The gaucho whips

 

The gaucho is the horseman and herder of the pampas, with many similarities to the cowboy, including its Spanish heritage.

 

The gaucho culture spreads over Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay and the southern part of Brazil, (Rio Grande do Sul, Santa Catarina and Paraná).

 

As a culture based in cattle, the gauchos (gaúchos in Brazil) had the horse as a fundamental working tool, and the rebenque, its riding whip, was an important piece of equipment.

 

The rebenque

The basic rebenque is composed of a rawhide covered wooden handle 1 to 1 ½ feet long , and differently from other riding whips, a rawhide strap about 1½ to 2 inches wide and a little longer than the handle. The strap can be double, sewn at the edges, and could have the point unsown, for making a slapper. It has a wrist strap at the top of the handle.

 

 

The wide strap made the rebenque an instrument less severe on the horse than the European riding crop.

 

As the gaucho was never far from the horse, the rebenque was always on him. When not in use, he made a knot with the strap and held the rebenque lazily by the wrist strap with the  middle fingers of his hand, or hung it from the handle of his knife (as he used the large knife almost horizontally at his back, held by the belt or waistband, the handle protruded from his right side, within easy reach of his right hand).

 

 

The rebenque was used also for fighting, as a weapon by itself, when the fight did not merit a knife, or with the strap rolled on his left hand and the handle hanging, as a secondary weapon to the knife in his right hand.

 

 

 

Of course, it was also used for domestic punishments, and for quasi-judicial chastisement (corporal punishments were outlawed in Argentina, at least in the books, from 1813 on, but the country was very large, sparsely populated and not totally under government control, not unlike the American West). A couple of lashes with the rebenque on the bare legs were (and maybe they still are) widely used as a punishment for children, even in the urban areas.

 

 

 

As an equestrian culture, not only the poor gauchos used the rebenque, and there were (and still are) elaborate versions, with silver knobs and ferrules for the ranch owners (estancieros) and prominent citizens, the cost of the decoration of the rebenque being a sign of the economical status of the owner. 

 

 

Besides the common rebenque described above, there were several other types.

 

Rebenque de Argolla

(Ring rebenque): It has a large metal ring (in Spanish “argolla”) instead of the wrist strap. The strap used to be wider than in the common rebenque.

 

Talero

a cheap rebenque, with the wooden handle uncovered, perhaps the original rebenque

 

Guacha

(in Brazil mango) a rebenque with a short and very thick handle of lightwood, and a very wide strap, used for breaking in horses. It is less severe and noisier than the regular rebenque, so it can be generously used on the animal, scaring it without actual damage.

 

Work rebenque

the handle was covered just with the leather of a cow tail.

 

Chasquero

(from the quechua chasqui, messenger): its handle was hollowed for hiding letters. Luxury rebenques could also have a hollow handle for hiding a blade, like some walking canes had.

 

Polca

(Córdoba, Argentina) Whip with a longer and thinner handle than the talero. The handle was sometimes made with a piece of iron, covered with a rawhide cow leather or braided thin rawhide strips

 

Note: This information on the rebenque  was  added by somebody almost literally into the Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rebenque)

 

The arreador

The arreador (literally “for herding”), also arriador, in Brazil also enchiqueirador or relhador, was both the whip used to drive cattle and a symbol of power. As a symbol, it could be a costly and elaborate instrument and was used by prominent people as a baton was used in other cultures.  

 

image worldwidewhips

 

It consisted, at least, on a handle, about two feet long, to which a round braided leather thong of about two to three feet was attached.

 

As a symbol, it could have a handle of fine wood with silver or golden ferrules, topped by a carved silver or gold head in the form of a horse or dog head, or other figure, as in the walking canes.

 

 

The handle ended in a ferrule (also silver or gold) with a ring, to which the thong was attached. The thong had also a ring at its point, to which it was attached a short leather fall.

 

The total length of the arreador was between a yard and 10 feet.

 

The lagarto

(literally "lizard") It was the whip used to drive the horse teams in a coach. It was just a long tapering braided leather whip, with no handle or fall. It could be a very severe instrument.

 

The cola de tatú

(in Brazil, rabo-de-tatú) literally it means “armadillo tail”, and it is a whip with the handle covered in a special braiding called “caracol” (snail) that follows for becoming a thin braided thong, finished by a short fall. It was short, no longer than the rebenque. 

 

The chicote

Chicote is a generic name for the whip in Spanish. The gaucho used this name for short braided tail whips. The number of tails (called "ramales") was added to the name , for instance, "chicote de 4 ramales" (chicote with 4 tails).

 

 

Published: 02/21/03

Rev: 01/04/06;01/17/07