Meet Argentina's first female gauchos

Brazen, nonconformist and resigned to a solitary, windswept existence, the gaucho is a folkloric South American figure who commands both awe and respect. Eulogised by 19th-century Argentine poets, the skilled horse rider and cattle herder was a symbol of freedom, champion of the rural working classes, an inadvertent political activist.

Although instantly recognisable in a uniform of woollen poncho, loose bombachas trousers and a boina hat slumped rebelliously to one side, the gaucho takes on many forms: entertainer, grafter, fighter or cowboy.

Whatever the guise, there’s one common factor: The gaucho is typically a man.

Yet, as I try for the umpteenth time to rouse my lackadaisical horse, Gitana, into action, the accomplished rider galloping to my aid beams at me with an unmistakably feminine smile. Wearing a floppy cerise boina like a queen does a crown, 18-year-old Laura Arratia has ambitions to follow in her father’s footsteps and become a gaucho.

“They are nice people, they have a good heart, they love horses,” she reasons, leaning forward to whisper a few encouraging words into Gitana’s ears, “and they are always ready to help.” Laura joins a swelling pool of female horse whisperers and stablehands, proudly working with their fathers and brothers, and refining what it means to be a gaucho today.

Driving gender balance worldwide is a key theme for this year’s International Women’s Day on Friday, and this group of Argentinian women are an apt example of how it should be done.

Many live and work in northern Patagonia, north of Bariloche in the Neuquén province, where exposed, semi-arid grasslands cling to rocky valleys created by ancient lava flows, and low rainfall means very little grows. A land once considered too tough for men was regarded as almost impossible for a woman.

Dispelling that myth is Laura’s boss Jane Wood Williams, an accidental cattle ranch owner who arrived from London 40 years ago and has never quite made it back. Leaving behind a career as a civil engineer, she found herself branding cattle and herding sheep; and decades of running a 15,000-acre property almost single-handedly have left her with a resolve tougher than the sun-beaten leather chaps hanging from her porch.

Along with determination and a touch of self-confessed blind ignorance, a dry sense of humour has helped her muddle through.

“Look at that,” she sighs, when I arrive at Estancia Huechahue, an irrigated oasis of oak, sequoia and native maiten trees at the foothills of the Andes, a 40-mile drive east of San Martin. She’s pointing to churned soil on her pristine lawn; the work of wild boar that have proliferated in the area.

“The problem is they have no natural predators,” she continues in a crisp British accent, as her two energetic Jack Russells nip at my ankles. Pausing, she mischievously grins: “Except me.”

Jane first came out here in 1980 with her husband, Walter, whose family have owned and operated the estancia since the Thirties. She learned to ride a horse, confessing she “fell off at least once a week”, and her husband embraced fly-fishing in a region reputed to be a world-class destination for the sport. But when he died in 1990 their plans for a tourist enterprise became her responsibility.

Now guests come to ride her 35 Criollo horses and to experience life on a working ranch. Operating off-grid, she harnesses electricity from a turbine, and has become almost self-sufficient, producing her own meat, eggs and vegetables.

“You just get on with it,” she shrugs. “Walter always said there was a fine line between bravery and stupidity.” When we herd cattle the following morning, however, Jane demonstrates she knows exactly what she’s doing.

Tasked with rounding up 200 animals and shifting them to another field, an all-cowgirl crew has gathered. Laura is joined by her equally horse-mad mother, Mariana Roa, and aunt, Erica Chandie, who’ve temporarily abandoned their roles in the kitchen.

“Vamos vacas!” shrieks Mariana, in her element. The women laugh, squeal and tease each other amid swirls of dust, taking selfies as they ride. Cloaked in a poncho and shades, Jane calmly leads the charge, while I lag behind; ignoring my every command, Gitana has already figured out who’s boss.

It’s all good fun and the women have nothing to prove, but Jane admits the role of the gaucho is changing, with several traditionally macho habits fading into anachronisms. The lasso, for example, has been deemed an ineffective tool for corralling livestock. “Although ask one to demonstrate, and they’ll all come running,” she laughs.

Most importantly, education has elevated the profession by raising literacy rates; while the internet and social media means no one is ever totally alone.

Introduced by Europeans, horses were soon adopted by the indigenous Mapuche, and today children on the San Ignacio reservation, which neighbours Huechahue, use four-legged transport between home and school. In a place where distances are vast, it makes sense. On an early morning trail ride, steep gullies and craggy ascents are light work for Naranja, my new, wonderfully compliant mare.

I even manage a brisk canter, thundering alongside sparkling rivers up into pumice-streaked mountain valleys, where condors soar.

“We have a saying that people living here are NEC,” says Josefina Cayol, a slender, warm-hearted horsewoman and Huechahue guide, who grew up on a nearby estancia. “Nacido y crecido – born and bred.”

Liberated by wide-open steppes and big skies, Patagonians are a product of their environment. Gauchos or gauchas, there’s no distinction; they are all the salt of their dusty earth.

International Women’s Day is on Friday March 8. For more information, see internationalwomensday.com

Essentials

Sarah Marshall travelled as a guest of Swoop Patagonia (0117 369 0196; swoop-patagonia.com), which can arrange a six-night package including a four-night all-inclusive stay at Estancia Huechahue, with open bar and all activities, plus two nights in Buenos Aires, international and domestic flights from ￡3,600pp.

Norwegian (norwegian.com) operates daily flights from London to Buenos Aires from ￡233 one way including taxes and daily flights between Buenos Aires and Bariloche from ￡41.50 one way including taxes.