Every Sunday the city of Guadalajara explodes with exciting things to do—one of which is going to la charrería. There are multiple charrerías found throughout the city, but there’s one that takes place every Sunday from 12 to 2:30pm. It’s located on the southeastern side of Parque Agua Azul at the Lienzo Charro de Jalisco.
La charrería in Mexico is more than a simple rodeo. It is a symbol of the ranching lifestyle in Mexico and a place for the charros (cowboys) to show their skills. The sport developed out of the vaqueros necessity to learn how to rope, ride untamed mares and herd cattle. As it moved from the countryside into the city it took on a new set of regulations and rules that have made it into the formalized event it is today.
The competition is divided into nine categories that reflect the tradition of being a charro. It strarts out slow. Charros prance around the ring in full traditional wear (including the wide-brimmed felt sombreros) and get warmed up. Chalk lines are drawn into the ring where charros take turns rideding full gallop and then skid gracefully to a stop near the line. Judges score the maneuver and then call out the next competitor.
Finally it starts to get more interesting. The charros retreat into the long track area of the arena where they take turns roping wild mares and chasing down bulls by pulling on their tails. The announcer excitedly reports the standings to the crowd as they cheer on the most elegant and masterful performances.
Traditional Mexican music continues to blare through the stadium as the team bull roping, bull riding and wild mare riding competitions play out. At first I questioned the brutality of these competitions; the bull roping competition especially. One charro would rope the bull’s head while another the bull’s hind legs. They would then pull and lay the bull down on his stomach. There was always someone nearby to immediately help free the bull and give him a break. Sometimes traditions are not up to speed with today’s demands of eliminating animal cruelty, but they seemed to do the best they could.
The most exiting parts of the show were undoubtedly the manganas a caballo and the paso de la muerte. In the manganas a caballo (roping wild mares from horseback) a team of three mounted charros chase a wild mare around the arena trying to rope only the animal’s rear legs as not to hurt it. This must require an enormous amount of skill. One charro gracefully lassoed a mare while facing away from the horse as it sped by at top speed. The finale for the charrería is the paso de la muerte in which a young charro jumps from the back of one speeding wild mare to another.
Besides the action-packed charrería there was plenty of entertainment from watching the spectators. A group of older men in jeans and cowboy hats polished off a half a gallon bottle of tequila in about an hour. A 12 year-old concession boy ran around the stadium serving Indio (a cheap Mexican beer) to thirsty vaqueros. Couples lounged in the shade of the covered bleachers occasionally watching the competition.
La charrería embodies the traditional Mexico we think of when Pancho Villa and vast deserts come to mind. The competition is not only exciting, but aesthetic and full of pride and tradition as well. I would highly recommend checking out a charreada when visiting Mexico (there are over 900 charrería associations in Mexico).
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