is a traditional

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

n and

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...

n sport, very similar to a

rodeo Rodeo () is a competitive equestrian sport that arose out of the working practices of cattle herding in Spain and Mexico, expanding throughout the Americas and to other nations. It was originally based on the skills required of the working va ...

, where a small group of

llanero A (, ‘plainsman’) is a South American herder. The name is taken from the Llanos grasslands occupying eastern Colombia and western-central Venezuela. During the Spanish American wars of independence, lancers and cavalry served in both ar ...

s (cowboys) on horseback pursue cattle at high speeds through a narrow pathway (called a ) in order to drop or tumble them. are usually presented as a side attraction to a larger event, such as a religious festival. They are very popular in

and in parts of

, mostly in the plains (

llanos The Llanos (Spanish ''Los Llanos'', "The Plains"; ) is a vast tropical grassland plain situated to the east of the Andes in Colombia and Venezuela, in northwestern South America. It is an ecoregion of the tropical and subtropical grasslands, sav ...

). A starts with the participants and a calf or bull (this depends on the age and stature of the competitors) locked behind a trap door. The trap door leads to a narrow earthen pathway about long with high guard rails, open at the other end. When a judge gives a signal, the calf is set loose and starts running. A couple of seconds later, the riders are released and they race to grab the calf by its tail. The rider who accomplishes this first will increase speed, dragging the calf until it finally stumbles. The object is to accomplish this in the shortest time. can be a dangerous sport, and most of the participants are male. However in which all the contestants are female are not uncommon. Accidents can happen, because the riders compete aggressively and ride at high speed with minimal bodily protection. Additionally, some spectators attend sitting on top of the high guard rails, and the occasional excited or drunken spectator may fall or collide with the riders or the bull itself.

References

*Romero, Simon
"Venezuela’s Passion: Twisting the Tail of an Angry Beast".
''The New York Times''. 2006-09-10 Equestrian sports Sport in Venezuela Equestrian sports in Venezuela Equestrian sports in Colombia Sport in Colombia Working stock horse sports {{equestrian-stub