tropilla

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   in Argentina and Uruguay, a group of riding horses kept together, traditionally trained to follow a bell mare

   The gaucho released his horse, which immediately returned to its tropilla.

2. 2
   noun

   a small, recognizable herd or troop of cattle or other livestock in South America

   After the storm mixed the cattle together, each tropilla separated from the others again.

Borrowed from River Plate Spanish tropilla, a diminutive of tropa, 'troop or herd.' In gaucho culture it most specifically names riding horses accustomed to remain with a madrina, or bell mare, but regional Spanish also applies it to smaller herds of cattle and other livestock. English travel accounts have used the loan since the nineteenth century.

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