3 Day Riding in Carlos Keen
This horse riding experience, named “Gato and Mancha”, is pretty unique considering it’s so close to the city of Buenos Aires. It’s the perfect opportunity for getting to know the rural towns outside the city. This three day ride adventure will show the riders the real “gaucho” of the Pampa’s culture and tradition.
During this peaceful ride, the guests will experience a very intimate relationship with their horses. It starts in Carlos Keen town and then it goes through different rural towns, all very lovely. Between them: Villa Ruiz, Cucullu, Azcuenaga, and Vagues (which is only 5 kilometers away from San Antonio de Areco). All these places maintain their typical rural characteristics: old train stations, their churches, the general stores or “pulperias”, etc.
The horses will take you through some parts of the old Royal Roads, or “Camino Real”. This old route used to link the Buenos Aires port with Alto Peru (or Bolivia today). These rural roads, which were very wide and made of dirt, go back to 1.663 and used to communicate different towns. Later, when the railroad was made, the train tracks were built parallel to the rural roads.
- Destination
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Departure
Carlos Keen
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Departure Time
9 AM
From our gallery
Itinerary
- Day 1: Carlos Keen - Villa Ruiz. Riders will get on the horses in Carlos Keen town (approximately an hour away from the city of Buenos Aires). You can get there by car or by bus.
- “Haras El Líder” used to train racehorses. Here is where Marcelo, the guide, keeps his horses, in the old establishment. It is a few meters away from the town.
- Once there, Marcelo will welcome the riders with some mate under the shadow of a tree. He will tell them about his passion for horses and horse riding and how he designed the trails. After the introductions, everybody will go to look for their horses. These are mainly Criollos, they are in very good shape!
- Marcelo will help everybody to put the saddles, or “recado”, on their horses. These are the type of saddles gaucho use.
- When everybody’s ready, the riding begins. First, they will take a quick look at the town of Carlos Keen. They will go past the old train station, very lovely, and they will later take a rural road. The landscape is very Pampa-like: crops and stands of trees from the old estancias. After approximately two hours riding they will get to Villa Ruiz town.
- Villa Ruiz is a very small and picturesque village. Riders will have lunch here. (For those riders that share an interest in jumping, we remind you that it is in this town where the JLO Team clinic is).
- After lunch, the riding continues until Cucullu town. Here is where the first night will be spent. This rural town belongs to the party of San Andres de Giles. During the weekend nights, the general store is open (we call it “Almacen de Ramos Generales”), many local people get together here to have a drink. Riders will sleep at a hotel in the town.
- Day 2: Cucullu - Azcuenaga. After breakfast, riders will get their horses ready to continue the adventure through the rural roads towards the town of Azcuenaga. This town was founded in 1.880 when the railroad was made.
- The reason all these rural towns never grew was that the railroad finally came to a stop. So did their development. Despite this, they are lovely towns worth visiting, even more by horse.
- Once there, riders will let the horses have some rest and then go relax themselves in a town’s hotel. At night, they will have some traditional food, such as guiso, locro or carbonada. There will be a fire where they can gather around and listen to some guitar playing while admiring the stars in the country sky.
- Day 3: Azcuenaga - Vagues.On the third and last day, riders will arrive at Vagues town. This is only 5 km away from the very well known traditional town of San Antonio de Areco. There is an option for those who prefer to end the ride and go there instead of going back. The horse riding comes to an end after lunch.
Location
The town of Carlos Keen is less than 90 kilometers away from the city of Buenos Aires. It’s very near Lujan. You can get there by National Route 7.
Other activities for riders and non riders companions
Without a doubt, the place we recommend to visit is the traditional town of San Antonio de Areco. It is 113 km away from the city of Buenos Aires, but very near where this ride ends. This town represents at its most all the gaucho tradition. You can see it on its streets, its estancias, and in its museums.
The town is known as the “cradle of tradition” and it was declared the national Capital of Tradition. San Antonio de Areco was founded in 1.730 and it is considered one of Buenos Aires oldest cities.
This rural town lies on the banks of the Areco River. The famous author of “Don Segundo Sombra”, Ricardo Guirarldes, was born here. We also recommend visiting the museum in his honor.
As for horses, it is in November that the festival of Tradition occurs. This is considered the country’s oldest Tradition celebration. Gauchos and horses are the protagonists of this event. They participate in this big parade where all of them proudly wear their best clothes and horses. It’s a show worth watching!
As San Antonio de Areco is such a touristic town, the place is full of great hotels and gastronomy. For those partners who prefer not to ride, this is a great place to wait for the riders.
