1994 223p.
by Jose Antonio Giacopini Zarraga
& Rafeal Hoogesteijn
Armitano Editores Carracas
ISBN: 980-216-121-7
Rest assured that this book is one of the best photograph books available about Llanero cowboys, and cattle ranching on the northern plain of the Orinoco River basin in Venezuela. Well worth the investment for your personal library of the region. Most of the photographs were taken in the Estado de Apure which is very wet during the rainy season and is typical of the region north of the Rio Meta extending from Casanare and Arauca in Colombia, into the Estado de Apure in Venezuela. I am a north American who lived on a cattle ranch in the Eastern Colombian Llanos from 1969 until 1982. My interest lies south of the Rio Meta, below Orocue, in the Departments of Meta and Vichada around Villavicencio and Puerto Lopez, in the region Dieter Brunnschwieler referred to in, Llanos Frontier of Colombia 1971, as the badlands of the Serrania, an area somewhat higher in elevation and dryer, but virtually the same grasslands of the Orinoco, as those of the Estado de Apure. Unfortunately there are not many picture books available about the Colombian Llaneros with the exception of Llanos, published by the Corporacion Llanos de Colombia, photography by Diego Samper Martinez, and Llanos de Colombia, published by Litografia Arco. So I included the Venezuelan Llanos in my search and in addition to the book in question (which is excellent) I recommend El Llano by Christian Belpaire, Ediciones Polar, and Venezuela Los Llanos by Gerard Sioen, which both have excellent photographs of cowboys and cattle ranching in the region of the plains of the Orinoco.
Jose Antonio Giacopini Zarraga was born in 1915, so he was 79 at the time of this publication, and was in a position to have witnessed a great deal of the history and development of the Venezuelan Llanos. He held many positions in the public and private sector, was the Governor of the Federal Territory of the Amazonas from 1948 to 1949 and gave assistance and advice to the National Federation of Cattlemen for many years. As a member of the Sociedad de Ciencias Naturales he traveled the vast interior of Venezuela and gathered information on the nature, flora and fauna of the Llanos, and its population, customs and activities from as early as the 1930’s when Venezuela had less than 3 million inhabitants. During that time he encountered the older generation of Llaneros that had been born to the harsh life of the tropical plains of the Orinoco. Giacopini offers the reader of new generations the image of a long ago Llano and its intrepid vaqueros that will never be again.
Rafael Hoogesteijn was born in Caracas, Venezuela in 1953. Like Jose Antonio Giacopini Zarraga he too was a member of the Sociedad de Ciencias Naturales, and as such participated in many zoological expeditions throughout the country. From the age of 14 he visited the Llanos frequently. His early experiences on the plains of the Orinoco were associated with Hato Flores Moradas, in the Estado de Guarico, where he first became familiar with the Sabana inundable and photography. Hoogesteijn graduated from the University Central of Maracay in 1978 with a degree in veterinary medicine. Beginning in 1986 he worked as veterinarian and manager of the three cattle herds belonging to Productora Hernandez S.A.; Merecure, Juan Matero, and Las Mangas, which are situated on the sabanas inundables of the Estado of Apure, and has assisted other cattle ranches in a similar capacity in other diverse locations of Venezuela. He has written and lectured about tropical cattle ranching on the sabanas inundables del Estado de Apure, Venezuela on numerous occasions throughout the world. He began his photojournalism of the llanos as a boy, and refined his imagery and appreciation of the beauty of the mounted herder upon the vast plain of the Orinoco with the passage of time, notably during his years at Merecure, Juan Matero, and Las Mangas.
[The caption for this photograph reads: The LLanos saddle drying in the sun after a morning of work. Its origen comes from the lightweight north american saddle tree. It is made of wood reinforced with iron covered with sewn rawhide.]
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The saddles shown in this book are somewhat perplexing to the experienced eye and require some explanation about their origin. However, even in light of their explanation it is not clear to me why these herdsmen of the northern plain of the Orinoco River basin choose to use them rather than evolve as their counterpart the Mexican Charo did some four hundred years ago. Use of a saddle without a horn and the subsequent necessity of tying to the horse’s tail to rope cattle is a very old Spanish colonial custom probably used early throughout the land of the Vaquero and was not native to the Iberian peninsula. But this is speculation on my part and requires further elucidation. The saddles pictured in this book are replicas of the old McCellan cavalry saddle and in addition to their use in the sabanas inundables of Venezuela may also be used in parts of Arauca and Casanare in Colombia but I can not say for certain because as I’ve said I have no personal experience north of the Rio Meta.
[The caption for this photograph reads: Here is a Llanero saddle with "Estribos de Pala," simple ring stirrups for "el pie descalzado," barefeet. "Los arciones o correas," the strirrup leathers that support the estribo are made of nylon because the original "arciones pudrieron con las lluvias," stirrup leathers rotted with the rain and humidity and were substituted the following "verano," wet season with synthetic nylon. Note the small saw tied to the rear saddle strings of the saddle that is used to saw off the tips of the horns of the more dangerous cattle.]
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The evloution of horesmanship, and the subsequent use of horses for open range stock raising on the plains of the Iberian Peninsula, that was brought by the conquistadores to the new world, is beyond this disscusion. Let it suffice to point out what Robert M. Denhardt wrote in The Horses of the Americas, 1947; about tying to the horses' tail, in the evolution of the new world saddlery. He wrote, “It was not long until the style of riding had to be somewhat modified. As horses thrived in the new land, growing numerous and wild, the people (of Mexico in the late 1600’s) found difficulty in mounting a half-broken animal with such short stirrups (commonmly used by the conquistadores). As there was continous riding day after day watching the herds, this cramped method proved rather uncomfortable. Therefore, the stirrups were lengthened. The old method of tying the lazo (rope) to the horse’s tail was awkward, too; therefore, it was not long until the pommel (the front of the rider’s seat) was capped to hold the rope. Thus the modern stock saddle had achieved its basic form by the end of the seventeenth century.”
[The caption of this photograph reads: En verano los culateros se tragan todo el polvo de los arreos, trabajando poco apreciado, por lo que el caporal va pendiente que se mantengan en sus puestos en numero suficiente. Hato Matapalos, Apure.]
[The caption for this photograph reads: En la cola del caballo, la soga se amarra con un nudo especial el cual lo sujeta fuertemente, pero tambien se puede soltar rapidament si la situacion lo amerita. Buenos caballos sogueros pueden quedar "chucutos," o sin pelos en el rabo por las frecuentes enlazadas. Si ello ocurre se le hace al caballo una especie de tenza para sujetar la soga desde el pecho del caballo hacia atras.] 
[The caption for this photograph reads: El enrollado y fijacion de la soga a la silla despues de utilizarla es un proceso que debe ser realizado cuidadosament para que el lazo no se enrede en la proxima enlazada, lo cual podria causar una violenta caida al caballo y su jinete.]
