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Charros (Mexican cowboys)
By Bonzac Land Banking As a Retirement Strategy - February 2007.
Photos by: http://www.geocities.com/cogs_mx/descripcion.html
A Charro without a horse is not a charro, and for that reason it is indispensable that the theme of charrería (the art of Mexican horsemanship) in Mexico goes back to the time when the Spaniards led by Cortes disembarked in Mexico in 1519, bringing with them 14 horses, an animal that the natives had never seen before and when seeing it ridden by a horseman they mistook it for a single being.
 During their first warlike appearance in Tabasco the Spaniards showed up with 16 horses thus showing the natives the art of horseback riding. The horsemen riding the horses carried armor, special pants and helmets. This cavalry was a huge advantage during the conquest.
Until 1619 natives and creoles even if they were descendants of kings were not allowed to ride horses. It is easy to image how a most remote charro scene took place when the natives and mestizos finally were in charge of horses and cattle. The integration of horseback riding into their rural skills provided the most ancient picture of Mexican charrería which started in a modest way.
With time, the Mexican horseman would become famous for his skill as a herdsman, but a long time had to pass before he would form a part of the mounted civilization because racial discrimination delayed the process. Nevertheless during the century of the conquest the quality of our first horsemen was already acknowledged by Spain.
 The charros consider Don Luis de Velasco I as the inventor of the cowboy saddle and the Mexican bit. He also deserves a special place because his government seal (1550-1565) favored horsemen and caused a boom in horse breeding. Suarez de Peralta, a contemporary historian, great horseback rider and author of a book on horses, narrates that Don Luis de Velasco I was a lover of the natives and that “he had the best stable with the best horses in the world, and he was generous to give a horse to whoever appealed to him.”
People on horseback participated in diverse solemn acts or simply rode because they enjoyed it. When the frequency of military parades was diminished, the parade of the Banner became a big tradition for commemorating the 13th of August (Day of San Hipolito).
During that epoch of the viceroy, all the authorities and monks paraded while showing off luxurious adornments on saddles and spurs, in addition to beautiful jewelry etc. Everyone was marching, from the best dressed to the old conquerors with their armors and buoyed helmets. By themselves they alluded to all the battles in which they had participated. When this parade decayed special games became popular.
 There was no horseman who was not set on participating in these games, whose development and luxury were proverbial. They were organized in order to celebrate the arrival of the viceroys, the sanctification of a church, the oath of a monarch, the onomastics of the leaders etc. Between four to ten horsemen started to attack and then continued simulating combats, displaying their ability and everything was worthy of being admired.
In the 16th century the viceroy Velasco I undertook the conquest of Queretaro (chichimecas) and authorized beasts and arms for two allied native chiefs who were the pioneers of charrería: Nicholas Montañez de San Luis, a noble descendant, as well as the Portuguese Dominican instructor, friar Pedro Barrientos, who taught the natives the breeding and up-keep of horses and the art of dominating them, riding them and running them.
But the person recognized as the top horseback riding teacher was the devout Sebastian de Aparicio (1502-1596), also considered as a mentor infield work (sowing and tracing, stocking and coring the corn, harvesting wheat and beans and irrigation tasks). He was a guide for the natives to show them the job of domesticating and taking advantage of beasts: putting them in front of cart, loading them and then mounting them on a saddle. He instructed the muleteers, he invented a cart drawn by two oxen in order to replace the native as loaders and he taught how to handle a good yoke. He was engaged in agriculture and cattle raising as well as in teaching the natives how to sow corn and wheat. He trained them in taming bovines and, cautiously, in taming horses, a practice or ability which at that time was only allowed to be carried out by the Spaniards. Therefore he is considered as the true precursor of the charrería, a local art that little by little began to spread from the central plateau, mainly from the present state of Hidalgo to the borders of the Viceroyalty.
The horse breeders that provided the expeditionaries with horses were the ones that properly supplied the place or area for the charrería to be born.
At the end of the 18th century, New Spain was frankly a land of horsemen and the Mexican charro with his own characteristics had already appeared.
 On his part Leovigildo Islas Escarcega, when talking about the beginnings of charrería, gives this summary: "when due to the necessities of rural life in relation to managing larger cattle, the use of horses spread without distinction of castes and hierarchies amongst the inhabitants of our country, charrería emerged in midst of the farmhands of the huge haciendas, where there were thousands of horses and bovine animals. Expert herdsmen and bailiffs, rural men ingeneral, carried out admirable maneuvers when they were pacing the land, practicing casting lassos and other skills necessary for branding i.e.or just for fun. For a long time, the execution of these rude tasks was the exclusive dominion of the rural population and during a prolonged time-span it intensified acquiring its own and very singular modalities such as the ability to cast the lasso. Then the mailing of a bull was created and nowhere in the world is it executed like in Mexico."
Mrs. Calderon de la Barca tells us with beautiful words and great refinement how the President, General Anastasio Bustamante, crossed the city on horseback. She talks about his trips on horseback through the Mexican countryside and about his dangers, handling the affairs of branding, of tailing a bull and of bullfighting events with excellence. She talks about the tradition of the horsemen in Mexico which allows us to know something about the atmosphere of the charros in 1843.
In 1930 the Direction of Civic Action of the Department of Mexico City made it an official custom, authorizing charro tournaments and awarding prizes. Given this motivation other disciplines were added such as tailing a bull, casting the lasso, mounting a horse etc. It is undeniable that charros act demonstrating the authenticity of a true Mexican cultural product whose "flavor" of mestizo origin had more than 450 years at its disposal in order to "mature"; however, it was not until 1932 that the day of the c harro began to be celebrated.
The charros were a determining factor in the fight for obtaining political independence and later for maintaining it. Since 1810 we had Mexican patriots who already had the right to possess horses and to be horsemen. They represented an insuperable weapon of the cavalry, because their loads caused great damage and on difficult terrains horses were irreplaceable. Those men on horseback, the herdsmen and charros who rode with elegant outfits were able to penetrate the mountains reaching the most impenetrable places along narrow paths and opening new routes. They could penetrate the forest or scrubs and mezquitales.
On the practical side riding on a Mexican saddle, with lasso, sarape and weapons with lids on the stirrups, offers many advantages as does carrying leather protection over your pants. This makes sense if we remember that the true charro is the person who mounts a horse, tails a bull and casts a lasso and the lasso can serve as an additional and brutal weapon, helping to retain the enemy, to seize guns or Gringos, Belgians and Austrians.
The natives called their wives “china (Chinese woman)” because of their appearance and their oriental atavism; the wives called their husbands “chinaco”, and there are an abundance of pictures with habitual scenes where they appear with their typical dress that varies depending on the epoch. The evolution of clothes is essential for the charrería: it started out with white pants, and then came the herdsman or country outfit followed by a silver, chinaco, rural and charro suit. Together with the dress of the china poblana (woman from Puebla) this latter represents the essence of Mexico.
 Geographically the charros have an area of influence because this art was born in the states of Hidalgo and Mexico and spread over the neighboring borders into the Federal District. From the center of the country it moved towards the Bajio and received its characteristics in Guanajuato, San Luis Potosí, Michoacan, Guerrero, Colima and especially in Jalisco, where the "typical" clothing for the charro and his "china poblana" was invented.
The Mexican Revolution meant an armed fight of the federal army against the mestizo people, who in general were on horseback and well convinced of their cause. The charros, “trained” during the rural tasks on the ranches and haciendas fought in the states of Chihuahua, Durango and Coahuila as members of the civil defense and were quick in defeating the enemy.
Without diminishing the importance of infantry and artillery it must be acknowledged that the most spectacular battles during the revolution were carried out with decision and knack by people on horseback demonstrating their rural skill and trade in their actions.
The revolution left us a heritage of magnificent horsemen such as the generals Joaquin Amaro, Manuel and Maximiliano Avila Camacho, Humberto Mariles among many others. The mounted force of the army is still remarkable and officially charros are considered part of the armed reserve. That is why they are authorized to conclude the military parades of the 16th of September.
The Lienzo (rodeo ring)
 The premises used by the sport charros, including the arena, the stables and any other installation that is used for the activities of the association is called Lienzo. Nevertheless it is necessary to distinguish the lienzo, which is a straight part from the arena which is connected with the first.
The transfer of charro and rural essences to large cities motivated the creation of the Associations and as a consequence the construction of lienzos as ideal places to fulfill the rules, regulations and formalities of the events. Today there are more than 650 throughout the Mexican Republic.
During the twenties the charrería organization produced an uproarious explosion in the spirit of those on "horseback". In those days the charros began to conceive the creation of the first lienzos, and they were inspired by the Toreo bullfighting ring in Mexico City, adding a rectangular extension in order to tail a bull and cast a lasso. Its present measurements were defined and imposed by the Marquis of Guadalupe.
The grounds of a lienzo must have precise characteristics since the display of the competitions partly depends on the good conditions of the site where they take place.
In addition it should have a booth for the judges at a height of 60 meters with sound equipment, a blackboard for the qualifications, a visibly placed chronometer that can be activated from the judges’ stand, bleachers for the attending public and its respective parking areas for the competing charros and the attending public.
Provided by: Bonzac Land Banking
E-mail: info@landbankers101.com
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