Estancia Don Joaquin, Argentina

Written by Jill, visited November 2024

Quite literally the most perfect riding adventure I have ever had – every element of what an adventure encapsulates with the add on of some luxury gaucho living.

Estancia Don Joaquin is another owner managed place where hosts Angie and Diego have created a home from home environment where you experience how it feels to live and breath being part of a gaucho family from beginning to end. They are a beautiful true Argentine couple, full of warmth, charm and whole lot of fun! And with them come their gaucho family, their own children all working in the business, Josefina as part of the equestrian gaucho team and her two sons who are set up across the road running their own luxury Fishing Lodge, which sits perfectly on the River Corrientes and well positioned for guests to fish all day for huge Yellowfin Dorado. In addition, there are the families within the family – generations working at the estancia, fathers, sons, wives and daughters – our head Gaucho for example has his 3 sons with him, one joining him with the cattle & horse work and the others hosting and driving guests – it is a true testament to how Angie and Diego operate, family at the core of everything they do – and this is how we felt, within a day we were part of that family (bar having to clean our rooms,  cook and clean – that said, we did take a group lesson on how to make Empanadas, Angie’s family recipe and boy did they taste good!)

---

We took the overnight bus from Retiro Bus Station in Buenos Aires to Esquina – all booked by Angie and seamless – I have to say I was slightly nervous about an 8 hour trip by bus but it was brilliant, really comfortable, with huge, flat bed seats you gently fell to sleep on as the bus drove its way up to this remote farming area of Argentina.

We arrive into Esquina, a bustling country town of 35,000 people at 4am in the morning and greeted by our new gaucho family who whisked us off the estancia getting us into our rooms and off to sleep, by 5am – to be up at 9am to meet for our first delicious breakfast.

The estancia is sprawling, in a couple of horseshoe patterns, each room is large, with huge comfortable beds, sofas, big ensuite bathrooms and terraces with loungers and tables. All has been designed, built and individually decorated by Angie and Diego, not only are this pair cool but they have stylish taste too!

---

In front of the estancia lies huge gardens that lead onto a lovely pool and then onto the horse and gaucho area, where all the action for your days riding activities begin. We sat many afternoons, after lunch, waking from a siesta to watch the gauchos herding in the predominantly criollo horses (mixed with some Percheron and Paso) ready for our early evening ride. From here we also became acquainted to the daily birdlife which is prolific and beautiful.

---

On our trip we had opted to do a normal estancia stay but added on a trail ride, so we could get off Angie’s land and venture onto her neighbours, expanding our experience of differing terrain and countryside. It was the perfect mix, but even to just stay at the estancia there is so much on offer in daily life you could never be bored.

A day at the estancia usually started about 8am for breakfast, a huge long table is laden with delights to choose from, gaucho breads, croissants, jams, choice of eggs, freshly squeezed orange juice and endless cups of good strong coffee.

At 9am a short walk across the lawn to meet up with your gauchos, to get saddled up and venture out into the vast plains and lagoons that make this big sky country so utterly breathtaking.

Angie and Diego have an ever increasing herd of 100 plus horses. While there she had just recently bought a new stunning criollo stallion plus 7 mares with foals at foot – with the aim to start a criollo breeding program of her own, such is their love of this dependable breed.

There is everything from beginner horses to advanced and everything in between but what struck me about the whole herd was each and every horses attitude – happy, willing to work and their calmness and chilled out attitude with each other – seriously, when have any of you cantered in a group of 15 plus riders, with another 15 horses running loose beside you without a cross word between them – I would have expected a passing bite, or the odd kick, perhaps at the least a swish of a tail, but honestly not one horse was bothered, they just all ran along together like a beautiful wave of happiness.

---

The horse and gaucho power here makes it unique in that I can confidently recommend anyone as a first time rider or as a fully professional to visit. Within my group I had a young eventer, successful and definitely on route to be part of a future Olympic team who was enthralled by the riding as I was and we  met a young couple from Ireland, neither having ridden ever before who within 2 days were cantering happily through the lagoons.

The style here is western and very easy to pick up if you haven’t ridden this way before, just grab the reins in one hand loosely and sit comfortably aboard a huge deep sheepskin with natural knee rolls to keep you safely in place.

As I mentioned there is so much to do here, beautiful long rides across pastures, long sandy tracks, forests and through lagoons, spotting wildlife and birds, at every turn – capybara, cayman, rhea, some very cute foxes, variety of large storks, herds of deer, humming birds, the list goes on…………….!

Real life estancia work, we watched a new herd of calves being branded and tagged and had a chance to attempt the skill of lasso, a vital part of gaucho work, which we saw expertly on display when we joined in a cattle drive and the gauchos were there to tend to and treat any cattle with infections. We watched from the sidelines thank goodness as it really is skilled work, lassoing each one individually, working as a team and doing their medical work, I was exhausted just watching them!

---

And fun estancia horseback games too – on the lawn one afternoon were set up a line of tree stumps, which we were soon all galloping up and down bending in and out of racing against each other individually, then in teams and then against our gaucho friends! And if you don’t get a chance to visit a real Polo club during your stay – don’t worry, here you can have a go at gaucho polo, and honestly, if you are at my level (1 day of lessons) it’s perfect to dot about up and down the lawn – we also had a British guy who’d played a lot as a kid, who had a go (ten years since he’d played, but he was AMAZING, doing lots of fancy shots backwards and on the left side!) he had a ball and I wouldn’t be surprised if it hasn’t ignited the passion in him again to pick it back up when he gets home!

A real highlight of the stay was to be riding in so much water on account of the lagoons, simple, shoulder high wades from one side to the other but we also had the sheer delight of stripping off down to our bathers and swimming alongside our gauchos across a large one.

Whatever we joined in with it was our decision, there is so much flexibility here and you can do as much or as little as you like, a simple morning ride then a lounge around the pool after a delicious 3 course lunch (Steak, Steak, Steak all the way – short ribs, ribeye, sirloin, you name it we ate it, punctuated with bbq pizzas and tasty pasta dishes) a siesta or gather yourself for a beautiful sunset trail. (Vegetarians, Vegans do not be put off, Angie and Diego have selected some delicious dishes to suit all)

---

Evenings are relaxed, gathering for drinks around 8pm, with dinner served at 8.30pm – we all ate together at that long table, choosing to sit at different places each night and chat to new guests or with each other, the din from chatter becoming louder as the evening rolls on – some nights retiring early, some dancing the night away to Argentine beats trying to master a little tango swing.

As I mentioned we also booked ourselves to do the trail ride which took us out sometimes 8 hours riding in one day to reach neighbouring estancias. It was an absolute joy to ride in this big sky country and experience such long loping canters, with fantastic going. We reached the Corrientes river and beach, the horses steps squeaking in full force as we thundered along, it was a sound I will never forget and never heard before! We were warmly welcomed into Angie’s friend’s homes, treated with such interest and had the pleasure of our new hosts company when we sat for our evening meals. On this adventure, one late afternoon we rode again to the river to be met with sundowners on the beach, and the gaucho fished and caught very snappy looking piranha! Needless to say none us swam that night!

It was lovely to have this adventure, but it is safe to say we loved getting back home, which is what Estancia Don Joaquin feels like – I have tried to convey this in my description, I hope I have done it justice, but maybe it’s a “je ne sais quo” kind of place – a place I implore you to visit if you have any love of horse, holidays and adventure – I am for sure and might even take my own family next time, a musician non riding husband and an arts loving son because I know they will feel the same as I do about this place, the people and this true gaucho lifestyle.

Read more about Gaucho Trails and estancia stays at Estancia Don Joaquin on our Ride pages.

---