He was the son of Martín Barrantes Figueroa y Arias and Clelia Josefina Sansoni Pais, both born in Salta, Argentina.
[4] Héctor Barrantes enlisted in the Argentine Army during the Falklands War of 1982 between Argentina and the United Kingdom, but did not fight.
[5] Later, he bred polo ponies on his 1,000-acre (400 ha) ranch in Guaminí, 335 miles (540 km) southwest of Buenos Aires.
[2] His polo pony called Luna, which he bred on his ranch, won the Lady Townley Cup in 1989 and 1990, ridden by Gonzalo Pieres.
[2] Later he was reinterred in a vault under his home and next to a polo field on his 'El Pucara' estate where, in 1998, his widow Susan was buried following her death, also from a car crash.