Hey all!
I thought I'd do a little post about cowboy culture in the Pantanal, since we're likely going to be meeting some of these really awesome people on our trip to the Pantanal. Just as a quick vocab reminder, fazendas means farms in Portuguese, and the lifestyles of the cowboys on these ranches has not changed much in the past 200 years. Their existence is very much centered around the wet environment that they live in and is tailored to the natural resources available in their vicinity. In particular, cattle ranching is a huge industry here, and therefore cowboys, also known as peões, are central figures here. For this reason, the small horses that they ride are critical for them to get around the wetlands and have been the primary mode of transportation.
For all the horse-lovers in our group (Morgan & Catie, I'm looking at you!), Pantaneiros have specific tacks (equipment) that are tailored to longer days on horseback. These cowboys ride with a saddle pad and saddle along with five layers of wool, sheepskin, and leather called "baldrana," all of which are meant to maximize comfort while riding.Apparently, the flashier the tack a cowboy devises for the horse, the more that the cowboy is trying to convey that he is available/ single. Such an interesting piece of fazendeiro culture.
These cowboys typically live in outstations, and their food is typically grown in the isolation of their own fazendas. Cowboys are really central to conservation in the Pantanal as well, and in this honor, there is also an annual Lasso Festival held in the Mato Gross do Sul state in Brazil!
A website with a personal account of meeting & staying with Pantaneiro cowboys: http://www.equitrekking.com/articles/entry/cowboys_of_brazils_pantanal/
Some other sources:
http://www.thelongrun.com/news/tag/pantanal-cowboys- Nicole
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