Buttero

A buttero (Italian pronunciation: [ˈbuttero], plural butteri) or cavalcante is a mounted herder, usually of horses, of cattle, or of buffaloes, in Italy, predominantly in the Maremma region of Tuscany and northern Lazio, or in the Pontine Marshes to the south.

In the merca held in April at the Roccaccia, not far from Tarquinia, after having branded the young calves born in the year, the butteri compete in games of ability.

The life of the buttero of other times was not to be envied from a qualitative point of view: the hard job in the marshes of the Maremma began before dawn, with rounding up the herds on horseback.

They would take a unique meal before midday: The image of the military mercenary of the 14th and 15th centuries in Northern Italy (called cavalieri) riding in suits of armor wielding the mazza (mace) persists in that of the buttero.

[citation needed] [Il colonnello Cody] Venne invitato a colazione da notabilità cittadine e una volta perfino dalla duchessa Caetani.

In tale occasione, anzi, la gentildonna ricordò i famosi allevamenti di cavalli in libertà nei propri feudi e la valentia dei butteri specialmente di Cisterna, uno dei feudi della Casata.- Perché - disse - non li volete mettere alla prova con i vostri indomiti cavalli?