page_title: Charro
section_title: Origins
hierarchical_section_title: Charro / Origins
caption_attribution_description: Charros competing in a charreada in Teapa, charreria
context_page_description: A charro is a traditional horseman from Mexico, originating in the central regions primarily in the states of Hidalgo, Nayarit, Jalisco, Colima, Michoacán, Zacatecas, Durango, Chihuahua, Aguascalientes, Querétaro, Guanajuato and Mexico State. The vaquero and ranchero are similar to the charro but different in culture, etiquette, mannerism, clothing, tradition and social status. The inhabitants of southern Salamanca are also called "charros". Among these, the inhabitants of the regions of Alba, Vitigudino, Ciudad Rodrigo and Ledesma are specifically known for their traditional "ganadería" heritage and colorful glitzy clothing.
  Charreada has become the official sport of Mexico and maintains traditional rules and regulations in effect from colonial times up to the Mexican Revolution.
context_section_description: The Viceroyalty of New Spain had prohibited Native Americans from riding or owning horses, with the exception of the Tlaxcaltec nobility, other allied chieftains, and their descendants. However, cattle raising required the use of horses, for which farmers would hire cowboys who were preferably mestizo and, rarely, Indians. Some of the requirements for riding a horse were that one had to be employed by a plantation, had to use saddles that differed from those used by the military, and had to wear leather clothing from which the term "cuerudo" (leathered one) originated.
  Over time landowners and their employees, starting with those living in the Mexican Plateau and later the rest of the country, adapted their cowboy style to better suit the Mexican terrain and temperature, evolving away from the Spanish style of cattle raising. After the Mexican War of Independence horse riding grew in popularity. Many riders of mixed race became mounted mercenaries, messengers and plantation workers. Originally known as Chinacos, these horsemen later became the modern "vaqueros". Wealthy plantation owners would often acquire decorated versions of the distinctive Charro clothing and horse harness to display their status in the community. Poorer riders would also equip their horses with harness made from agave or would border their saddles with chamois skin.
caption: Charros competing in a charreada in Mexico
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