In Santa Ana, Rodeo Is Charreria

Rodeo is as popular in some parts of Mexico as baseball is in the United States, but there’s one big difference.

“The ball’s not going to keep chasing you if it misses you the first time,” said Hector Cruz of Moreno Valley, as he watched the bull riding during Sunday afternoon’s charreria at Santa Ana Stadium.

As the bucking bulls threw their riders, women in the crowd of about 8,000 screamed. And most spectators gasped when the bulls started chasing the clowns -- men wearing multicolored cloth around their waists to distract the animals from the fallen riders.

For 45-year-old Joe Cardena and his 14-year-old brother, who are rodeo clowns from Bakersfield, the charreria is a family tradition.

“It’s important that people don’t forget their heritage,” said the elder Cardena. “Riding and training bulls has been part of my family for a long time.”

The family element is also important to the Bonillas -- from Jose, the promoter who brought the event to the stadium, to his nephew Luis, 6, a solemn-looking child riding a full-sized horse.

The stands continued to fill through the afternoon, with the competing scents of hot dogs and manure in the warm air.

Horse owners Hector Cruz and Eugene Fernandez, who work for Anaheim’s street maintenance department, particularly appreciated the horse tricks. A cowboy walked alongside his platinum-maned white horse as it danced to “La Bamba.” Another stood on his horse as he twirled his lariat first around himself, then both of them.

“Animals that aren’t happy won’t do those things,” Fernandez said.

Charreria grew out of the everyday riding, roping and livestock-handling skills used on Mexican cattle ranches since the 16th century, when the country was part of Spain.

California has been home to a growing number of Mexican rodeos. Santa Ana Stadium hasn’t had one in four years, and Jose Bonilla wants to hold one a month there. He is optimistic enough about the prospects to have improved the concession stands and seating at the stadium. Looking at the lines of ticket buyers stretching to the county jail across the street, he said the gamble has been worth it so far.

“There are so many Hispanics in Santa Ana, but there’s a need for some more culture,” he said. “Kids are forgetting where they came from.”

The keyhole-shaped arena and the 6-foot fence surrounding it stood in the middle of the stadium’s field. Despite the path of wooden planks laid between the arena and the asphalt, horseshoe-shaped imprints covered the grass.

A 12-man band blasted norteno music through the stadium. The songs were gentler during the sole women’s event, escaramuza, in which teams of eight in full lime green petticoats create intricate patterns while riding their horses sidesaddle.

The music sped up during the final event, the paso de la muerte, or “leap of death.” A cowboy must jump from his galloping bareback horse onto a bareback wild horse, then cling to the horse’s mane until it stops bucking.

As the cowboys completed their leaps -- two out of three successfully -- Joe Cardena took a deep breath and wiped his shining forehead.

“I get scared for everybody,” he said. “It’s like second nature to all ... but it still can make your heart stop.”