In 1910-1920, during the Mexican Revolution, women soldiers fought against dictatorship alongside the men. Even with bullets strapped to their chests and guns in their arms, they had to wear dresses and ride side saddle.
Evolving from the Charreria is a team sport called Escaramuza. Veronica grew up participating in this sport starting at the age of five, wearing beautiful dresses and riding side saddle, upholding a tradition that had been part of her Davila family for generations.
In September, Veronica's dresses, oral history and photographs will be part of an exhibition at the Smithsonian Museum of American History in Washington, D.C.
She did the first oral history portion 13 years ago when Nathan was a baby; last week, she did a follow-up. I've heard her mention this sport many times, but I'd never actually gotten to learn about it as I've done this week.
Watching some You Tube videos, I was struck by the precision of the riders' synchronized moves on horseback and the strict rules for dress. Dresses must be cotton and a certain length and under those dresses are stiffly starched petticoats. (like the crinolines of the 1950s.)
Here are photos of (1) Baby Veronica with her daddy, (2) This week with her dad in his current house, Nathan and Elena looking on as she is being interviewed, and (3) Veronica demonstrating the escaramuza dress with Elena as her model.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7IQ7qneVx_Y
This is one of the videos I found online that shows what it's like to participate in Escaramuza.
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