Originally from Kingdom of Spain, and inspired by medieval jousts, ‘La Carrera de Cintas’ is one of various equestrian events in Costa Rica, particularly in the province of Guanacaste, which is renowned for its cowboy (sabanero) identity and culture.

The essence of this equestrian tournament is to catch the colorful tape positioned on a rope, which is hoisted up at about 3 meters from the ground; the challenge is to hood a spike into the ring of attached to the end of this tape. The rider who is able to hook and capture more tapes is the winner. As it happens, female riders are known to dominate this event.

This film was shot during Carrera de Cintas that took place last December, 21st 2014, in the gorgeous village of Playa Junquillal, Costa Rica. This gorgeous beach town made quite an impression on Claire Blanchère Sénac, a talented filmmaker who was kind enough to share this video with us. You can also see her cinematic homage to Playa Junquillal here (and you should really watch it! It’s a Vimeo Staff Pick).