Rodeo!

Wham! Bam! Oof mooo The steer slammed into the barricade, its front flanks pinned by the horses shoulder. a second horseman maneuvered to the front of the steer blocking his way. The steer, hemmed in tight by the horses, wriggled free and took off in the opposite direction from which it had been charging seconds ago. Welcome to Chilean rodeo; no lassoes, no grabbing the steer, just two horsemen directing a lively steer about the ring. Once or twice the steer made a lunge to jump out of the ring and we realized why all the front row seats were empty.
Rodeo in Chilean seems to be a cross between US cowboy rodeo and gentlemanly equestrianism. When we first arrived, horses were going through formations such as a figure eight, a 20 yard sprint, turn, sprint and stop quick, reverse and walk. Points were awarded for the best styled horse and rider. Lucky for us our neighbor Luis was in attendance and filled us in on the finer points of rodeo. Luis was in full Chilean gentleman garb, we figured he was just being his usual sharp self. Only after the national anthem was played and dignitaries walked to the center to officially open the rodeo did we find out that our neighbor is Don Luis, el Secretario General del Associacion Rodeo de Chiloe. We were getting play by play from the kingpin himself! Gabi of course posed with el Secretario for the paparazzi.

The 20 two man teams made an arc on the inside of the ring. Gates closed off the ring at 5 and 8 o'clock. The first pair of riders stood ready in the closed football shaped section of the ring. The steer was released from a chute at 5 o'clock. The riders made chase, keeping the steer on course to run clockwise about the enclosure. When the steer ran into the pointed corner of the enclosure the horses nudged, shoved or body checked the steer to turn him about to run down the other side. More than once a steer make a break in a different direction. The second horse man cut to the side and blocked off the errant route.
After two laps in the small enclosure, the 8 o'clock gate was opened and the steer ran clockwise about the ring. Again the horses rode alongside to block the steer from running to the center of the ring. This time however there was the challenge of turning the steer 180 degrees when it had reached 4 o'clock on the ring. It this part of the competition, the horseman had to direct the steer along the C shaped upper portion of the ring between 8'oclock and 5 o'clock. As the steer reached the ends of the C arc, the horseman had to get the steer to turn around in a space demarcated by red flags. If the steer moved beyond the flags or turned before the flags, points were taken off. With all the pounding of horses and steer hooves, the dust flew. We were real campesinos when we got home, slapping the dust off our clothes before we went inside.