Today’s Mexican charros are more sportsmen than cowboys or ranchers. On September 14, the day before the Mexico Festival of Independence, many of the charro associations organize parades and rodeos. The jaripeo, or rodeo, generally consists of 10 or more events involving special horse-handling skills and exhibitions of various tricks. Perhaps the most difficult trick is the paso de la muerte (death’s pass), in which the charro pursues a wild horse, switching from his own horse’s saddle to the back of the wild horse at full gallop. Discuss