In the remote village of Todos Santos, which sits nearly 10,000 feet above sea level in the northern Guatemalan highlands, Día de Muertos celebrations get really real: with a supremely drunken horse race.
It is known as Skach Koyl. Every year at the end of October, the Mayan villagers in Todos Santos, Guatemala, throw a week-long rager to celebrate their independence.
After days of drinking and dancing and barely sleeping, the bravest men in town face off against each other in a wild, wasted horse race.
The Mayan racing tradition calls for male jockeys to stay up all night getting extremely, ritualistically lit, in order to jump on some horses in the morning for a flailing joyride down a dirt track.
There are always lots of falling, drunken singing, and general chaos – and it can go on for
seven hours. In reality, it’s not totally accurate to call it a race, because there’s no winner everyone’s a winner.
It’s not uncommon to see a drunk rider fly off his saddle and land on his neck or to watch
someone get trampled by another racer’s horse. Most years at least one villager dies in the race.
But after the Mayan townspeople have suffered through centuries of genocide by the Spanish and their government, dying drunk and free on the back of a horse isn’t the worst way to go.
The history of the festival dates back to when the Spanish conquistadors invaded Guatemala and enslaved and killed all the Mayans in their path.
Those who were enslave
d were not allowed to touch anything that belonged to the Spanish, especially not the horses. Once the Spanish arrived in Todos Santos, one brave Mayan stole a horse and raced it around the town until he was caught and executed.
So every year since then, the residents of the town honor this courageous Mayan. So what better way to celebrate this brave Mayan than with traditionally colorf
ul outfits, horses, and alcohol, yes lots of alcohol? We don’t know either. Oh, there’s a chicken too.
While Todos Santos may be Guatemala’s most recognized site of the Skach Koyl tradition, drunken horse racing also takes place in other parts of the country throughout the year.
The riders wear their everyday clothes – red-and-white woven pants and shirts with a wide collar – save for the racing hats they break out for this occasion.
One of the other hard-to-miss parts of the race is that some of the riders have the
ir
hands tied to the saddle – because they’re so drunk that’s the only way they can stay on. Others who have been able to handle their liquor better, ride while holding a can of beer.
