PUEBLO, Colo. – September 15-October 15 is Hispanic Heritage Month. To celebrate, RidePass on Pluto TV is airing Mexico en la Sangre, a one-of-a-kind event celebrating Hispanic culture, on Oct. 6 at 7 p.m. ET.
In September, Mexico en la Sangre brought Hispanic culture to the iconic Cowtown Coliseum in Fort Worth, Texas. The joyful, highly-entertaining event featuring live music, dancing horses, charros, Folklorico dancers and more was one of the culminating events for Fiestas Patrias Celebration, the kick-off event for Fort Worth’s Hispanic Heritage Month celebration.
The event included demonstrations of some of the 10 events traditionally seen in a charreria – the Mexican version of what we know as a rodeo – and also featured pony riders, youth calf roping, traditional Spanish dancing, mariachis, dancing and jumping horses, and more.
Read on to learn more about some of the charreria events on display, and don’t forget to tune in tonight for Mexico en la Sangre.
Cala de Caballo
This event is always first at a charreria. It is a reigning demonstration designed to judge how well a horse responds to his training. It involves a series of maneuvers. First – and perhaps most impressively – he is ridden at full gallop to the center of the arena and then stopped abruptly by sliding on his rear legs in a marked 20-meter rectangle. Then, the horse turns from side to side several times before walking backward in a straight line to the point of entry. The horse and rider that leave the longest slide marks in the marked area without going over the limit get the most points.
Piales
Piales is a roping event involving tying a mare’s hind legs to stop her gallop completely. While mounted on his horse, the charro must throw a lasso, let the mare run through the loop, catch it by the hind legs, and then wrap his rope on the head of his saddle to gradually reduce the mare’s speed until she comes to a complete stop. Points are awarded for distance needed to stop the mare.
Monta De Toro
This event might be the most familiar to PBR fans, as it’s charro-style bull riding. There are key differences, however, as the goal is for the rider to stay on a bull until it stops bucking. Both hands can be used on the bull rope, and the charro can have up to three assistants inside the arena to support the bull’s head and tighten and hold the rider’s belt. After the bull stops bucking, the rider has three minutes to dismount. Every minute saved counts as a point, and points are also rewarded for technique. The charro cannot buck off and must dismount and land upright. After the charro dismounts the bull, he must remove the bull rope and bell rope.
Escaramuzas
In this event, a team of women ride horses side-saddle and complete choreographed, synchronized maneuvers to music. The women wear traditional Mexican outfits, including sombreros, dresses, and matching accessories. A team consists of 16 women, but only eight ride at a time. Inspired by the adelitas who fought in the Mexican revolution, escaramuza is the only event for women in charrerias.
Manganas
In manganas, a charro (on foot or horseback) gets three opportunities and eight minutes to rope a horse by its front legs, causing it to fall and roll once. The horse runs alongside three other horses that are mounted by other charros – the goal is to not catch any of the three other horses. Points are awarded for time and rope tricks, and points for all three attempts are cumulative.
Paso de Muerte
Meaning “the pass of death” in Spanish, this is traditionally the final event of a charreria and can be the most dangerous. Charros attempt to jump from their bareback horse onto the back of a wild bronc and ride it until it stops running.
Terna
In an event similar to team roping, three charros attempt to rope a bull by its neck, hind legs and feet with a time limit of six minutes. Points are awarded for rope tricks and time, with each charro having two opportunities.
