What Is a Chalán? The Peruvian Paso Riders Who Met Pope Leo XIV

What is a chalan?

A chalán is the traditional rider and trainer of the Peruvian Paso horse. In Peru the word means more than a horseman: it names a recognizable figure with his own skills, his own tack and his own dress.

The word has an odd history. Peru's Ministry of Culture traces it to a 16th-century French loanword, chaland, a merchant's customer, and the Spanish Royal Academy's 1729 dictionary defined a chalán as someone who deals in mules and horses. In Peru the horse dealer became the horseman.

Peru's state news agency Andina describes chalán as the name given to the Peruvian Paso rider on the country's north coast, mainly in La Libertad, Lambayeque and Piura. The term later spread to other parts of Peru.

The chalán who schools a young horse is also called an enfrenador. His process, the enfrenadura, is the core of what Peru protected in 2021, when the Ministry of Culture declared the values, knowledge and practices of the chalán a Cultural Heritage of the Nation. In 2022 the Andean Parliament also named the chalán a reference of the Andean region's intangible cultural heritage.

And what is an amazona?

Amazona is the Spanish word for a horsewoman. In the Peruvian Paso world it means a woman who rides and shows the breed, and groups such as the Amazonas Chiclayanas ride together at public events.

The tradition even has its own saddle for it. The 2021 heritage resolution lists a montura de lado o de señora, a side saddle with a support for the rider's right leg.

What happened in Zaña on Saturday

Pope Leo XIV reached the Santo Toribio de Mogrovejo sanctuary in Zaña, in Peru's Lambayeque region, on Saturday, Nov. 14, 2026. Fireworks, church bells and white and yellow flags met him, and so did riders on horseback.

Infobae's live coverage reported that riders, men and women, in traditional dress accompanied his arrival. Exitosa reported that eight members of a group called Amazonas Chiclayanas had prepared to escort him through the district, and a post embedded in its report said amazonas of the Peruvian Paso horse bowed to him.

Andina said the amazonas and chalanes had come from several parts of the country. It described them as representatives of the northern equestrian tradition.

One number needs care. A schedule Infobae published the night before said the community had prepared a presentation with more than 50 Peruvian Paso horses. That was the plan. None of the reports we opened from the day gives a count of horses, so we won't state one.

The visit itself was a prayer gathering to close the Jubilee Year marking 300 years since the canonization of Santo Toribio de Mogrovejo. Leo XIV was bishop of Chiclayo from 2015 to 2023, so for the region this was a reunion.

What chalanes and amazonas wear

The outfit is built for the desert coast: light colors, light cloth and a wide brim. Sources describe small variations, so treat this as the classic picture, not a rulebook.

The poncho is the piece people remember. The heritage resolution describes it as a single color, typically white, though cream, ivory, light brown, vicuña and gray are also used. Andina has described linen ponchos with fine embroidery and also striped ones, so you will see more than one style.

The hat is woven straw or palm with a wide brim. A leather belt, riding boots and steel spurs finish the look.

The tack: what the horse carries

Peruvian tack is as distinctive as the dress. These are the pieces to look for, as described by the heritage resolution and the North American Peruvian Horse Association (NAPHA):

• Jato: the full set of headgear, also called the terno de cabeza. The resolution lists the halter (jáquima), the tapaojos and the headstall (cabezada) among its parts.
• Tapaojos: leather pieces worn on the forehead that can be lowered over the eyes. NAPHA says they teach a horse to stand still, useful in a desert with no trees to tie to.
• Box stirrups: wooden pyramids with a hole carved in one side for the toe. NAPHA says show versions are traditionally trimmed in silver or nickel.
• Montura de cajón: the classic saddle. The resolution also lists other types, including the side saddle.
• Pellón: a thick cover of hand-tied wool braids over the saddle. The best known come from San Pedro de Lloc, in La Libertad.
• Baticola: a crupper that circles the tail and keeps the saddle from sliding forward.
• Reins: finely plaited rawhide, matched to the headstall.

For more on how saddles, bits and bridles work in general, see our tack and equipment guide.

How a chalán trains a horse: the enfrenadura

The gait is inherited, so the chalán doesn't teach it. His job is to produce a horse that carries a rider calmly and answers light aids while keeping that gait. Our Peruvian Paso breed guide explains the gait itself.

Early handling starts at about 10 months to a year, with leading and circle work on a rope. Later comes the enfrenadura, which the heritage resolution describes in three stages:

Sources differ on one detail of the middle stage. The resolution says the training bit replaces the noseband. The author Don West, in a breed introduction published by Horseadvice, describes four-rein work as noseband and bit used together while the horse is gently weaned onto the bit.

That is close to a year of patient schooling. The aids are the voice, touch, the reins and the stirrups.

How they show the gait, and the marinera with a horse

In front of a crowd, a chalán's skill is that you barely see it. The rider sits still and upright, the reins stay quiet, and the horse's four-beat footfall does the talking.

That is also why a bow to a visitor works so well. A calm, collected horse standing quietly under its rider is the tradition's own way of saying welcome.

The best-known display is the marinera with a horse. In the northern marinera, the heritage resolution describes two versions: a rider on horseback with a partner on foot, or the reverse, with the woman mounted and the man on foot. The horse moves around the dancer in time with the music, guided by seat and rein. The resolution also lists a marinera limeña performed horse with horse.

Andina notes that at contest finals chalanes parade their horses to coastal music, the marinera above all. The resolution lists the tondero, the zamacueca and Chabuca Granda's waltz José Antonio, a song about a chalán, among pieces performed on Peruvian Paso horses.

Why northern Peru is the heart of it

Several threads meet on the north coast:

• The word: Andina places the name chalán on the north coast first, in La Libertad, Lambayeque and Piura. The heritage resolution adds that chalanear, a word for a dealer's persuasive skill, is used in Lambayeque.
• The land: the Ministry of Culture ties the chalán to the rural coast, where his craft was practiced on haciendas and in villages along the shore.
• The crafts: pieces of tack carry northern names, like the pellón sampedrano.
• The stage: the best-known marinera with a horse, one partner mounted and the other on foot, is the northern marinera, and Trujillo, capital of La Libertad, hosts a regional Peruvian Paso contest each spring.

It isn't only the north. Andina also counts Lima and Arequipa among the breed's home areas, and the national contest is held at Mamacona, south of Lima.

If the picture reminds you of other riders of the Americas, it should. Chile's huaso also rides in a short poncho and a straw hat, and Colombia has its own gaited tradition with the Paso Fino. The horse, the tack and the gait are what set the chalán apart.

What to watch next, and how to watch well

If Saturday's images made you curious, here is where the tradition shows up next:

• Day of the Peruvian Paso Horse: the third Sunday of April each year. In 2027 that falls on April 18.
• National contest: held by the breed association (ANCPCPP) at Mamacona, in April in recent years. Dates for 2027 were not in the sources we opened, so check with the association.
• Trujillo: Andina lists a regional Peruvian Paso contest there in spring. Check dates with the organizers.

The 2026 World Championship is already behind us: the organizer listed it for Oct. 10 and 11 at the Army Riding School in La Molina, Lima. Our guide to that event is still useful background on how the breed competes.

When you see chalanes and amazonas in a parade or welcome, look for these:

1. A rider whose shoulders and hat stay level.
2. Four beats from the hooves. In the paso llano they are evenly spaced; the sobreandando is usually faster and slightly more lateral, so its beats fall closer to two pairs.
3. Quiet reins with a light contact and no pulling.
4. A horse that stands still when asked, even with a crowd close by.

And give them room. Saturday's welcome had fireworks, bells and thousands of people, which is a lot to ask of any horse. Our guide to fireworks and horses explains why, and the safety section covers how to behave around horses you don't know.