Public Story
The Youth in Charreria
THE YOUTH IN CHARRERIA
Evolving from traditions brought from Spain in the 16th century, the first charrerías were horse competitions opposing workers from different haciendas in Mexico. After the dissolution of the haciendas by the Mexican Revolution, the charros (or riders) saw their traditions slowly disappear.They were united in 1921 to form the Asociación Nacional de Charros (ANC) to maintain the living charrería tradition. In the 1970s, the brand new Federación Mexicana de Charrería (AMC) was responsible for establishing the official rules.
Today, among the competitions organized all over Mexico, one of them is reserved for children and teenagers. For 20 days more than 22,000 Mexican and Mexican girls participate in various competitions to elect national champions.
Since 2016, charrería has become Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity of UNESCO.