Such unchanged, remarkable tradition of the Pitcher Land, which is shared by many other ranches across the country, has been featured in first class documentaries, such as Cattle Ranches by the History Channel.
On the subject of colas, professor Ms. Kathleen Mullen Sands writes in her brilliant and groundbreaking book in the English language, Charreria Mexicana: An Equestrian Folk Tradition, that it is one of the fanciest and fastest tricks of the charreada.
"It is the event considered most characteristically Mexican because it was first introduced in the Americas on Mexican soil," she states. "The cola is also one of the oldest events of the charreada. It was documented as early as 1568 by a monk who 'witnessed how a horseman galloped behind a bull over a level, wide, spacious plain,' grabbed the tail, and threw it to the ground."
The Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors, arguing that they just wanted to reiterate current state law prohibiting animal cruelty, voted to single out these three suertes charras, absolving from scrutiny circuses and the cowboy rodeo.
In this case, even militant activists, such as Mr. Eric Mills, from Action for Animals, based in Oakland, CA, admitted the Board's unfairness. First, in an email he sent to me, then days later in a letter to the editor section of the San José Mercury News. In the email, he writes that in his opinion "calf roping is harder on the animals than either manganas or colas."
Calf roping, or tie-down roping, is a timed event where a running calf is stopped abruptly by the neck with a nylon lasso, which is dallied around the saddle horn. The cowboy then dismounts quickly, runs to the calf, flanks it, throws it to the ground and ties any three legs together with a piggin string.
Another cowboy event similar to colas is steer wrestling or bulldogging, where a mounted cowboy galloping on the left climbs off onto the back of a running steer, which is kept in a straight line by another cowboy racing on the right, grabs it by the horns and twists its neck and head to a 180 degree angle until brought to the ground.
In the letter, Mr. Mills poses the question: "How in good conscience could the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors approve a 'study' of animal welfare issues only in the Mexican-style rodeos called 'charreadas,' while letting American-style rodeos and circuses with wild animals off the hook?"
He then reaffirms what he said to me: "In the past 30 years I've spent many hours at all three of these questionable 'entertainments.' Charreadas certainly have their problems (e.g., steer tailing and horse tripping). But I've seen far worse abuses in both circuses and rodeos. These two inherently cruel industries should not get a pass from the Board. It's highly unfair to criticize only the Mexican rodeos".
Present at the audience were Mr. Rafael Cabral, president of the California Union of Charro Associations, and his sister Ms. Christina Cabral, who is captain of one of 18 escaramuza female mounted drill teams in California, which perform in the charreada a series of highly complicated and sophisticated maneuvers riding sidesaddle and at full gallop.
Mr. Marcos Franco, vice-president of the US Mexican Federation of Charrería FMdeCh, also attended, along with Mr. Tobías de la Torre, vice-president of the Federación de Charros USA Inc., which offers amateur charro teams the opportunity to practice so they can eventually compete at a higher level.
I, too, was with them, and have been with them, as both a journalist and a concerned citizen with strong Mexican equestrian roots.
My great-grandfather and my grandfather were remarkably talented horsemen and highly educated caballeros. My beloved father inherited the exact same qualities. When I see him and listen to his words, I know I'm seeing and listening to my ancestors.
Mi padre my father, is mi orgullo y mi alegría, my joy and pride. Amidst the incredibly charrísimo fine human beings I sincerely admire and tip off my hat to, he's the only hombre mexicano whom I've been calling my hero since I can remember.
Thanks to him, by age 10, I not only had a handsome horse and a torito bonito to take care of, but also four gorgeous peacocks, two dogs, four swans, two geese, one beautiful rooster and seven chickens, four rabbits, one talking parrot, one singing tzentzontle and about twenty doves that loved to fly around my parents' apple trees and casona with everyone enjoying the breathless sight in the sky.
My gallant father taught me all about taking proper care of my animals. He still does.
"If being surrounded by God's creatures makes you happy," he once said to me when my horse did not want to cooperate and I felt inclined to overuse my quirt, "then the least you can do is treat them right. There is a difference between educating and punishing. Is this understood? Do not let me see you again castigating unnecessarily any of your animals because I'll take them all away from you. ¡Faltaba más!"
In my lienzo y ruedo, my father is the archetype of a true charro mexicano with natural character and a heartfelt love for animals. I am, therefore, as deeply offended as any Mexican American charro is by the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisor's decision, taken after listening to 59 speakers, 37 of which opposed the measure. Each person was given two minutes.
"If I've ever experienced racism, it was inside that room filled with Caucasian people," reflected Ms. Cabral. "We're citizens of the US, we've been practicing our tradition for generations, but to the Board only Caucasians have the right to preserve their tradition, which they borrowed from us. Why?"
Originally written and introduced by Supervisor Mr. Pete McHugh, the approved version was drafted by Mr. Ken Yeager. The other Board's members are Ms. Blanca Alvarado, Ms. Liz Kniss and Mr. Don Gage.
"So, they are already assuming we charros mistreat animals," deduced Mr. Franco right after the audience ended. "What did Supervisor Blanca Alvarado say?"
"She compared our tradition to cockfighting and bull fighting", responded Mr. de la Torre. "Her intention, to me, was to categorize the charreada in the same field so as to make it a tradition not worth saving. Not to be disrespectful, but if these kind of politicians are the ones scrutinizing us, then we need to start educating them right away".
During the audience, the Supervisors' apparent lack of information was reflected in the fact that none of them knew that it is illegal in the state of California to execute manganas or that after the law, AB 49x, went into effect in 1995, the US charros agreed to self-impose a nationwide ban on the practice. The decision was made so all federated charros were subject to the same rules, not because they thought manganas, executed only by the most skillful charros, were in any way harmful to animals.
The Supervisors were not aware either that, beginning January 1, 2008, a new law, AB 1614, classified the charreada as rodeo, making both styles of rodeo subject to the same established laws concerning animal welfare.
"The Supervisors' move to single out our events is unfair and discriminatory," refuted Mr. Cabral. "The cowboy rodeo, whether they want to admit it or not, has two similar events: steer wrestling and calf roping. Yet, they calculatedly turned a blind eye. Their scapegoat? The charro. Don't get me wrong, Memo; you know as well as I do, that no charro opposes the cowboy rodeo; we like it almost as much as our charreada. But we do no appreciate being singled out over and over again. This is about fairness, nothing else."
If AB 1614 legally classifies the charreada as rodeo, are politicians going to interpret the law as "equal but separate" or ignore it altogether as the Supervisors' action seems to dictate? Would it not be considered, by mandating a study in which only the charro is under the loop, a clear violation of the principle of equal protection under the law?
Charro: Confronting Prejudice to Save Tradition I
Charro: Confronting Prejudice to Save Tradition III
Charro: Confronting Prejudice to Save Tradition IV
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