Day 56 - 23 Feb - Puerta Vallarta

Photo: The Littlest Cabilliaro. Even though he had to be 'tied in', he knew that if he pulled on the rope, the horse would back up. He kept the crowd entertained without knowing he was doing it. Wouldn't Ty look cute as a Cabilliaro?

We had the most amazing day! I'd seen posters for a 'Mexican Charra' which is their version of a rodeo, that is being held in PV for 4 days. One of the boys at the resort told us a bit about it and then we went on the PV Events website and got more info. End result...we spent the day watching Caballiaros and a whole lot of Caballiaro-wantabees doing some amazing things in the ring.

We arrived shortly after 10 am and the shindig started at 11 am so we had time to browse some of the 10 or 12 flea-market-type stalls that had been set up. A lot of it was horse-related...Kim would have been in seventh heaven...and saw a beautiful saddle with hammer silver horn and decoration. It was a real work of art. Mexico is known for it's leather work so there were belts and wallets, all hand-made, as well as hand-made sombreros...the REAL ones and not the bespangled ones the tourists wear. Lots of stands for food and bars set up & ready to serve tequilla (they love it with Clamato juice or soda water).

Knowing that it was going to be too hot to sit in the sun, we got seats under the canopy and settled in, not really understanding what the whole thing was about. We knew it wasn't going to be a rodeo in the North American sense but were keen to see the event. Fortunately, a Mexican sat down beside us who spoke excellent English and gave us a very good outline of the events as well as lots of colour commentary as the day went on.

There were 12 ranches represented, consisting of 5 or 6-man teams, depending on the event. It's a process of elimination so that the final day (tomorrow) will be competition between the best of the best. The man told us that these 12 ranches were owned by gazillionaires who own most of the open range land in Mexico and the horses and riders that are represented, are very talented and this is what they do for a living...travelling to the Charras in Mexico to represent their particular home ranches.

The events were amazing...these guys are champion at doing that Mexican rope thing where they twirl the rope around them, around their horse, dance through it, etc. but the objective is also to be able to rope the back legs of a horse while their team-mates drive the horse at top speed past the 'rope-er'. Another event was bronco riding and once the fellow jumped off the back of the horse, another roped it around the next and yet another roped the two back legs.

The funniest part of the competition was the bull-riding. As soon as I heard that was coming, I rushed down to the ringside to get the best photos. Well, the bull is smaller than we are used to seeing--in fact a couple of times the rider had to keep his knees tucked up so they wouldn't drag on the ground--and more than once the bull bucked a couple of times and then just gave up and stood there! If I remember correctly, the object was to rope the bull front and back and get him on the ground.

The best competition was horse roping...the riders had a horse go by them at top speed and from the back of their horse, had to rope the speeders two back legs, and stop him by putting the rope around their saddle horn. When they wrapped the rope around the horn successfully, the tension of the rope slowing the speeding horse would actually 'burn' the saddle horn and create smoke. It was awesome! The don't use American-type saddles...the horns on theirs are much bigger and rounder and I guess it's for that purpose.

We had frajitas for lunch...Mexican style...no guacamole, cheese, or rice Tim...just salsa and onions...and it was delicious! We normally don't eat from the food stands but this was being barbequed and eaten as fast as they could make it so probably the safest thing there. I got some great people shots...every little boy there had a cowboy hat on and had a length of rope over his arm...they all wanted to be a Cabilliaro. A few were in full gear and too cute for words. Too bad they weren't selling those or Ty would have had one, I'm sure! I took 350 pictures so it will take me a day or two to go through them, delete the duds and get the best on Facebook.

All in all, a terrific day. We got home about 5 pm, and it's now 8 pm and no hunger pains yet. I'm thinking it's going to be scrambled eggs & toast tonight...we are too pooped to think about going to a restaurant. Until next time, our love to you all...