SANTIAGO

A Huaso is a Chilean countryman and skilled horseman, similar to the Argentinian Rio Grande Do Sul’s or Mexican Vaquero. A female huaso is called a huasa, allthough the term chinha is far more commonly used for his wife or sweetheart, who’s dress can be seen in Chilean folkdance called Cueca.

Huasos are found all over Central and Southern Chile while the Magellanes Region horsemen are called gauchos. Huasos are generally found in Chile’s Central Valley. They ride horses and typically wear a straw hat called a chupalla. They also wear a poncho called a manta or a chamanto over a short Andalusian waist jacket, as well as tooled leather legging over boots with raw hide leather spur holders that sustain a long-shanked spur with 4-inch rowels, and many other typical garments. Huasos are an important part of Chilean folkloric culture and are avital part of parades, fiestas, and holidays. The dancing of the cueca, in which the chinha is courted by the persistent huaso, both traditionnaly attired, is de rigueur on such occasions.