Under the spell of horses - Argentina

No other country brings so many foals into the world as Argentina, no other country exports as many horses and nowhere else in the world is there such a rich and diverse horse culture as in Argentina. The film, which is part of the series “Under the Spell of Horses”, gives the viewer a glimpse of three very different worlds: the gauchos in the pampa, the exclusive polo scene and the daily fight for survival of the cartoneros, the rubbish collectors in the gigantic city Buenos Aires. Director Thomas Wartmann recounts a personal story from each of these worlds, each of which ends with a small dream coming true. Gauchos and their horses – for centuries they were the heroes of the pampa and the symbol of freedom. The men who sit on the saddle 60 hours a week still exist today in the vast grassy plains of the Argentinean steppe, for many distant corners of the estancias can only be reached on horseback. At six, young Juan is the youngest rider on San Juan Poriahu, an estate with 4000 cattle and over 300 horses. His father is responsible for the ‘doma’ here, the traditional taming of wild horses, and Juancito has to learn the job from the bottom up. Juan‘s greatest wish is to put his riding skills on show at a fiesta with his stallion `Colorado`. Next week he will finally get the chance. The life of polo player and horse breeder José Lartirigoyen is very different to the lives of the gauchos. Polo is a national sport, but it is also a business. Polo horses are created by artificial insemination on so-called ‘embryo farms´ and carried to term by surrogate mothers. Argentinean horses are one of the country’s top exports and are sold round the globe. Like most professional polo players, José only spends half the year in Argentina; the rest of the time he is on the polo fields of the super rich all round the world. But there’s still a long way to go before that: first of all the horses will kick off the season at a match in a country club in Buenos Aires. Here they will have to prove that all the long months of training have paid off. Horses are not just the privilege of the upper class in Argentina. Pitu und Marina live with their five children and a mare called Negra in a corrugatediron hut on the outskirts of La Plata. The family would never survive without Negra. Every evening she returns from the city with the rubbish that others have thrown away. Negra belongs to the cartoneros - the cardboard and rubbish collectors. Around 800 horses, ponies and mules provide the livelihood of the entire neighbourhood. Vet Doctora Oliva actually teaches at the veterinary faculty of the university but for the last five years she has made the cartonero horses her purpose in life. “Con alma por los caballos”, “with heart and soul for the horses”, she calls her crusade. Once a week Dolores attends to the animals which have been injured by shoving, beating or incorrect harnessing. Like old Santiago. The cartonero horse was mistreated and lost his eye. Without an operation he would probably die of an infection. But the Doctora is used to improvising and has a way of persuading her colleagues to do a good deed - for nothing if need be....