At the Bull Ring

Well over a month ago I promised photos from the bull ring after the Paseo de Chagra and I'm finally going to fulfill that promise.

After the parade through town, I went out to the Plaza del Toros (Bull Ring) and saw the same horses and rides as I saw in the parade but this time they were performing much more seriously--this time they were being judged and there were awards to be had.

Let's start with the horses and move on to a few other things in posts to come.

One of the more popular exhibitions was two horses, one on either end of the arena, one with a rider and one without, both holding tight with a rope as if in a tug of war.  I'm sure there are myriad uses for this skill out on the ranch but I don't have a clue what they are.  I just know the horses were beautiful and quite impressive.

Several of the horsemen crawling around underneath their horses as the horse patiently stood very still and let the crazy guy play in the dirt.  Again, it really was an impressive display of control.

It was great fun to watch the group stand on their horses' saddles as they presented themselves to the judges. Not all of the groups did this but several did.  It never ceased to amaze me, especially with the younger riders.

I absolutely love the chaps this guy is wearing.  I wish you could see the beautiful tooling on the leather.

This guy reminded me of something out of a mid-20th-century Western. The horse was absolutely beautiful and extremely well-behaved.

Another example of a horse pulling for dear life on a rope being pulled on in the opposite direction by another horse.  This guy wasn't about to give up.

 Group crawling around under very patient horses.

I'm guessing the precision it takes to ride side-by-side at a canter has to be right up there and these fellows did a full circuit around the ring.

 Time for a little rest for both horse and rider.

I'm not sure I'd want to have a horse wrap his front legs around me but the crowd loved it (including me).

This was great fun but the best is yet to come.  Coming up: Bulls