I found out about Escaramuza Las Potrancas while shooting a completely unrelated daily assignment a few weeks after arriving in San Antonio. Despite having grown up with horses, I had never heard of escaramuza. When Leticia Ozuna started telling me about it, I knew I had to come watch the girls practice and learn more. I have been riding for twenty years, which, when you have just graduated college, is pretty much all of your life. Moving to San Antonio, I had to leave my horse, Spike, behind. Believe it or not, leaving him was just as hard as leaving my family. So, in finding the escaramuza team, I found a little piece of home. I was very fortunate that the Express-News believed in the story as well and gave me plenty of time over the past few months to work on it. The girls are going on to the state competition next weekend. Depending on how they do, they have a chance at going to Nationals in California and even competing in Mexico in the fall. I cannot wait to see how they do. I owe a huge thank you to my editors, Luis and Michel, for giving me the time, to Rich for writing the story, and most of all to Jimmy, the parents and the girls for welcoming me into their sport and their lives. I will never forget it.
Andrea Murillo rests her head on her sister Roxanna Murillo as Miriam Alejandra Montecillos and Jackie Ayala try to prevent Mora from eating the leaves on the tree branch above their heads. The team was waiting to perform in the "A Day in Old Mexico" Charreada at the San Antonio Charros Association in San Antonio, Texas on April 26, 2015. "I'm not nervous for today," team captain Kristy Escamilla, left, said. "I think that is because we had such a good practice." "But we can't be too confident," Madelyn Monique Montecillos replied. "We still have to ride well."
Roxanna Murillo wipes tears from her eyes as Coach Jimmy Ayala and her mother Angelica Murillo help her walk out of the ring during a clinic at La Herradura Ranch in San Antonio, Texas on February 28, 2015. "The girls put too much pressure on themselves and that can tend to hurt them, especially when they are having trouble with their horses," Ayala said.
The Escaramuza Las Potrancas team practices at Herradura in San Antonio, Texas on February 20, 2015.
Miriam Alejandra Montecillos and Emely Ayala canter in formation during practice at La Herradura Ranch in San Antonio, Texas on March 7, 2015. "There is nothing else like escaramuza, so we know it is not forever, but we will do it as long as we can," Leticia Ozuna, mother of Montecillos and Ayala's teammate Caterina Ozuna, said.
Emely Ayala adjusts her sombrero while watching her teammates practice for pre-state at El Rancho Unico in Atascosa, Texas on March 26, 2015. After falling off during practice that Sunday, she became too scared to ride with the team. Jimmy Ayala, her father and the team's coach, did not want to push her to ride if she was not ready, so she stood by watching and helping her team from the ground. "When she told me she was scared, I wanted her to be 100 percent before riding again," Ayala said. "I wasn't going to risk not only my daughter, but also the team. If her nerves took over, someone else could have gotten hurt."
Brenda Murillo kisses her horse Cazador while waiting to perform in the "A Day in Old Mexico" Charreada at the San Antonio Charros Association in San Antonio, Texas on April 26, 2015. Cazador was her grandfather's horse in Mexico and then was passed down to her uncle before she got him. "He is different with me," she said of Cazador. "Everyone used to say he was really mean and that I couldn't handle him, but when he is around me he is more soft hearted." "They've got the same attitude," Coach Jimmy Ayala said jokingly of the pair.
Brenda Murillo hits the ground after she and her horse Cazador slipped and fell during a "punta," or slide stop, at Rancho San Miguel in Atascosa, Texas on March 26, 2015. This was Murillo's first time falling off, she said. Despite that, she got back on moments later and tried to do a punta again, this time with success. "When an escaramuza falls, they just dust off their dress and get right back on," Coach Jimmy Ayala said.
Brenda Murillo adjusts her sombrero before the team practiced their routine in the pre-state arena at El Rancho Unico in Atascosa, Texas on March 26, 2015. Emely Ayala, a teammate, fell off the weekend before pre-state and was too scared to compete. Murillo filled her spot so that the team could compete.
Jackie Ayala and Kristy Escamilla do their hair in the bathroom of a gas station along I-35 on February 21, 2015. The girls were on their way to represent the team at Junta Estatal para Capitanas, or the State Meeting for Captains, in Temple, Texas.
Kristy Escamilla and Jackie Ayala listen to a song together during the drive to Temple, Texas to represent the team at Junta Estatal para Capitanas, or the State Meeting for Captains on February 21, 2015.
Escaramuza Las Potrancas does a "giro", or a 360 degree spin, during their performance in the "A Day in Old Mexico" Charreada at the San Antonio Charros Association in San Antonio, Texas on April 26, 2015.
Emely Ayala, left, watches as her older sister Jackie Ayala spins in her escaramuza dress before performing in the "A Day in Old Mexico" Charreada at the San Antonio Charros Association in San Antonio, Texas on April 26, 2015. Each dress must be handmade with specific guidelines to maintain the cultural traditions of the sport as it has been for generations in Mexico. "I am following in my great grandfather's footsteps" Jackie Ayala said. "He was a charro in Coahuila, Mexico, so I want to continue the tradition."
Escaramuza Las Potrancas warm up for their pre-state performance at El Rancho Unico in Atascosa, Texas on March 29, 2015. "I believe in y'all," Emely Ayala, 8, said to her team after warm-ups. "Whatever happens, just keep on going."
Emely Ayala rests in the shade with her father Jimmy Ayala while waiting to perform in Pre-Estatal at El Rancho Unico in Atascosa, Texas on March 29, 2015. "It is hard to protect them in such a dangerous sport, but what takes away from the danger is hard work in practice," Ayala said. "This sport helped them get through when I got divorced from their mom nine years ago. It is what kept us so close."
Escaramuza Las Potrancas performs bareback in Native American dress in the "A Day in Old Mexico" Charreada at the San Antonio Charros Association in San Antonio, Texas on April 26, 2015. "They used to do it in the 1970s at San Antonio Charros Association," Kristy Escamilla, the team's captain, said. "People can see that we are good riders this way, because if we are riding bareback it shows we do not rely on the saddles ." Escamilla's mother stayed up three nights in a row making the outfits.
Miriam Alejandra Montecillos brushes through a horse's tail before practice at El Rancho Unico in Atascosa, Texas on March 26, 2015. The girls are responsible for the care of the horses, even if the horses are not their own. The cleanliness and care of the horses is as important as the presentation of the girls' tradition tack and dress.
Caterina Ozuna and Miriam Alejandra Montecillos warm up before practicing their routine for Pre-Estatal at El Rancho Unico in Atascosa, Texas on March 26, 2015. "You feel the nerves the moment you go in," Ozuna said.
Jackie Ayala hugs her horse Louis Vuitton after practice at El Rancho Unico in Atascosa, Texas on March 26, 2015.
Miriam Alejandra Montecillos, Yaretzi Peña and Andrea Murillo lean over for a group hug after practice at El Rancho Unico in Atascosa, Texas on March 26, 2015. Peña is from another team, Escaramuza Orgullo Mexicano. She used to be a part of Murillo and Montecillos' team and the girls remain friends.