Oregon Public Broadcasting

You’re used to seeing taco trucks and Mexican grocery stores. But there’s a new import heading north.

It’s Mexican rodeo. It’s different from the American version. It’s also controversial. We sent correspondent Anna King to a Mexican rodeo in Outlook, a small town in Eastern Washington.

A rodeo announcer whips up the crowd in a dusty arena. A dozen Hispanic cowboys prance their horses to the live music.

Several cowboys watch the bull riding action from atop their horses at a Mexican rodeo in Outlook, Washington.

Mostly Hispanic onlookers watch from the scalding concrete bleachers. They sip on chilled horchata, or rice water, and cans of Modelo beer with salted limes.

This is a jaripeo, or Mexican rodeo.

The colorful events are becoming increasingly popular in the West. They’ve started up lately in Hermiston, and Salem, Oregon and Toppenish and Puyallup, Washington.

Hugo Aguilar is a 26-year-old dairy worker from Sunnyside, Washington. He says the rodeo feels like home – Hidalgo, Mexico.

Hugo Aguilar: "The music, the bull riding, the bulls, the horses, hanging out with friends and talking and having a beer."

One reason Mexican rodeo is becoming more popular is money. Hispanics are becoming more affluent. They can pay the $30 entrance fee to this rodeo most every weekend. And the cowboys participating can afford the horses.

Take Ruben Villasenior, who sits atop a dappled gray Andalusian.

Ruben Villasenior: "A lot of people are establishing more here. More people are getting better jobs. They are citizens. And so they are in a position to own horses, so I think that is why."

The rodeo is as much about music as the events in the arena. In fact, depending on the bands playing, an event can sell out or draw a sparse crowd.

Couples dance in the gravel after a recent Mexican rodeo in Outlook, Washington.

At this rodeo, the bull riding is much different from an American-style rodeo. Yeah, bull riders hang on for dear life. But instead of the American eight-second ride, these cowboys hang on until the bull gets tired or they fall off. All the while the band plays at a deafening level.

And unlike American rodeos which seem stringently controlled, this rodeo verges on pandemonium.

It’s kind of like every guy is just like running around doing his own thing. And then the bull comes out sometimes and people scatter and then people run around some more.

Jesus Mota: "I concur."

That’s my friend and interpreter, Jesus Mota.

Jesus Mota: "It kind of is. It’s not strictly organized. It’s confusing sometimes what’s going on."

But Mexican rodeos are controversial. One event called horse tripping is especially hated by Stacey Segal with the Humane Society of the United States. That’s when a cowboy on foot ropes the legs of a galloping horse and pulls the animal down.

Stacey Segal: "I’ve actually met some horses that have been victims of this at rescues. Not only does it physically harm them, but the mental damage that it does to these horses is just horrendous. They are very fearful and mistrusting because of the treatment they’ve received."

Segal says horse tripping is outlawed in more than a half-dozen states, but not in the Pacific Northwest. Still, the controversy over the treatment of animals doesn’t appear to be slowing down the popularity of Mexican rodeo.

Ultimately, the rodeos are places to see and be seen: Men in boots, shirts and belts that all match. Women in tight-fitting corsets and stiletto heels.

The rodeo ends. But behind the arena another band starts to play.

Couples dance closely in the gravel.