Pedro Solórzano can often be seen riding around Tame’s streets on his bicycle, carrying his shop brimming with leather goods like keyrings and hat bristles. In his youth, he was dedicated to riding and lassoing cattle, like every man from the Llanos. Now, he has traded his horse for a bicycle, milks meek cows, and works with tanned leathers.

Upon arriving in Casanare with his parents and nine siblings, Pedro immersed himself in the fundos, the llanero ranches or estates. There, he labored every May alongside twenty or thirty cowboys, herding creole slick cattle. During those times, they used cattle for crafting their own tools. Ropes were fashioned from fresh leather of a sacrificed cow, spread, cut into thin continuous straps, twisted, and sun-dried. The result? A rope measuring around forty armfuls, perfect for work, and shorter strips cut from smaller leather pieces, suitable for making whips. They even used a parihuela, a wheelbarrow-like tool made from dry leather, to fill ditches by carrying dirt between two men. Additionally, they hollowed cut cow horns with a burning iron to make cacheras, applets for tying ropes to the cow’s heads.

These rigorous field works taught Pedro to handle animals and shaped his identity, unknowingly training him for the craft he would pursue in the future. Though his cowboy years are over, some things have changed: now he uses tanned leathers, and the cattle in the fundos are different breeds, including cebú, normando, and holster. However, Pedro often says, “”When you like something, you will never forget it and will never stop practicing it.”” That’s why he could never pursue a job unrelated to these lands.

His journey as a craftsman began in 2017 when he met an artisan in Yopal. He observed him work, paying careful attention to techniques in cutting and assembling pieces. Upon parting ways, the artisan gifted three molds to Pedro: cotizas, a small boot, and stirrup molds for crafting keychains. Returning to Arauca, Pedro’s mind was set on leatherwork, revisiting everything he had learned. He reproduced the molds and discovered his knack for it, leveraging his years as a cowboy fashioning ropes, whips, and halters.

Previously crafting raw leather bags for carrying staples and tools, he now makes bags from tanned leather, hand-sewing and accentuating the seams with leather thread. He personalizes them with scenes drawn using pyrography, depicting typical Llano themes: horses, palms, capybaras, and cattle. Additionally, he creates hat adornments using leather and braided horsehair, inspired by November traditions of cutting animals’ hair and shoeing foals. His product range includes belts and various keychain styles: cotizas, boots, stirrups, triangles, hearts, saddles, borsalino hats, and oil palm and bulls-eye seeds.

This charismatic craftsman holds many talents. Besides being a cowboy and an expert leather artisan, he is also a singer. He composes lyrics for traditional pasajes and coplas, dedicated to his land and women, his two greatest loves. Occasionally, he plays with a musical group, performing with the cuatro, bass, maracas, and harp. So, when you meet him, seize the chance to ask for a pasaje. He’ll surely delight in singing one for you.