Singing cowboys on dancing horses are popular at horse shows, rodeos (and here, a circus) in Mexico. The horse spins, trots or canters in place, moves sideways, or rears as the rider sings a favorite to the crowd. Depending on the rider's skill, the dancing can be rather clunky or quite precise.
One I saw in Texcoco several years ago sung part of his song while standing on the rump of his horse, and another stanza while sitting on the horse, which had been made to lie down. In between he trotted in place, cantered sideways, and occasionally emphasized a line by asking the horse for a sort of capriole, which was done a bit awkwardly, but to enthusiastic response from the crowd.
The performer in this video, Raul Gasca, is a famous Mexican circus performer (handles tigers, too!) and does a well-honed routine with this horse. There is an article about the Gasca family here (in Spanish).
Thanks! I really have fun with it.
Posted by: girasol | March 19, 2008 at 07:27 PM
Pretty cool! Thanks for this post. I love seeing anything that exposes the wonder of horses to more people.
Posted by: risingrainbow | March 16, 2008 at 05:50 PM
Oh, thank you! I'll return the favor...
Posted by: girasol | March 10, 2008 at 09:55 AM
What a fabulous blog! I'm so glad I found it (via horsebloggers.) I've added a link to your blog on my site.
Posted by: jdp | March 10, 2008 at 03:56 AM