Browsing Tag

mexican rodeo

What the Heck is Mexican Rodeo? 

Although I had been involved with horses since I was a small child I had never seen a Mexican rodeo or met anyone that did Mexican rodeo. I didn’t know it existed, until about 10. years ago. That is when one of my employees took me to one. I was mesmerized. I was fascinated. I loved the music. I loved the beautiful costumes. I loved the gorgeous horses. I especially appreciated the entire families with grandmas aunts uncles and lots of kids all together celebrating their culture. I was hooked.

So we built a Lienzo (a Mexican rodeo arena), got it certified by the Federation National de Mexico and have been doing rodeo ever since.

Here are pictures of our men’s and women’s teams. You’ll see what I mean by beauty and pageantry.

Sandy Valley Ranch Escaramuza

escaramuza

We are very excited about our escaramuza team! What is an escaramuza team? You ask. It is a group of eight women wearing beautiful Adelita dresses so full that they cover the backs of their horses. They perform intricate drills on horseback. And they do this riding sidesaddle.

The escaramuzas are the tenth event of a Charreada or Mexican Rodeo. The tradition goes back hundreds of years to the Mexican war of independence against Spain. The Mexican army was sadly out numbered, out horsed, and out gunned. So the women were enlisted to ride out and create dust to fool the Spanish army into thinking the Mexicans were coming from that direction when in reality they were attacking from behind. Women to the rescue hundreds of years ago, and the tradition is lovingly preserved.

Our team is one of 197 teams in the US and one of only 8 of those teams to be invited to the world finals of Mexican rodeo in Hidalgo Mexico. What an amazing accomplishment!!! They are only a three-year-old team and were competing against teams that have been in existence for decades. Plus they had to use borrowed horses because it wasn’t feasible to import their own horses.

Watch this link and you’ll know why we are so proud!!! WE LOVE YOU CORONELAS DE SANDY VALLEY RANCH!!!!!