Horseback Program

Our horseback excursions range from simple trail rides to multi-day horse journeys and cattle round ups that include packhorses to carry the food and equipment.  A favorite ride amongst our guests is a three-day outing to visit the glacial ice spilling off of the Patagonia Icefield.  There are opportunities for long canters or to gallop the horses in open terrain if you so desire, but this is not required.  Also, new riders can be confident that their horses are bred for the conditions and are trained to be readily controlled by beginner riders.  Please contact us for detailed itineraries of our horse trips and ranch vacations.

Horses in Patagonia are typically of the native Chilean Criollo breed and Criollo crosses.  The Criollo is well known as an even-tempered, sure-footed mount with good speed and excellent endurance.  They are just the horse that is needed for the varied terrain and open space of this frontier region.  The horses we use at Patagonia Frontiers live on the ranch and in the valley. Our horses have been raised and trained under our direct care and supervision and are well known to us.  This allows us to match the best horse to you, from gentle to spirited.  If you are new to horse riding, perhaps you’ll ride Tango, as friendly and as good-natured a mount as you are likely to meet. If your experience leads you to desire a highly responsive mount, then Paella’s training and lineage may be to your preference.  Whatever horse you ride, we’ll spend plenty of time introducing you to our equine partners and familiarizing you with the comfortable Chilean saddles and tack.

In Patagonia, horseback riding is an integral part of the traditions, customs and daily affairs of a unique and colorful culture.  The horse is one of the most salient features of everyday rural life and visitors will soon notice the ubiquitous mount, saddled and waiting outside of each sparsely scattered home.  To ride a horse in the great expanse of wild Patagonia is more than a simple adventure, it is also a chance to become immersed in the distinctive and gracious culture of the local cowboys, or gauchos.  The gauchos and their families, with their characteristic clothing and saddlery, local knowledge and skills, offer a glimpse into one of the most traditional sectors of Chilean society.

Here, the relationship between horse and rider begins early in life. It is no surprise to come across a young child atop a horse, far from anybody, confidently riding along a mountain path.  Mothers and fathers ride with still younger children on the saddle in front of them, making their way to visit relatives, or neighbors.  Often, the only way to bring commodities to market and supplies back home is via multi-day journeys with a string of packhorses. Local horsemen are expert packers, and the trussed and loaded pigs, chickens and cheese that form the packhorse loads on the way to town give way to basic foodstuffs, or sheets of metal roofing, and a new cast iron stove on the return back home.

While the main southern highway opened the region to more extensive vehicular transport some fifteen years ago, for many families the principal means of access between ranches and to and from towns and services remains a network of trails, river fjords and simple bridges.  Most families in the area raise sheep or cattle, and this same series of trails provides the only means of bringing their herds to the marketplace.  First you hear the gauchos ever-present work companion, the herd dog, barking and yipping, then the low mewing of cattle on the move, and finally, bringing up the rear and holding the whole group together comes the hard-working Chilean cowboy, born to the saddle.