What Is Chilean Rodeo? The Collera, the Medialuna and the 2026-27 Season

What is Chilean rodeo?

Chilean rodeo is Chile's national sport: a collera, meaning two riders on two Chilean horses, drives a steer around a round arena and stops it against the wall in marked zones. The collera with the most good points, earned through clean technique and teamwork between riders and horses, wins.

It grew out of ranch work in central Chile, where huasos sorted and branded cattle. Today it's run by the Federación del Rodeo Chileno (Ferochi), founded May 22, 1961, and it was recognized as the national sport on Jan. 10, 1962.

For the huaso's outfit, spurs and saddle, see our explainer on the Chilean huaso. This article sticks to the competition.

This weekend: the 2026-2027 Temporada Grande

The official season opened Saturday, Aug. 15, 2026, and is now in full swing. For Saturday, Oct. 17, and Sunday, Oct. 18, CaballoyRodeo.cl published a schedule of 25 rodeos (24 Saturday, one Sunday), almost all streamed live on YouTube.

• Where: from Ñuble and Valparaíso down to Aysén, with clubs such as San Carlos de Itihue, Osorno Cordillera, Villarrica, Rancagua La Gonzalina, Maipú and Valle Simpson.
• What kind: mostly provincial rodeos, plus inter-association and inter-club rodeos and one open rodeo in Aysén.
• Sunday: a one-day provincial rodeo at the San Joaquín club (Santiago Sur association).
• The big one: four first-category rodeos, where colleras add points toward the total that moves them closer to the qualifiers.

Aysén also held its own season launch. Radio Agricultura reported on Oct. 5 that about 70 people welcomed Ferochi president Alfredo Moreno and general manager Felipe Soto, who answered questions about the rules and how the Federation works.

The medialuna and the collera

The medialuna arena

The medialuna ("half moon") is a round arena with a radius of about 20 to 25 meters (66 to 82 feet). Three parts matter:

• Toril: the pen the steer comes out of.
• Apiñadero: the area by the entrance where each run starts.
• Quincha and atajadas: the arena wall, with two stopping zones of about 12 meters (39 feet) each.

Chile has roughly 500 medialunas. The most famous is the Medialuna Monumental in Rancagua, described as the largest arena of its kind in South America.

What is a collera in Chilean rodeo?

The collera is the team: two riders and two horses working as one. One rider pushes the steer from behind while the other gallops alongside to stop it against the wall; then they switch roles and directions.

The stopping horse has to meet the steer perpendicular to it. If the horse arrives angled or straight, the stop earns no points, even when the contact itself was right.

How a run works and how it's scored

A run (carrera) lasts only a few minutes and always follows the same order:

1. The steer leaves the toril, and the collera makes two or three laps with it in the apiñadero, as set by the rodeo president; at the qualifiers and the National Championship it's always two.
2. They drive it to the first stopping zone and pin it against the wall.
3. They swap sides and roles, then repeat at the opposite zone.
4. They swap again for the third stop, then deliver the steer to the exit gate.

The math is simple: 1 + 4 + 4 + 4 = 13 good points, a perfect run. Bad points punish faults like a tijera (when the steer turns back between the two horses), which costs one bad point (two on the first stop), or hitting the animal or stopping it outside the wall.

Series and the Champion

Each rodeo is split into series by type of horse: horses (caballos), mares, young horses (potros), mixed, breeders and open series. In an ordinary official rodeo, each series is decided over two animals: every entered collera runs the first, and only the top scorers run the second. The qualifiers and the National Championship use their own, longer system.

Colleras that place in the series move on to the Serie de Campeones, known simply as the Champion, which closes the rodeo: on the second day of a two-day rodeo, or the same day at one-day rodeos like several this Saturday. It's run over four steers, and the lowest scorers drop out each round. Separately, the movimiento a la rienda is an individual event, a bit like dressage: the full system, required at the National Championship, the qualifiers and zone rodeos, has eight tests of the horse's obedience and skill, while the partial system used at other official rodeos has five.

The Chilean horse breed

No Chilean horse, no federated rodeo: only registered Chilean-breed horses can compete. The breed descends from horses that arrived with Pedro de Valdivia's expedition in the 16th century.

In 1893 Chile's Sociedad Nacional de Agricultura opened the breed's stud book, described as the oldest in South America. Today, horses in federated rodeos must be registered with the Federación de Criadores de Caballos Raza Chilena.

What breeders select for:

• Docility: a horse that answers light rein aids, the heart of the reining tests.
• Cow sense: a horse that reads the steer and positions itself for the stop.
• Stamina: runs are short, but a full rodeo means several runs and a demanding Champion.

If you like South American working breeds, compare it with Argentina's Criollo horse. More breeds live in our breeds section.

Animal welfare: the rules and the debate

Rodeo is beloved by many Chileans and opposed by others. Here are the verifiable facts, without taking sides.

What the Federation's rules say

• Welfare policy: Ferochi presented it on Nov. 25, 2015.
• Legal framework: it cites the law governing Chile's agriculture and livestock service, SAG (Law 18,755), and Decree 240 of 1993 on livestock transport.
• Steers: in official rodeos each steer runs only once; hitting it or stopping it outside the wall earns bad points.
• Facilities: the policy requires every federated rodeo to have conditions and infrastructure that minimize the impact on the animals' welfare, with details in a welfare manual; rule breakers can be referred to the rodeo's disciplinary tribunal (Tribunal de Honor).
• Scheduling: at the season launch in August, Moreno said the National Championship and qualifiers should be held under summer time (horario de verano), and the Federation framed this as a way to put animal welfare first.

What critics argue

Animal rights groups say the stop causes injuries that are hard to avoid, and they want rodeo stripped of its official sport status and public funding. A 2022 Criteria poll commissioned by the group Animal Libre found that 63% of respondents thought rodeo should be considered animal cruelty.

Some city governments tried to restrict rodeo in 2016, but in 2018 Chile's Comptroller General ruled that a municipal ordinance can't ban a recognized sport. The Federation, for its part, points to its welfare policy and to rules such as running each steer only once.

If you take kids to a medialuna, talk beforehand about what they'll see. For horse care in any discipline, see our care guide.

The road to the 78th National Championship: what to watch

Ferochi's calendar, announced in August, sets the big dates:

The National School Final will again be held inside the National Championship at the Medialuna Monumental "Gonzalo Vial Vial."

How to follow along as a newcomer

• Watch live: most of this weekend's rodeos stream on YouTube; look for the association's channel.
• Watch the horse: check whether it meets the steer perpendicular; that's where points are won or lost.
• Keep score: jot 1 for the apiñadero and 4, 3 or 2 per stop, then compare with the judges' call.
• Visit a medialuna: village rodeos are the best classroom. Review our safety basics if you bring kids near horses.
• Compare traditions: Mexico's coleadero and the Charrería National Championship also work cattle, under different rules.

This weekend's results aren't in yet; we'll update this guide as the season unfolds.