February 19, 2008

PHOENIX – Arizona is one step closer to joining a handful of states that have banned horse tripping, a Mexican-style rodeo event.

The bill, HB 2539, passed unanimously through the House of Representatives’ Water and Agriculture Committee, Thursday, Feb. 7.

According to Representative Kyrsten Sinema (D-Dis.15), the primary sponsor of the legislation, “there still is a lot of work to do before it passes the legislature and gets sent to the Governor.”

Horse tripping involves cowboys forcing a horse into a full gallop. Once up to speed, another horseman lassoes the front or hind legs of the horse, causing it to trip forward at full force.

From the fall, horses often suffer serious and even fatal injuries, including lacerations, broken knees, necks and shoulders, as well as spinal injuries.

“In many cases, the horse is put down or dies of these injuries,” Sinema said.

Arizona is the last southwestern state to ban the rodeo event. As a result, there has been an increase in rodeos featuring it.

“After California, New Mexico and Texas outlawed the practice of horse tripping, it leaves only Arizona amongst the Southwest states allowing this,” Sinema said. “This means that more charro-style rodeos have come to Arizona to engage in these activities.”

But under the proposal, tripping an equine for sport or entertainment would be punishable at a misdemeanor level. If convicted, the accused would face up too six months in jail and made to pay fines up to $2,500.

The proposed bill also establishes sentencing guidelines for second and third-time offenses.

Currently, California, Florida, Illinois, Maine, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas are the only states to have banned it. But Nevada, Wyoming, Colorado and Nebraska are also considering legislation this session.

Horse tripping is not a standard ranching practice anywhere in the U.S., nor is it sanctioned by any American-style rodeo association, such as the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association or International Professional Rodeo Association.

For more than 50 years, the movie and TV industries in the United States have banned airing footage of horse tripping.

But this is where the controversy begins. The Charro Federation publicly stated that experienced charros, the Mexican equivalence of American cowboys, know how to trip a horse without hurting it.

However, the trouble is the delicate bone and muscular alignment of a horse. While many rodeo and charreada events can be considered rough on animals, the structure of most livestock, such as bovines, is a lot hardier than equines.

A horse’s legs can be compared to a human’s legs in the structure of its ankle and hoof. For this reason, if a horse goes lame it will often have to be put down. A cow on the other hand, can be lame and live a long life without complications.

While the humaneness of wrangling can be debated, it is still a practical technique used on many ranches today. Horse tripping, on the other hand is not, and purely serves as a form of entertainment.

The event is unique to the history and culture of charreadas, which originated in 16th century Spain and quickly spread to New Spain, or Mexico. Charreadas include many other cultural events such as parades, costumes, music and riding competitions.

In the 1970s, charreadas first began in the United States as the result of Mexican Americans looking to connect with their identity and stay culturally connected Mexico.

Since so much of charreadas has to do with heritage and family, Hispanic communities often argue that horse tripping events are an important part of their history and should not be banned.

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