Search for charrería and you’ll often see escaramuza listed as one more event inside it — a colourful add-on alongside the nine men’s suertes. It isn’t. Escaramuza charra is a completely separate competition for women, governed by its own Reglamento Oficial para Escaramuzas y Damas Charras from the Federación Mexicana de Charrería, with its own categories and its own official scoring sheets (hojas de calificación). Riders perform alongside a charreada on the same day, but they are judged under a different rulebook entirely — and setting it up as a tenth charrería event, rather than a standalone competition, is the mistake that keeps getting made.
A team event, not an individual one
The structural difference that matters most for scoring software: charrería is nine individual events per competitor, but escaramuza is one routine performed by a team of women riders in synchronized formation. There’s no per-suerte breakdown to score separately — the whole choreographed performance is judged as a single team entry, scored out of a published maximum. If your setup assumes every equestrian competition means “one rider, one run, one score,” escaramuza needs the participant type switched to Team before anything else.
Four age categories, all female, all team
| Category | Age | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Infantil | 6–12 | Youngest team category |
| Juvenil | 13–17 | |
| Libre | 18+ | Open category — riders who qualify by age may also enter Mayor |
| Mayor | 40+ | Overlaps with Libre, the same overlap pattern charrería itself uses between Libre and Mayores |
Every category runs the same single item — Escaramuza (Synchronized Team Riding) — rather than a different event list per age group. That’s a simpler shape than charrería’s “same nine events across six categories,” but the Libre/Mayor overlap works exactly the same way: a rider old enough for Mayor isn’t locked out of Libre, so the category setup needs to allow both rather than forcing one bucket per competitor.
What the scoresheet actually covers (and what it doesn’t)
The reglamento confirms a team routine scored against a maximum (eTalenter’s template defaults this to 100), built up from the manoeuvres judges watch for during the performance. What it doesn’t give us — and what we’re not going to invent — is the exact point value assigned to each individual manoeuvre. The federation’s own official hoja de calificación is the authority for that breakdown, not a secondhand summary, so any organiser setting this up should pull the current scoresheet from the FMCH directly before assigning per-manoeuvre values. This is a good general rule for judged team routines of any kind: a verified maximum score is useful on its own, even before every line item inside it is nailed down.
Champion titles, borrowed rather than official
As with the men’s competition, “Campeona” and “Subcampeona” are the titles everyone uses for first and second place — not terms the reglamento itself defines. Setting these up as award labels layered on top of the final score, rather than as rulebook constants, keeps the software honest about what’s officially specified and what’s just how the sport talks about its own winners.
Setting this up correctly
- Give escaramuza its own competition structure — its own category list, its own judging panel — rather than folding it into the charrería template as an extra event or group.
- Set the participant type to Team, with one scored routine per entry rather than per-rider scores.
- Allow category overlap between Libre and Mayor, the same way charrería does between its own adult categories.
- Treat the published maximum score as verified, but get the per-manoeuvre breakdown from the current official scoresheet rather than assuming a fixed split.
eTalenter supports exactly this: competitions and age groups are configured independently of each other, participant type can be set to Team for a synchronized group entry, age groups can allow overlap where a competitor qualifies for more than one, and awards sit on their own configurable layer above the scoring — whether you’re running a single-item team competition like escaramuza or a nine-event individual programme like charrería at the same event.
FAQ
Is escaramuza part of the charrería competition?
No. It’s judged under a completely separate rulebook, with its own categories and scoresheets, even though it’s often performed at the same charreada.
Is escaramuza scored per rider or per team?
Per team. The whole synchronized routine is judged as one entry, not as individual riders within it.
Can the same rider compete in both Libre and Mayor?
Yes, if she qualifies by age for both — the categories are set up to allow that overlap rather than forcing a single category per competitor.
See it before you set it up
Open a eTalenter live demo and log in as a demo coordinator or judge — no sign-up needed — to see Team-based competitions, overlap-eligible age groups and award configuration in action. For the men’s side of the same event, see our charrería competition software article, or for the wider setup see our competition management software overview and the judging & tabulation guide. Reach us on WhatsApp at +91 96056 56508 or support@etalenter.com for help setting up your own team-judged competition.
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