Charrería


Charrería, also known historically as Jaripeo, is the national sport of Mexico and a discipline arising from equestrian activities and livestock traditions used in the haciendas of the Viceroyalty of New Spain.
Evolving from the cattle herding traditions created the 16th century, the first kind of charreria events were ranch work competitions between haciendas. The first shows related to charreria began before the 20th century, but it was not until the Mexican Revolution that its full emergence occurred in Hidalgo and Jalisco when with the Land Reform, charros began to congregate in cities such as Mexico City and other centers, consolidating large associations to maintain tradition and popularity; The most important are the Asociación de Charros de Jalisco A.C, Asociación de Charros de Morelia A.C and Asociación de Charros Regionales de La Villa A.C. Charreria is the national sport of Mexico by excellence and in 2016, and was inscribed in the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO.

History

The origins of Mexican bullfighting and equestrian sports date back to the mid-16th century, shortly after the introduction of cattle and horses. The introduction was successful, as cattle and horses multiplied and spread rapidly throughout the country, that soon after, there were more cattle and horses in Mexico than in Spain.
The first cattle ranching activities centered primarily around the leather and tallow industry, both for export and domestic consumption. In 1587, for example, more than 64,350 cattle hides left the port of Veracruz for the port of Seville. This cattle ranching was carried out by hunting wild bulls with the use of the desjerretadera, a 20-palmos lance with a crescent-shaped blade at the end for hamstringing the bulls. A vaquero on horseback, carrying the desjerretadera, would gallop at full speed behind a wild bull and, positioning himself slightly to one side, strike the hock of one of its legs, severing the flesh and sinews, instantly incapacitating it. The vaquero would then dismount and finish off the bull by stabbing it in the neck, then skinning and removing the tallow, leaving the flesh and the rest to rot in the countryside.
From this New World ranching activity emerged what can be considered the first Mexican bullfighting-equestrian sport. Horsemen, not involved with the vaquero trade, would go out into the countryside with the aforementioned desjarretadera to hunt bulls for simple recreation or enjoyment because, according to them, it made them tough and "strong" or agile in the saddle. Agustín Dávila Padilla, a Dominican priest, referred to this sport when recounting what happened to a Mexican Caballero in the 16th century:
As Mexican vaquero culture developed and cattle ranching expanded throughout the 16th and 17th centuries, new vaquero tasks and techniques used for the management of cattle and horses emerged. Vaqueros were tasked with performing various jobs on cattle ranches or haciendas, such as rounding-up wild cattle, branding, hunting runaway cattle, sorting cattle for identification, and hunting wild, ownerless bulls and horses.
In his work "Historia del Toreo en México", historian Nicolás Rangel compiled several complaints to the Holy See about vaqueros accused of "Satanism," including the exploits of a mulatto vaquero on a ranch in Jalisco who was accused in 1604 of having a pact with the devil and wearing his image tattooed on his back, due to his equestrian and vaquero skills. It was said that the aforementioned mulatto would tie his feet tightly and wait for a very feisty bull, then place two oranges on its horns. And on a wild filly, "no matter how much it bucked, riding on it, he would remove its girths and saddle and remain bareback on it, without dismounting or falling." Such risky feats were already, at that time, common skills and recreational sports among the country's vaqueros, but unknown to the Spanish, who attributed them to witchcraft.
By the 18th century, techniques such as bull-tailing, roping, and bronco-busting, although still rudimentary, were commonly used on the country's haciendas during hunts, rodeos and branding celebration. By then, such feats had become recreational traditions, expressions of Mexican bullfighting, deeply rooted in the Mexican population of all classes, both rural and urban. In 1765, Pedro Tamarón Romeral, Bishop of Durango, lashed out at the clergy of those regions who entertained and exercised themselves by tailing bulls in public spaces:
Jineteo de toros, or bull-riding, was also a common tradition in Mexican bullfighting and, like bull-tailing, was deeply rooted among the population. In his work "Rusticatio Mexicana", the Jesuit Rafael Landivar described, in epic verse, bull riding and how another bull was fought while riding the bull during bullfights in the villages.

19th Century: El Jaripeo

Although Mexican bullfighting had been developing since before the 19th century, it was only then that it began to take shape and refine, gaining wider recognition.
Throughout much of Mexico's history, these bullfighting and equestrian sports had been held primarily in the country's countryside and on haciendas, on the open range or small rural arenas, with wild cattle, and rarely appeared in the arenas of large cities, and even then only as secondary events. An article in the English sports journal "The New Sporting Magazine" describes in great detail the sport of bull-tailing on the open range in the Bajío region, a region considered home to the country's finest horsemen. And the Scottish noblewoman Frances Erskine Inglis described the large country festivities, such as cattle-branding, on the cattle ranches of Hidalgo, and detailed bull-riding, in 1839:
The skill of the men is surprising; but the most curious part of the exhibition was when a coachman, a strong, handsome Mexican, mounted on the back of a fierce bull, which plunged and flung himself about as if possessed by a legion of demons, and forced the animal to gallop round and round the arena. The bull is first caught by the lasso, and thrown on his side, struggling furiously. The man mounts while he is still on the ground. At the same moment the lasso is withdrawn, and the bull starts up, maddened by feeling the weight of his unusual burden. The rider must dismount in the same way, the bull being first thrown down, otherwise he would be gored in a moment. It is terribly dangerous, for if the man were to lose his seat, his death is nearly certain; but these Mexicans are superb riders. A monk, who is attached to the establishment, seems an ardent admirer of these sports, and his presence is useful, in case of a dangerous accident occurring, which is not infrequent.

Until the 1860s, the bullfighting scene in Mexico, especially in large cities and among the elite, was dominated by Spanish-style bullfighting. In these cases, Mexican traditions were relegated and minimized, appearing as simple folkloric additions, as auxiliaries, or secondary events. For example, the picadors often came out dressed as the vaqueros from the interior of the country, the charros, instead of in Spanish attire. The charros would assist the bullfighter if he was in danger by roping the bull, or if the bull was not brave enough or not willing enough for the fight, they would rope it to remove it from the arena. Sometimes, bullfights included bull riding as a secondary event to liven up the atmosphere. The only place where people could find Mexican equestrian and cowboy traditions in all their splendor was in the countryside, on haciendas, ranches, and towns.
As a result of the French Intervention in Mexico in the 1860s, a new sense of patriotism and nationalism emerged throughout the country, with both the government and the population promoting the idea of “lo nacional” or "all things Mexican" above all things "foreign." This included Mexican equestrian and bullfighting traditions above those of Spain and Europe. Ironically, it was Emperor Maximilian I of Mexico who, during the French Intervention, promoted and exalted these traditions, popularizing them among the Mexican elite, as he was a great admirer of Mexican horsemanship. He often hosted roping exhibitions, bull riding, and other events at the Palace, where he invited foreign dignitaries, and he would often dressed as a charro even at formal events.
All of this would have an impact in the 1870s and 1880s, when businessmen and cattle-barons promoted Mexican traditions, showcasing Jaripeo, known by the Spaniards as “Toreo Mexicano” or Mexican style Bull-fighting, the collection of equestrian and vaquero skills of the charros. Mexican feats, originally vaquero techniques for handling cattle and horses, including roping, bull-tailing, riding and breaking in bulls and wild horses, reining and horsemanship skills, were elevated to a national level from their humble rural and ranching origins.
In his work "La Tauromaquia", the Spanish bullfighting writer and journalist Leopoldo Vázquez, who witnessed the exploits of the famed charro Ponciano Díaz in 1889, recounted:
The original “suertes” or feats of Jaripeo or Charreria were:
  • Coleo : This involves bringing down a bull on horseback by grabbing its tail and pulling it to bring it down.
  • Lassoing: This involves lassoing bulls by the horns or neck; the most skilled only lasso the horns; and neck-lassoing horses.
  • Manganear : This involves roping the "hands”, or forelegs, of a bull or horse to bring it down.
  • Apealar : This involves roping the hind legs of a bull or horse to bring it down.
  • Bull-riding: This involved mounting and riding the bull after it had been lassoed by the horns or neck and roped, either by its hind legs or forelegs.
  • Riding bronco horses : This consisted of riding a bronco horse bareback without reins or a harness, holding only the mane.
  • Barbear : This consisted of confronting the bull on foot, grabbing its ear with one hand and its snout with the other, and thus twisting its neck to knock it down.
  • Banderillas a caballo : This consisted of placing banderillas on the bull from horseback.
  • Capotear or Capear toros a caballo : This consisted of fighting a bull with a capote or serape, but from horseback.
Jaripeo differs from Spanish bullfights not only in the feats and events that are being performed, but in the fact that the bulls are not killed; they are simply "played" with or "tormented." In Spanish tradition, the killing of the bull is perhaps the most important element, as bullfighting arose from the montería, or big game hunting practiced by the Spanish elite, and from Roman and Ancient Greek spectacles. However, jaripeo originates from activities and tasks performed on the open-range, such as hunting or roping wild cattle and horses, breaking wild colts, herding cattle, branding, among other activities that did not necessarily involve slaughtering livestock. Jaripeo is simply the set of equestrian and cowboy skills and exercises derived from ranching traditions transformed into a sport.
For this reason, charros place greater importance on skill and spectacle, whether in their equestrian skills or in the artistic use of the lasso, because that is the ultimate goal of the sport, not the killing of the bull.
The famous bullfighting writer and historian José Sánchez de Neira, who also witnessed the exploits of Ponciano Díaz and other Mexican charros such as Agustín Oropeza, explained why Mexicans were far better horsemen and more skilled at bullfighting on horseback than Spaniards, stating in 1889:
And Leopoldo Vázquez, but in his book "América Taurina", stated: