Doma Vaquera

Doma Vaquera : the Art of the Stockman

Adapted from “Living and Working with the Horse of Spain”
By Peter Maddison-Greenwell and Jane Lake
Reproduced courtesy of the publisher by J.A.Allen

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. 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, hard playing 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 hardworking 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.

Above is Faldero ridden by PMG. Owned by Christine Hall. Riding pillion for first time is Tess Bettens