Miguel Pascual - President-elect for the Mexican Charreria Federation

Late Sept. 24, 2012, Miguel Pascual, the son of former Mexican Charreria Federation President Carlos Pascual, was elected to be the next president of the same federation. Carlos Pascual says it's the first time in the history of the federation that the son of a former president is elected to such a post.

Miguel Pascual, left, with his father Carlos before a charreada at La Tapatia in Mexico City on Dec. 4, 2010.

Back in 1991, Carlos Pascual supported the integration of women into charreria and put the federation voting council to a vote on the matter. They voted on including (or not) the female-discipline of escaramuza into Mexico's national sport of charreria as an official sport. The vote was 'yes' and the escaramuza was added to the federation's bylaws. Since then, two escaramuza teams enter the arena after the sport of "colas" during a charreada. For decades, before this vote, escaramuza riders waited until charreadas were over to enter arenas. Today, it's hard to imagine a charreada without the sport of the escaramuza.

The Art of the Escaramuza wrote a post about Carlos Pascual because of his contribution to the female sport. Below is an audio-slideshow about the story of the escaramuza including his interview by photojournalist Leslie Mazoch.

Photography Exhibit - Mexico's Ballet Folklorico

A woman in a traditional Mexican dress visits the exhibit.

The outfits worn by the famed "Adelitas," the women of Mexico's Revolution whose clothing inspired today's escaramuza uniform, are on display at a photography exhibit that showcases performances from the last six decades of Mexico's Ballet Folklorico in Chapultepec Park in Mexico City

One of the photographers whose work is on exhibit is graphic artist and charro Emilio Garcia Salazar, whose two daughters are escaramuza riders themselves.

Garcia Salazar attends the show's opening on Sept. 11, 2012

Salazar's photographs are more than photographs. This images looks more like paintings after he adds textures, mixes several images in one and shows movement as waves of blurry color.

If you like Mexican folklore we invite you to take a walk by the gates of Chapulptec Park along the Paseo de la Reforma avenue to see the exhibit.

If you want to learn more about Emilio Garcia Salazar, visit his website

Escaramuza: Riding from the Heart - Documentary Film

Mark your calendars to watch the TV premiere of ESCARAMUZA: Riding from the Heart on Oct. 5.  The US based TV station PBS is showing it on their "Voces" series at 10pm eastern (check your local listings) as part of its Hispanic Heritage Month programming.

This four year film project tells the story of the escaramuza team Las Azaleas from Perris, California, during 2008 and 2009 as they strive to make the final cut to compete among the best escaramuza teams from Mexico and the U.S. at the National Charro Championships in Mexico. They made the cut back in 2009 to compete in Guadalajara, Mexico and will also be at the 2012  competition in Zacatecas, Mexico.

Robin Rosenthal and Bill Yahraus

The film is an unprecedented look into the daily lives of the young team members, first-generation Mexican-American horsewomen, through their life journeys of goal-setting, teamwork, responsibility and sacrifice, which escaramuza riders from both sides of the border can relate to and appreciate.

This kind of intimate look into the real lives of people is characteristic of its makers, the husband-wife team of professional digital film making-artists Robin Rosenthal and  Bill Yahraus. They create long-form documentaries, educational films and industrial films through their company Pony Highway Productions based in southern California. 

 If you can't catch the premier of  ESCARAMUZA: Riding from the Heart in October it will become available for purchase as a DVD on thieir website and you can keep up with the latest news on their Facebook Page.

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