The Vaqueros came with the Conquistadors to the New World and created a new style of handling cattle on the open ranges of Mexico. Their influence grew  to California, Nevada, Oregon, Hawaii, Montana , Wyoming  and other parts of the Western Hemisphere.
In each area, a tradition developed to meet the unique demands of the environment and culture. This is the story filmmakers Susan Jensen and Paul Singer are tracing through their Vaquero Series.
Tapadero, the first in the Vaquero Series, traces the story of the vaquero from Mexico to Alta California. These early vaqueros managed the large cattle herds for the Spanish California missions. These missions had to be self-sufficient in this remote and isolated landscape and cattle, raised for hide and tallow, was the only viable business. It was here, in this gentle, mild climate that the vaqueros developed their artful method of training horses. This was the land of manana, where nothing was rushed  and you could take your time training a horse  from the hackamore, to the 2-rein, to straight up in the bridle. The vaqueros so refined their skills they became known as some of the finest horseman in the world.
The Remuda, the second installment in the series, follows the vaqueros to Nevada and Oregon. After the Gold Rush, farmers were fencing off the land. The large California ranchers sought new grazing lands in the open range of the Great Basin. Anglos blended in with the Californio vaqueros. The word Vaquero sounded alien to their ears and they soon anglicized it to Buckaroo. In this country, the ranches were larger, and the cattle wilder. It necessitated bigger strings of horses and bigger circles to ride. Each buckaroo is responsible for a string of 10 or 12 horses, all in different stages of training. When the cowboss assigns a horse for that days work, the buckaroo had better be able to ride him, no matter how green the horse might be.
Holo Holo Paniolo takes you back to 1794. Ship Captain George Vancouver had traded form some cattle in Monterey and he presented them as a gift to the King of Hawaii (Sandwich Islands) To help them multiply the king placed a taboo on killing the cattle. They grew in numbers and before long, became a problem. In 1833, the King enlisted the aid of three Monterey vaqueros. They taught the Hawaiians how to ride horses and how to catch the wild cattle. The vaqueros during that time called themselves Espanolo. But the Hawaiians have no s in the alphabet, so they modified it and called themselves Paniolo.
Houlihan takes you to Wyoming and Montana where Buckaroos and Texas Puchers came together, creating a new cowboy culture. The catalyst in the mix was winter and very wild, stout horses that had survived on the open range for centuries. The genesis of the vaquero and buckaroo came from more southerly climes, where cowboys took "as long as it takes" to get things done. In the north country, winter is king. And the byward is "winter's a comin'. Let's get 'er done."
Throughout each documentary, the filmmakers illustrate how the vaquero left his stamp on all these cultures and how its evident through the people who are living the life today.
And because music is integral to the cowboy culture and these films are driven by the sounds of Ian Tyson, Dave Stamey, Mike Beck, Pedro Marquez, Christina Ortega, Cowboy Celtic, masters of Hawaiian slack key guitar. And in Houlihan, the music of Jesse Ballantyne, Kevin McNiven, Dawn Davis and others punctuate the action.

But the story is far from over. There are more installments on the way...