The National Cowgirl Museum in Fort Worth had a big weekend celebrating esacaramuza charra, horsewomen who compete in the rodeo arena sidesaddle. The sport of escaramuza consists of an eight-member team of equestrians executing intricate patterns at a gallop. It’s the only event for women in charreria, the official national sport of Mexico.
The sport found its way into Texas and the U.S, and the Cowgirl Museum is celebrating the girls and women who compete. Escaramuza teams from across the country were invited to The Cowgirl Museum for the Third Annual Escaramuza Recognition Ceremony.
Luis Rodriguez Bucio, the head of the Mexican Consulate in Dallas, called the women “guardians of tradition and ambassadors of Mexican culture.”
The event honored the first escaramuza team in the U.S. and two women for their decades of work founding teams and continuing a cultural tradition that began more than a hundred years ago in Mexico.
Five teams, including two from Texas – Dinastia Charra in Alvarado and Villa de Guadalupe in Brownsville – were awarded grants of $2,000 each.
For a few hours this weekend, a sport often overlooked and the women who compete were celebrated.
“Overlooked is almost an understatement,” said Diana Vela, the associate executive director at the museum. “These escaramuzas put in as much time as any elite athlete, but they don’t have the four and five-figure sponsorships that they do.”
That’s why the National Cowgirl Museum established and awarded the first-ever educational scholarship exclusively for escaramuzas enrolling in higher education.
“This means the entire world to me. For me, I’m the first in my family to go to college. I’m the first-generation escaramuza in my family as well. So, to be able to get this scholarship and represent such a big moment in cowgirl media history is remarkable,” said scholarship winner Samantha Quintanar, a student at Boise State University who will graduate in May as a pediatric nurse.
“My family has always been involved (in charro). My dad was a participant, and my little brothers, as well. But there was never any female representation in my family, and they encouraged me and supported me. I started when I was 10 years old. I took a small break, and I started again when I was 20 and just kept going,” she said.
“I love the roots. I love the culture. It keeps me connected to my family,” she said. “For me, you know, growing up in Idaho, there’s not much representation, so being able to be that representation means a lot to me.”
The Soldaderas to Amazonas: Escaramuzas Charras exhibit on display at The Cowgirl explores the ties between the modern-day escaramuza charra and the soldaderas of the Mexican revolution a century ago, those women who assisted in the revolt against oppressive Mexican government forces.
The exhibition includes adelita-inspired dresses, trajes de charra, sombreros, rebozos, boots, and matching tack, with changeouts supporting different themes within escaramuza.
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