Rodeos

In Chile, the rodeo is different from those I have seen in the USA. However it was still a great demonstration of horsemanship which we enjoyed watching. We had learned beforehand that there are three levels of rodeos in Chile and that we were attending one in the middle level - not the best but - like championship football or perhaps the SPL - still a good show.

Having finally found the medialuna (stadium) and discovered that we were a couple of hours early for the start of the final session (after the elimination stages) we managed to find a very pleasant restaurant on the outskirts of San Esteban for a late lunch. We arrived back just in time for the start of proceedings and the playing of the national anthem.

32 Horsemen had paraded into the ring and after some additional preliminaries, they commenced the action which required them - in pairs - to corral a calf which was released into the ring and in three or four passes to pinion it against a cushioned barrier. Clearly there was a level of skill required above the basic horsemanship and our neighbours in the stands were fairly vocal in their praise and condemnation of the efforts of the riders. (*)

It appeared - from the regular cry of 'zero puntos' from the announcer - that the judges were hard to please but there were great cheers for the few who managed a score of 'quattro puntos'.

After a couple of hours, realising that we lacked the knowledge to know what was actually going on, we retired to the hotel bar and pool to watch the sunset and reflect on the experience.

* Linda took copious photos of the spectacle but unfortunately they were somehow lost in the process of downloading them to the web