To foreigners, the word "macho" might have been coined solely to describe the Mexican male, and nothing in the world is more macho than the Mexican vaquero, or charro, and the contest of riding and roping skills known as the Charreria. The sport probably began soon after the Spanish imported the firstcattle herds as hacendados and their hired hands vied with one another, as they had done for centuries back in Spain, showing off their fanciest tricks during roundups.
     There are several versions of the origins of Charreria as a competitive sport. One claims that it all started in Hidalgo when a Spanish picador brought down a bull by catching it by the tail and twisting to become the first coleadero (tail puller). Another maintains that it started in the Los Altos region of Jalisco. In any case, it seems that it all began after the land reforms had deprived the great landowners of their vast holdings and herds. Nostalgically, they began to meet and compete as before; only now as pure sport. The Asociación Nacional de Charros was founded in 1921 and their rodeos became such a true national sport that Charro Day, September 14th, is now a National holiday and charros are sung aboutin the Mexican National Anthem.

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