Wearing a wide-brimmed hat, silver-buttoned shirt and embroidered tie, teenager Victor Teran expertly twirls a lasso at a Mexican school that trains younger generations in traditional cowboy skills.

Three years ago, Teran’s father gave him a choice between learning football or ‘charreria’ – livestock farming techniques recognized by UNESCO as an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

“I told him, let’s do charreria now!” said the 17-year-old.

With the help of teachers at the school in Tlajomulco de Zuniga, in the western state of Jalisco, Teran learned to ride a horse and twist and throw a lasso so that it looped around a horse’s front legs.

The school, which opened in 2016, the same year the tradition was inscribed by UNESCO, offers free tuition to aspiring young ‘charros’.

Beginners and foreigners are welcome.

“Charreria has grown a lot nationally,” said school founder Victor Hugo de la Torre, who has been a trainer for 24 years.

“Most of the students at the school are not from a charro family, but they like it and get involved,” he added.

Today there are 100 regular students of both sexes.

Beginner, Intermediate, and Advanced groups of up to 15 students participate in three-hour training sessions twice a week to improve their skills.

The first challenge is learning to twist a lasso and throw it around a docile bull’s neck.

Once they have mastered this, they move on to unaided mounting a horse with stirrups.

Then comes learning to ride the horse and finally lassoing animals.

The girls also learn “escaramuzas” – Spanish for “fights” – which involve performing tricky formations on galloping horses side-saddle.

“I started when I was four years old when my parents took me to horseback riding,” said Alma de la Torre, 20, who wore traditional clothing inspired by the garments worn by women who fought in the Mexican Revolution .

Becoming a charro takes “a lot of dedication,” but the financial rewards can be worth it, school founder De la Torre said.

Average salaries range from $1,500 to $4,000 a month, while those at the top can take home around $7,500, he said – a wage that exceeds the dreams of most Mexicans.

While the ideal age to start learning is six, many students start as early as their teens, said principal Rocio Rodriguez.

“Anyone can learn, regardless of nationality, as long as they want,” she said.