The bread and butter of a "llanero" (flatlander)

Well friends my presentation is quite brief, I am a faithful lover of the plain and nature. Every day that I can spend in these places I can say that I feel like the happiest woman in the world. I love the peace and beauty that nature represents. I would like to show you some pictures of my day to day life in this beautiful plain.

Every day begins for me with a good coffee, coffee to wake up and understand that my day is starting, something to the corral daily to talk with the workers, after half an hour of routine chat, each person who is there together knows and understands that his day is just beginning, then everyone goes to do their chores, living a llanera life is not easy work, each day must begin with the shoes on well and tight pants, that is, prepared for what is coming because every day is loaded with many tasks. In my case, after drinking coffee I go to look for my horse because the day has just begun.

Anyone who is a good llanero knows and understands that the love for the plains is so great that there is nothing more fascinating than getting up and listening to the singing of the animals (hens, roosters, birds, cows, calves, pigs) these are all early risers and each one from very early in the morning they are in the work of looking for food. As a good well-bred woman, I make sure that there is no lack of water or food, since this can turn into losses, if any animal gets sick.

After having checked that each animal has food and water, I go to the house, I clean the yard, I go to the most charming woman of the farm, Maria, a woman of few words but, with a noble and sincere heart, a very honest and helpful woman, approximately Maria has more than 45 years working for my family, quite a few years, Maria has become like part of our family.

Maria has a unique seasoning to prepare any meal, Maria cooks very well, I can say with all certainty that this woman has one of the best seasonings that I have had the pleasure to have tasted, I always ask her what is the key, she always answers the same thing, who cooks with love and affection everything goes well, I firmly believe in this theory.

Now well this breakfast is very traditional in our family is very normal to always prepare it also our culture is based on a traditional llanero dish, a good arepa, with perico and llanero cheese, it is really a delight to taste this dish of food.

To be able to work with livestock mounted on a horse, for many it seems an easy task but, you must have previous experience in this case, perhaps because the horse is not always easy to drive and knowing how to lead in many occasions ends in falls, the most important thing is to have good confidence in the animal, control the nerves and, The animals are all very astute so much so that the human being had to sit down to understand their environment to be able to take advantage over them, in the case of cattle it is very important to have some cows that can lead the rest, here in the plains they are known as "madrineros", they are in charge of guiding the whole herd.

An anecdote from when I was starting to ride horses was that I tried to run the animal without knowing how I was going to stop it, I remember thinking so many things while that horse was running, maybe I made a very silly mistake, but we must be careful when it comes to ride an animal. We must have a certain respect, this way we can guarantee our well being and that of the animal.

I remember this day as if it were yesterday, when winter arrives, the whole savannah is full of water, just like a savannah that covers everything in the distance, the water reaches almost every corner of the plain, this is a real challenge, if it is difficult to take the cattle to the target, imagine that the water reaches your knees, hahaha I was shaking all over, I was only thinking that I was not going to fall or fall down, because there if it would mean a blow or worse, when working in the plains you must be very careful, first because you are working with animals, so it is important to be cautious enough to lead a healthy life.

Many people wonder why should we do that? Well, these animals should be taken to higher ground in winter, to avoid water damage to their hooves (legs), that is to say, you should take care of their legs from diseases caused by frequent exposure to water, also the closer you have the cattle to the house, the more observation is guaranteed, there is always someone who wants to harm, even animals such as tigers, lions.

On the way home we met a very big friend, this kind of animals I really like to see, they are misunderstood animals, hated and demonized since always, but the true reality is that these animals are very calm, they do not really go around biting and biting things because they simply want to defend themselves, maybe without realizing it, we exceeded the limit, then they feel threatened and defend themselves, which in most cases is always the case, so I don't think so, these animals are very calm and are as afraid of humans as we are of them, but if you ask me who is more lethal between snakes and humans, humans would win, humans kill for the sake of killing while snakes kill only if necessary, to eat, also to defend themselves.

I wish people would try to know more about snakes, they would understand so many things that maybe they would not see this species as a threat, on the contrary, snakes are very passive animals, most of the day they are sleeping, they hunt almost always at night, they have no need to spend venom or energy on animals which are very big or any species that is bigger than them, Many people when they see a snake run away looking for something to kill them with. They really do not deserve to be seen as a species that wants to kill everything.

Love for the plain, I can say what yes, I absolutely love to be able to enjoy so much beauty together. "Aroma of rose and wet earth" is priceless to me.🤩😍