Okay, so I got this idea a while back. I wanted to do some drawings, maybe for a little personal project, featuring some tough-looking horses, the kind you imagine cowboys or gauchos riding. My mind went straight to South America, thinking about those hardy breeds you hear about.
Starting the Hunt
First thing I did, naturally, was jump online. Typed in ‘South America horses’. Got a flood of stuff, mostly touristy pictures, fancy show horses, you know the drill. Lots about the Criollo horse, the Paso Fino. Looked interesting, sure, but it wasn’t quite what I needed. The pictures were too perfect, too posed. I needed the real deal, the working horses, the ones with a bit of grit.
I wanted to understand how they stood, how they moved, especially under a rider doing actual work, not just prancing in an arena. The fancy photos didn’t show that. They didn’t show the muscle definition you get from long days, or the look in their eye that says they’ve seen some stuff.
Digging Deeper
So, I changed tactics. Started looking for terms like ‘working Criollo horse’, ‘gaucho horse’, ‘estancia horses’. That helped a bit. Found some forums, mostly in Spanish or Portuguese, which was a hurdle. Used online translators, pieced things together. Got some names, some locations known for breeding working horses.
Tried searching for videos next. Found some documentaries, but again, many were focused on the romantic image, the sweeping landscapes. Beautiful, yeah, but light on the close-up, practical details I was after for drawing accurately.
- Looked for conformation shots (how the horse is built). Hard to find for non-show animals.
- Searched for videos of them actually working cattle or covering rough ground.
- Tried finding photos showing their tack (saddles, bridles) in detail. The gaucho saddles looked really different.
Hitting Walls and Finding Scraps
It was tougher than I thought. A lot of info was repetitive, just copied from one site to another. Finding raw, unfiltered photos or footage felt like searching for a needle in a haystack. I guess people don’t usually take pictures of the plain, hardworking animals as much.
I even tried looking through old library archives online, searching for historical photos. Found a few black and white pictures that were gold! They showed the horses and riders in a much more natural, unposed way. That gave me some real clues about their build and posture.
Putting it Together
Eventually, piece by piece, I gathered enough material. Old photos, snippets from obscure videos, translated bits from forums discussing specific bloodlines known for endurance. I started sketching, focusing on getting that sturdy, grounded look I saw in the working Criollos. It wasn’t about making them pretty; it was about making them look capable.
I learned a lot, not just about the horses, but about how hard it can be to find authentic information when everyone’s pushing the polished version. You really have to dig past the surface. Got some decent sketches done in the end, felt like I captured a little bit of that South American horse spirit. It was a grind, but worth it for getting closer to the real thing.
