Posted on January 24, 2006
Special to the Independent
Elko — A feature-length documentary about the 300-year history of the Californio vaquero and how he became the Nevada Buckaroo.Tapadero, a recently completed feature-length documentary, has received rave reviews in California. Now, in its first foray off its home turf, it’s being presented at the Elko National Cowboy Poetry Gathering in three showings: Jan 30, Feb 3^rd and 4^th.

Filmmakers Susan Jensen and Paul Singer, who are horseback when they’re not behind the camera noticed a little revolution going on. Lots of young folks are rediscovering the old vaquero methods of training horses and handling cattle. They are bringing their horses along slowly, from the hackamore to the “two rein” to “straight up in the bridle.” And they are roping with the rawhide reata. The filmmakers were surprised to see how many are choosing cowboying as an occupation over more lucrative pursuits, even those with college educations.

It’s well known in horse circles that the vaquero was considered one of the world’s greatest horsemen. And the best of the vaqueros were known as Californios. The filmmakers wanted to learn why these aspiring buckaroos have such a respect and admiration for the vaquero methods.

So the filmmakers traveled to Sonora, Mexico where it all began and followed the Anza trail —  from Culiacan, up to Tubac, Arizona (which was the staging area for the expedition to Alta California). They followed the route to Monterey where the first mission was established.

They wanted to know what kinds of horses the early vaqueros rode — and how they trained them. After all, the Quarter Horse as we know it today, wasn’t officially recognized until 1940. But the main thing they wanted to learn was why, in this computer-driven age of instant everything, these young folks are reviving a tradition 300 years old.

Tapadero takes the viewer on a journey to those early days, to one of the mission ranchos, the Santa Margarita where they still train horses the old-fashioned way. In the old days, the missions had to be self-supporting, so the padres set up the ranchos, and the cattle were raised for their hides and tallow. The Santa Margarita Ranch was originally part of Mission San Luis Obispo.

The mild climate and isolation gave the vaqueros many mañanas — to train their horses slowly and painstakingly. Over the years, their methods of horse training evolved into a fine art. It took 9 to 10 years to make a finished bridle horse and the secrets were handed down by word of mouth.
It produced some of the finest horses and horsemen in the world.

With the onset of the gold rush, as the Anglos took over California, they admired the skills of the vaqueros and incorporated them into their own methods. But with the Anglos came fences and soon,

California’s open ranges became a thing of the past. The big ranches moved north to the Great Basin — Nevada, Oregon and Idaho.  But they took the vaquero traditions with them and the Hispanic name “vaquero” soon evolved into the anglicized “buckaroo.”

Today, if you ask a Californio who influenced his or her horsemanship, two names always come up — Bill Dorrance and Tom Dorrance.  And though Bill and Tom have passed on, their influence is still alive in the young cowboys and cowgirls who are carrying on the tradition.

Whether they call themselves cowboy or vaquero, Californio or buckaroo — they follow a simple but profound idea put forth by these quiet, unassuming brothers. They looked at the world through the horse’s eyes. The result was a horse that’s a willing partner, and not just a beast of burden. It revolutionized modern day horsemanship.

Tapadero takes you to the Dorrance Ranch, high atop Toro Mountain, overlooking Carmel Valley, California. Here, Bill’s son, Steve Dorrance and his wife Leslie reminisce about these two patriarchs, as they share some of their insights.