NHT Magazine Summer 2018

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Doma Vaquera: The Art Of The Stockman By Peter Maddison-Greenwell "Out in the country, many centuries ago, among the Ginetes, la doma vaquera was born, and subjected to the exigencies proper to an art in which life and death are but two sides of the same coin.” - Quoted from the book “This is the Spanish Horse" by Juan Llamas The art of the mounted stockman, or cowboy, is the ability to work cattle quietly, safely and efficiently, and to do that well he needs a highly trained equine partner. In Spain, la doma vaquera encompasses the finely honed and precise skills of the stockman and his horse – not least of which is horsemanship – whether they are performed on the ranches or in the competitive arena. The work of the vaquera rider is fascinating. True vaquera riders are like the country, gritty and tough, and they must be strong, resourceful and resilient. They are by nature hard-working, hardplaying men, full of passion and love for their horses and their bulls; and a more sporting, honourable and generous breed of mankind you will never meet. The definition of ‘doma’ is ‘dressage’ (from the French verb ‘dresser’: to dress or train a horse), thus la doma vaquera could be said to be the dressage of the stockman. ‘Vaquero’¹ means ‘cowboy’ but I prefer to think of these industrious and honourable men of Spain – and the Americas – as stockmen because, unfortunately, in England in particular, the word ‘cowboy’ has become a derogatory term for a shoddy workman. The Spanish masculine noun ‘vaquero’ means cowboy or stockman, and as an adjective it means ‘in the style of’ or ‘belonging to’ a cowboy or stockman. In Spanish, however, the gender of the ending of an adjective agrees with the gender of the ending of the noun; thus as ‘doma’ is a feminine noun, in la doma vaquera, the adjective is ‘vaquera’ and not ‘vaquero’. On unfenced land, man and horse have to display the epitome of control in the movements which are part of their everyday work; this control is essential when working the bulls. The vaquera rider is neither always attractive nor necessarily elegant, and not every rider or horse will have what it takes to make a Spanish champion. But that which many competition-dressage riders struggle to do with both hands on the reins in the quiet serenity of a level, well-marked-out arena, the stockmen will perform as a matter of course on hard, rough ground and in relentless heat. The execution and timing of their passes, turns on the haunches and the forehand, changes of leg, half pirouettes, reining back and exact and immediate halts, would be the envy of many a dressage competitor. Many vaquera riders still train their horses in the same way their fathers and grandfathers did and, although some of their methods may appear somewhat crude to many, it must be remembered that there are good and bad trainers and riders in every equestrian field. Life in the country can still be harsh, and the working horses are not ridden purely for pleasure; they have a job, a potentially dangerous job, to do and the safety and wellbeing of both horse and rider is at stake. If a horse is brought to a halt a little more abruptly or turned a little more forcefully than would normally be acceptable because he is in danger of being caught by the horns of a bad-tempered bull, then it is far more forgivable than doing the same when a horse simply has to carry out the less lifethreatening activities of halting at X or turning down the school at A. 29 Above: Peter Maddison-Greenwell Performing Garrocha in Carmona, Spain Photo Credit - above - photo from the archives and top right by kind permission of Rafael Lemos Santos (Photographer) and John Scott-Leith To find out more about Doma Vaquera you can contact Peter Maddison-Greenwell who has recently taken on the new role of Traditional Consultant at GB PRE. www.elcaballodeespana.co.uk peter@elcaballodeespana.co.uk To contact Peter on all GB PRE business please use: traditional@gbpre.co.uk
Only £30 Per Horse Cross Country Course Open For Schooling Open From Dawn Till Dusk - No Time Limit £30 per horse. £25 for Pony Club Members £15 per horse Our BE Standard course is always being updated and have excellent banks and ditches for training as well as two water jumps and natural hedges. As a number of our fences are of mobile construction we are able to vary the course throughout the year. We offer five colour coded height ranges from 60 cm (30 jumps) to 110 cm (40 jumps). A separate enclosed mini course is also available with inviting fences ranging from 12 inches to 60 cm for tiny tots/ nervous riders/green horses. www.burnell-horse-transport.co.uk Self Drive Horsebox Hire - 3.5 tonne Horseboxes for Hire - Fully Insured - Breakdown Cover Provided - Competitive Rates - Based 5 miles from Banbury Please call Sally on 01295 660131 or 07967 806751 for more details Middleton Livery Services HEAVY/MIDDLEWEIGHT TURNOUT OR STABLE, THERMATEX OR HEAVY FLEECE RUGS Quantity 1 £9.00 each Quantity 2 – 9 £8.50 each Quantity 10+ £8.00 each LIGHTWEIGHT TURNOUT (NO WADDING), SUMMER SHEETS & LIGHTWEIGHT FLEECES Quantity 1 £5.50 each Quantity 2 – 9 £5.00 each Quantity 10+ £4.50 each PROOFING Rug will require washing first RUG WASHING £5.00 each DETACHABLE NECK COVER £3.00 each SET OF TRAVEL BOOTS £10.00 NUMNAH £2.50 BRUSHING BOOTS PER PAIR £2.50 DOG BEDS POA WE ALSO OFFER A FULL REPAIR SERVICE BEING ABLE TO REPLACE FITTINGS AND PATCHING USING THE CORRECT MATERIALS. WE CAN QUOTE PRIOR TO REPAIR LARGER QUANTITIES? – COLLECTIONS AVAILABLE! Tel: 01604 781631 Mob: 07786 030892 OUR PRICES OVERALL ARE THE CHEAPEST IN THE COUNTY Turners House Turners Farm Close Hannington Northampton, NN6 9SD 30
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NHT Magazine Summer 2018

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