Federación Mexicana de Charrería Federación Mexicana de Charrería The Federación Mexicana de Charrería (Mexican Federation of Charreria) regulates "charrería" events in Mexico. "Charrería", officially the National Sport of Mexico, consists of a series of Mexican equestrian events rooted in the horsemanship brought over from Spain during their conquest of the New World. The most noted event is the "charreada", or Mexican rodeo. Originally chartered on December 16, 1933, in Mexico City as the "Federación Nacional de Charros" (National Federation of Charros), the purpose was to unify all the various "charro" organizations. The "charros" had organized themselves during the 1920s to preserve the customs and
Charreada the art, evolved from the traditions that came to Mexico from Salamanca, Spain in the 16th century. When the Spanish first settled in Colonial Mexico, they were under orders to raise horses, but not to allow Native Americans to ride. However, by 1528 the Spanish had very large cattle-raising estates and found it necessary to employ indigenous people as vaqueros or herdsman, who soon became excellent horsemen. Smaller landholders, known as rancheros or ranchers, were the first genuine charros and they are credited as the inventors of the charreada. Prior to the Mexican Revolution, ranch work competitions were generally between