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MANGANA AND PIALES (HORSES TRIPPING)
ARE SAFE!
PETA AND THE HSUS ARE WRONG
For years the animal rights fanatics, have accused the charros of being barbaric and cruel because of mangana.and piales Their charges have been based on lies and half truths. Charros, the original cowboys, have four hundred years of dealing with large dangerous animals on the open range. This experience has evolved into the tradition known as charreada. The charros methods of animal care are part of the tradition of Charreada. This includes mangana and piales.
Mangana is the securing of a large dangerous animal by catching its front legs.The opponents of mangana claim, that most of the horses used in mangana die or have to be put down. This belief is based on a silly study done by Cathleen Doyle (CALIFORNIA EQUINE COUNCIL). In her so-called study, she says that 75 horses were used in mangana during a season. Of those 75, all but 2 were sent to slaughter. What she does not say, is that the 73 horse were injured in mangana, or that the horses had been destined for slaughter, even if they had never been in the lienzo (Charro arena). In fact, the only description of mangana she has ever made, is about a skinny mare, that was killed in a capture. You can see a picture of the death in a link on this web page. That was in 1993. Because of the way she munipulated the truth in her silly study, the Charros refer to Doyle, as the "Queen of the half truth".
This is an excerpt from an The Arabian Horse Rescue Network plea for money:
On June 20, 1998, Rose Ann and AHRN volunteer Trish Warr went to the feedlot to look at an Arabian mare who had come in. As they walked around the pens, almost simultaneously they saw a beautiful black-bay Arabian gelding who looked as if he had been through some terrifying times. As they approached to look at him, his ears went back, and his mouth and nostrils tensed. His hooves were very long, his mane and tail had not been bathed or brushed for months, but worst of all were the horrendous scars he wore. His back was covered in old and fresh wounds, and what appeared to be severe whip marks. In addition to the injuries to his back, his lower legs showed lacerations from ropes.
He was brought in, according to the feedlot owner, by several charros who said he no longer ran. This, coupled with the fact that he was covered in wounds, could mean only one thing. The gelding had been used in the horse-tripping event of the Mexican Charreada Rodeo. Although it has been outlawed in California, it continues to be a feature of the charro rodeo. It involves a charro on horseback who pursues a fleeing horse. The goal is to rope the front or back legs, and trip the horse to the ground.
http://www.ahrn.org/ahw/02ahrn.htm
The Equus Sanctuary web page says this, and then ask for money:
“Charros keep tripping horses until they're lame, or until the season's up and the go to the slaughter," says Cathleen Doyle, president of the California Equine Council, which promotes responsible horsemanship. “Horses break legs, necks and teeth. They fracture their shoulders, and batter their knees and hocks. You can see deep gashes on their faces, shoulders, hips, legs and heels. The ropes often burn their flesh down to the bone.” |
What these people are saying is just absolute nonsense. The first reason you know it is not true, is the absence of verification. If these AR fanatics had found horses in this type of condition, there would have been dozens of police reports. There also would have been hundreds of pictures, black and white and color. There would have been thousands of videos. Furthermore, I have been around livestock most of my life and I have never seen a laceration caused by ropes on a horses legs. I have seen rope burns on horses legs. They have always been caused by the same thing. Somebody tries to save money and stakes a horse out to graze, with a rope tied to its halter and the end tied to a tree or fence post. The horse gets the rope tangled up in its legs, tries to free itself and repeatedly works the rope around its leg or legs. After a while you will have a rope burn. In both mangana and piales, the rope is just not on the horse long enough to cause a rope burn.
I have seen horses with lacerations on their legs. These were cause by the horses kicking each other, or getting their legs tangled in bailing wire. I have even seen a horse cut up pretty bad when it spooked and ran into a barb wire fence. This nonsense about the horses being injured in mangana or piales is just silly. The problem is too many people take it seriously. So serious that a few states have outlawed mangana and piales.
There are over three hundred videos of mangana linked to this web page. In each, the horse gets up after the capture and trots away. These videos were placed here as a result of a challenge of Eric Mills, of action for animals. He said I would never put up videos of mangana. When I did put up the videos, I asked him if his position had changed. He replied, “even if you put up 1000 videos, I would still oppose it”. He said it was because he saw a skinny mare used in mangana the hit a wall and deficated on herself. Well, watch the 300 videos and see if you see any mares hitting the wall or deficating on themselves. If you don't have time to watch all 300 videos, watch this:
It is 22 straight captures, where the horses do not get so much as a scratch and none of them ever touches the wall.
Why would these fanatics maintain their opposition, in face of proof. Because there is too much money in it. PETA, HSUS, Doyle and Mills, all operate some sort of animal rights operation. They all pander to racism to raise money. Racism is a much easier sell in the USA, then taking on other equestrian events like steeplechase and cross country, which are more dangerous to horses then Charreria, but have big money behind them. ( Go to the horse accident videos on this page to see what I mean)
Some fanatics try to say that even the Federation of Charros, support the ban on mangana, by pointing to the rule that says you cannot do traditional mangana in the United States. This rule came about when Eric Mills and Cathleen Doyle, were able to sneak a law banning traditional mangana, during a special session of the California Legislature. An original bill failed to pass during the regular session. Since the Charros of California would be at a disadvantage, in competitions outside that state, it was agreed to stop the capture of the horses. It had nothing to do with any non-existant danger to the horses, as evidenced by the fact, the same rules allow you to do traditional mangana at Federated events in Mexico.
Many of the opponents of mangana say, that even the loss of one horse is too much. When you point out that over 50,000 children are hospitalized and between 5 and 10 die each year,as a result of injuries in high school football, they respond with arguement that, the students get to choose to participate. When you ask if steers should agree to be hamburger or chickens if they want to be fried? The usual response is, horses are different. How they are different is not explained. The fact is most of the world considers equines, just another source of protein and left to their own devices, horses will eat, poop and procreate. In their spare time they will fight with each other. Furthermore, if you look around your house, you will find some horse product, just under some pseudonym. This is especially true if you have cats and dogs.
When it becomes apparent that the Fanatics argument about dangers to the animals are not true, the Animal Rights Fanatics resort to trivializing the importance of sport. They announce that the use of animals is sport is not important. The most aggressive of these is Eric Mills. This is a man who has never owned any livestock. He has never taken care of horses or cattle. He is totally ignorant of what they are capable of or how they react. Yet, in all his ignorance, he is so arrogant, so as to tell people who have been taking care of livestock all their lives, what to do.
He also does not understand the importance of sport in peoples lives. We have been playing sports since before the Parthenon was built. It is part of our humanity. It is what helps hold society together. In Charreria, the family is the basis of the sport. Formalized Charrerada began after the Revolution of 1910. Trying to reunite the country after a decade of civil war, various states began schools to teach the rural ways that had been lost. While before the Revolution, the Hacienda had been the basis of teams, after the renewal, the family became the basis of teams. It is not unusual for teams to be composed of fathers and mothers, sons and daughters. It is not unusual to find third, fourth and even fifth generation Charros and Charras. That is why, when you see children in the traje of the Charro, you know they are part of the Charro Family, and they will not be involved in drive-by shootings or drugs.
The reason I believe in mangana is a responsible method of animal control, is because of an instance where its use helped save both a horse and some children. In 1992, I had a black stud horse, I loaned to a friend for breading. He was a strong horse and was a little bit mean. When he came back he was just crazy. I have the impression that during the two weeks he was gone, he was let loose to run, with a number of mares in heat.
The day after he was returned, the hand who took care of him, was taking him out of his stable, to put him on a pole where he would spend the day. Charro do this, so the animal feels the control of the halter. When he got near a mare that was not in heat, he reared up and got away. The stud took off after a mare. She rebuffed his approach by kicking him just as hard a she could. He would not take no for an answer and he went after her again and she continued kicking him. One of the guys, who were nearby, threw a rope around his neck. This just got him madder, and he jerked the rope out of the roper’s hands and took off down a road towards where some children were playing. That’s when I saw mangana work.
A short small Charro threw a loop around the front legs of the crazed animal. Down he went on the road. Three of us got to him at about the same time. I grabbed the original lead rope and a second lead rope was attached on him. Someone grabbed the rope around his neck. When we had him sort of under control, the loop on his legs was released and the three of use got him into a corral. He lost his masculinity the next week. I figured he was going to hurt someone and it was probably going to be me.
That horse was a great cola horse, another event the fanatics do not like. He was 25 years old when I gave him to a friend of my wife, She said he reminded her of her grandfather, independant and a little head strong, but still a good saddle horse.He suffered from no injuries, even though he was captured on a gravel road.
Not content with lieing about mangana, now Eric Mills wants to stop piales. He claims that it is more dangerous then mangana. Again, this man who has no experience with livestock, has no proof. Piales is roping the back legs of a running horse and bringing it to a stop. In all my years as a Charro, I have never seen a horse injured in piales, not even slightly. I have seen Charros hurt, since the horse is stopped by letting the rope slide around the saddle horn with just enough force to bring the horse to a stop, without making it fall. A Charros can lose a finger or thumb, if he lets it get cought between the running rope and the saddle horn. You can usually tell who is a committed pialeador by shaking his right hand.
During the 2011, failed attempt to outlaw mangana and piales in Nevada, the rhetoric of the animal rights fanatics, reached a new low. Willis Lamm, who runs his own animal rights front, WILD HORSE RANCH, said the mangana and piales are shaddow sports, akin to dog fighting. Of course dog fighting is illegal in all 50 states and does not have any purpose in animal husbandry, while catching horses by there legs does. Even in the few states where the legislatures were duped into outlawing mangana and piales, the law recognizes that capturing a horse by its legs has a legitimate use in animal husbandry. That is why each of those states allows this type of capture for veterinarian care, branding and identification. Capturing horses by their legs, has been part of ranch work for hundreds of years. Therefore, it is properly part of a celebration of traditional ranch work. That is what Charreada is. So Lamm, should take his racist ranting and go hide up in the Sierras, where no decent person has to look on his face
Since both mangana and piales have a practical use in animal husbandry, and both events are no more dangerous to horses then other equestrian events, there is no reason for them to be illegal. So both events, should remain legal in those states that have not outlawed them and those few states that were duped into banning them should make them legal.
We have over 300 videos of horses being ropped by their legs and are not hurt. Apparently this is not enough proof for the so called Animal Rights fanatics. They still promulgate their propaganda that mangana and piales as being cruel and barbaric, even though there is no empirical evidence to support their position. Recently, I was contacted by Miguel Escamilla, who proposed a joint scientific study comparing the dangers to animals in charreria, to the dangers to animals, in other equistrian events, including rodeo, steeplechase and eventing. I forwarded his idea to Eric Mills. So far I have been ignored. This makes me believe that they so called animal rights advocates are more interested in rhetoric then truth. So, I will formally challenge, Cathleen Doyle, Eric Mills, Willis Lamm, Shark, the Humane Society, and the Animal Defense Fund, to put up or shut up. Let’s find out what the truth is..