Enjoying the Culture 169roping or riding of untamed bulls and calves. The huaso is
part of a team, including a horse and a partner. The horses
were brought by the Spanish and are unique to Chile—not
too tall, yet strong and intelligent. Before the actual rodeo
begins the riders perform individual tests of agility. These
tests are judged and scored. There is a series of exercises;
first the huaso walks his mount on a loose rein to prove the
gait of the horse, which should be constant, firm and rapid.
Then the horse and rider gallop back and forth in a straight
line making dramatic about-faces, which the horse should
make by turning its body while on its hind legs. Figure eights
and circles test the speed and handling of the horses. Just
when the mount has become excited, it must calm down
as the rider dismounts and walks several paces away. The
horse must remain perfectly motionless or it loses points.
The huaso rodeo consists of only one event—calf-pinning.
Huasos have elevated this competition to a complex art
form. The huaso rodeo takes place in a 40-metre arena. The
ring is divided into two parts, each called a medialuna or
half-moon. A pair of huasos enters the medialuna and wait
for the young bull. This calf, like the bulls at the corridas in
Spain, is supposed to have never entered a medialuna before
to safeguard the purity of its reactions. Although the huaso
team works together, they do not have equal responsibilities
while attempting to pin the calf. One horseman must guide
the calf around the medialuna while the other follows behind
the calf pushing. The pair must herd the calf around the ring
twice before pinning it against a specially marked area of the
railing. Each rider has three turns to pin the calf against the
timber fence. Then the riders change places and run in the
opposite direction, repeating the performance in reverse.
All this happens while the audience cheers, listens to live
folk music, eats empanadas, drinks wine and chooses the
‘Queen’ of the Rodeo.
Cuasimodo
Huasos also play an integral role in the religious festival
of Cuasimodo. Observed on the Sunday following Easter
Sunday, Cuasimodo is celebrated throughout the entire