and, after a hearty breakfast of eggs and meat, we mount our horses. The sturdy four-legged animal is the loyal companion of the Llanero, who is renowned as a tough and resilient cowboy. We set off to round up a herd of cattle. Whilst herding the cattle, traditional local songs are sung to put the animals at ease. We ride through shallow streams and small wooded patches of land in the otherwise open prairie. The wooded areas are home to many species of bird, such as the native, bright red Corocora, and other animals such as anteaters. Meanwhile, the banks of the streams are home to large families of capybaras, large hamster-like mammals found only in South America.

Tough cowboys with a soft side

​After we’ve rounded up the cattle into a fenced-off area, I’m given a demonstration of how to tame a wild horse. Taming these wild horses usually takes about five days. The cowboys are used to riding wild horses, explains one of the rugged men travelling with us. When they go to another hato for work, they’re generally assigned the wildest horses. For the landowners, this is a way of having their wildest horses tamed, whilst at the same time allowing them to see straight away what they’re dealing with. The Llanero shrugs his shoulders nonchalantly: “We don’t mind; we’ll ride any horse we’re offered.” It’s one of the many stories the men tell me.

At first, their rugged appearance masks their friendliness and boundless love for the surroundings and nature in which they live. Fortunately, this pretence is quickly dispelled when I hand them a bottle of aguardiente. One of the men picks up the tiple, a four-stringed musical instrument, and begins to sing at the top of his voice. His companions soon join in, and for the rest of the evening they enthusiastically perform an extensive repertoire of traditional regional songs.