Cuban cattle country keeps up rodeo traditions

At the tender age of 6, Dariadna Corujo is already an expert barrel racer and calf roper, wearing pink boots as she competes in rodeos on the hot, flat grasslands of central Sancti Spiritus province.

A group of neighboring cattle ranchers founded a nongovernmental group called Future Ranchers more than a decade ago to revive Cuba’s rodeo culture, which dates back centuries to Spanish colonial times.

The group teaches rodeo skills like roping and riding along with more practical education in ranching, veterinary medicine and farming.