A Mexican charro roping event in which the rider, on horseback, ropes the hind legs of a mare running loose in the arena and brings her to a stop, scored by the judges for skill and control.
Piales en el lienzo is the hind-leg roping event of Mexican charreria. A mare is released into the ring, the lienzo, and the charro, mounted on his own horse, has to rope her hind legs with his lariat and bring her to a halt. The word pial refers to this throw at the legs; the event tests the rider’s aim, his timing and the way he handles both the horse he is sitting on and the animal he is chasing.
On eTalenter the item is an individual event for the charro. A competitor enters alone and is placed in one of six age-based groups: Dientes de Leche up to 10, Infantil A and Infantil B for older children, Juvenil for riders under 18 by birth year, Libre for the general adult field, and Mayores for riders aged 50 and over. The same item is assigned to every group, so a coordinator can run the whole age range from one set-up.
A round is a single run in the ring. The judges watch the throw, the way the rope is managed and how cleanly the mare is stopped, awarding points for the work and extras for particularly polished execution, and deducting for faults. As with the other charro events, the total is an open-ended sum of points, extras and deductions rather than a mark out of a fixed ceiling. The template carries a working maximum of 20 for each group, but the source rules were not found to fix a flat cap for piales, so that figure is a default for the scoresheet, not a rules-defined limit.
Organisers include it because it is one of the nine traditional events (suertes) of a charro championship and because it shows a different skill from the horse-control test and the riding events: accurate roping from a moving horse. It sits naturally beside the other roping event, colas en el lienzo, in the programme.
Where Piales en el Lienzo comes from
Piales comes from the working life of the Mexican hacienda, where riders had to catch and hold livestock on open ground with a rope. Charreria later turned these tasks into a formal sporting event with its own rules.
Where Piales en el Lienzo is run
On eTalenter this item is used in one template, built from the official rules of the national charro championship of Mexico. Charreria is practised in Mexico and in Mexican communities in the United States, but each association publishes its own rule book, categories and scoring tables, so coordinators should follow the rules of the event they are running.
- Mexico
Key facts
- Individual item: one rider on one horse per entry
- Template assigns it to six age groups, from Dientes de Leche (up to 10) to Mayores (50 and over)
- The rider ropes the hind legs of a loose mare in the arena and brings her to a halt
- Totals are open-ended: points plus extras minus deductions; the 20-point maximum in the template is a working default, not a rules-defined cap
- Run in Spanish; no time limit is set in the template
- One of nine traditional charro events (suertes) listed on the template
On eTalenter, Piales en el Lienzo is filed under On Stage and typically scored with Marks. It appears in 1 ready-made event templates — each one can adjust its time limit, age-group assignment and scoring setup independently.
Across the templates that use it, Piales en el Lienzo is most often entered as an Individual competition, commonly run for Male, typically scored out of 20.
The scoring method the templates attach to this item, and what that scale means. The category this competition is filed under when a template is installed. Others in this category: Dance, Music, Drama, Mimicry, Debate, Elocution, Story Telling, Group Song, Action Song eTalenter matches an item to its criteria on the words in its name, and creates exactly these when the template is installed. No criteria match this name, so none are created automatically — judges score it on the event’s own criteria instead.How it is scored
Where it sits
Judging criteria installed for it
What judges look at in Piales en el Lienzo
What a Piales en el Lienzo panel is actually weighing up, and where the marks are usually won or lost:
- Accuracy of the throw: a loop that settles cleanly on the hind legs earns more than one that needs correcting or lands awkwardly
- Control of the rope: how the rider manages the lariat once it has caught, without losing it or fouling his own horse, shows skill the judges can see plainly
- Horsemanship during the chase: staying in position, at the right pace and distance from the mare, shows a well-trained mount and a rider who is in charge
- The stop: bringing the mare to a halt smoothly, with no needless roughness, scores better than a ragged finish
- Extras for quality: points beyond the base are given for especially polished execution, so a tidy, controlled run can outscore a merely successful one
- Faults and deductions: infractions of the event rules are deducted, which is why a clean, careful run is worth more than a hurried one
Treat these as the judging focus, not a fixed rubric: publish your own weighted criteria for Piales en el Lienzo under Scoring Setup, or start from judge scoring and tabulation software.
How to prepare for Piales en el Lienzo
How entrants and their teachers usually get Piales en el Lienzo right on the day:
- Read the event rules first for the order of the run, the points table and the list of faults, and practise that exact sequence
- Build rope handling away from the horse before moving to the saddle: swinging, throwing and recovering the loop until it is automatic
- Train the horse separately to stay steady and keep position while the rope is thrown, since a nervous mount spoils the throw
- Practise throws at a moving target at the pace of the event, starting slowly and increasing speed only when the loop is accurate
- Rehearse in a ring of the same size as the competition lienzo so the distances feel familiar on the day
- Check the lariat, saddle and tack well before the event, and ask an experienced charro to watch a practice run and point out faults you cannot feel
Events that run this (1)
Ready-made templates that already include this competition. Installing one sets it up for you.
Frequently asked questions
Is Piales en el Lienzo judged individually or as a team?
Across eTalenter’s templates it’s most often run as an Individual entry, commonly for Male, though an organiser can set either participation type when assigning the item to an age group.
What does piales en el lienzo mean?
Piales are throws of the rope at an animal’s legs and the lienzo is the charro ring. The event is the roping of a loose mare’s hind legs in that ring.
Is piales en el lienzo a team or an individual event?
It is individual. Each entry is one rider on one horse, and the template assigns it to every age group so each rider is scored on his own run.
Is there a maximum score?
The template uses 20 per group as a working default, but the source rules do not fix a flat cap: points, extras and deductions add up to an open-ended total.
Is it the same as colas en el lienzo?
No. Both are roping and riding events in the same ring, but they are separate suertes with their own rules and scoring, and each has its own item on the template.
Similar competitions
Items whose names share a word with this one — usually the same discipline in another form.
Want the full judging picture? Read judge scoring and tabulation software, or browse every on stage competition item.
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