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| Worldwide ride (March 2007) |
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IMAX spectacular follows cowboys around the globe
By Dean Houghton
Homestead editors have no business trying to be film critics, but we can make an exception for one film coming to a giant-screen theater near you. It’s an IMAX film called “Ride Around the World,” and we give it an enthusiastic two thumbs up. Or perhaps more appropriately, we should give it five horseshoes on a five-point scale, since this film is a quest to discover the historic roots of the cowboy. The film offers the stunning visual impact you expect from a production made for the giant screen, thanks to IMAX technology. But make no mistake, this 40-minute feature is more than eye candy.
And it’s more than a history lesson. The film, using techniques that place the viewer in the middle of the action, captures the feeling of freedom that comes from riding at breakneck speeds through unspoiled open spaces. Theaters should display a warning before they show this film, because if you don’t already own a horse, by the time you finish your popcorn, you are likely going to wish for the chance to saddle up and ride.
Not even those who worked on the film are immune. “I’ve fallen in love with horses,” says Harry Lynch, who wrote and directed the picture for Texas-based Trinity Films, the production company that made the movie. Some of the world’s most exciting cowboy cultures, along with exotic scenery, star in this movie. “What we do in the film is tie these cowboy cultures together in a cohesive story and bring it to the IMAX screen,” Lynch says. Projected on a screen eight stories high, the images are stunning.
The story may be a bit surprising to most viewers, as well. As it turns out, Texas is not the birthplace of the cowboy, but instead is the last stop on a long evolutionary trail. The world’s horse-and-cattle cultures actually began 1,500 years ago. Moorish horsemen conquered Spain on endurance-bred desert horses while using new types of saddles, stirrups, and bits that brought a revolutionary new level of control over a horse.
Birth of a culture
Spanish cattle herders living in the Extremadura region crossed the Moroccan horse with native breeds, built their own versions of the Moorish tack-and-riding system, and used these developments to raise and manage huge cattle herds over vast tracts of land. Thus was born the first cowboy, the Spanish vaquero. And from that beginning, the culture spread around the world. That’s because Extremadura’s vaqueros were destined to become conquistadors and bring their culture to the New World.
That historic development has shaped entire cultures around the globe, from the clothes they wear to the music they play, the food they eat to the ideals they follow. Had the conquistadors been from somewhere else in Spain, New World cultures might not have been shaped by the forces of horses, riders, and cows. “The fact the conquistadors came primarily from this region is the reason we now see the gauchos of Argentina, the baqueanos in Chile, the charros in Mexico, and the cowboy of the American West,” says Brady Dial, one of the film’s producers.
Hang on tight
"Ride Around the World” offers a sprint across four continents following today’s cowboys. You see Spanish vaqueros using their long wooden garrochas to herd steers. There’s a look as well at Mexico’s traditional form of rodeo, the charreada, including the swirling precision of the women’s escaramuza team-riding drill. At the legendary Texas ranch called the Four Sixes, where they measure the range in square miles rather than acres, you’ll meet indelible characters such as 70-something cowboy (and philosopher) Boots O’Neal. Like all cowboys around the world, he knows that the hours are long and the wages are relatively low. But there are other rewards. “I think about the mornings we saddle up about dawn, a little frost on the ground,” the veteran cowboy says. “You think about how many CEOs would like to go riding with you. I’ve been fortunate in my life because I enjoy the work that I do.”
Sand Creek Ranch is a location surrounded by snow-covered mountains in a pristine British Columbia setting. This segment of the film features the Walt Foster family managing cattle in the remote Cherry Creek Basin, riding horses and handling Border Collies as they push cattle from one lush mountain pasture, over a rocky ridge, and into another.
At the other end of the world, the film crew documented the work of the baqueano working in Chile’s Patagonia. Incredible pictures show these cowboys bringing a remuda of horses down from the mountain, over narrow trails, so the animals can be cared for in the shelter of winter quarters. These tough cowboys make this 60-mile drive every year. Also documented in the feature is a peculiar type of Argentine cowboy, the gaucho Correntino, who herds in the Ibera marshes.
Often abandoning boots, these gauchos gather and drive herds through swamps and rivers to find new pastures. Of course, they try to avoid the crocodiles and sometimes have to kick at piranhas that try to nip their legs.
The film also celebrates the historic roots of Spanish horsemanship with a visit to Morocco. Moorish horsemen, the most ancient of cowboy ancestors, come to life as they charge the casbah in a Berber wedding tradition. The groom’s father and friends make a charge on horseback, firing black-powder rifles, in a scene that fills the ears as well as the eyes.
Real people doing real things. That’s the strength of the movie, because those who continue to live the cowboy culture don’t need Hollywood to add any romance to their way of life. “We want the audience to walk away with the true story,” says Jeff Fraley, senior producer for the film. “These people are living and breathing the cowboy way of life, whether it is in the Chilean Patagonia or at the Four Sixes.”
You can check the film’s Web site, www.ridearoundtheworld.com, for theaters where it is playing, or you can get information about ordering a DVD version, or a CD soundtrack, if you can’t view it on the giant screen. “We want people to get to know these characters,” director Lynch says. “We want people to feel a connection to a culture that is so vibrant around the world - a culture they might not otherwise have a chance to see.”
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