A recent post in Facebook of a photo of a bullfight in Spain by my cousin Jodi caused me to think about the first time I went to a bullfight. It was a most unusual occasion, and I shared my experience with my Facebook FB friends. Another copy is posted here.
On Sunday, June 11, 1989 our friend Gary Bogle and I went to the Ventas bullring in Madrid, the center of world bullfighting, to see a bullfight. The bullring was only about half full because we happened to go on a Sunday evening when the regular corrida de toros was replaced by a novillada con picadores. The bulls were younger than in a regular bullfight, and apparently the matadores were apprentices. Perhaps their relative lack of experience explains the number of mishaps that occurred that evening. We got our tickets for 1,975 pesetas or about $15.80 at the current exchange rate which was a significant reduction from the price for the same seats at a regular bullfight—5,200 pesetas. We had about the best seats in the house that evening because not only were they on the second row, but all of the action took place right in front of us, and that evening there was plenty of action.
Promptly at seven the trumpets sounded and the novillada con picadores began with a parade of the participants. I found it to be very Medieval and very Spanish. First, two men rode out into the arena in black Medieval costumes. They wore black velvet suits, broad brimmed hats, and large white collars. They rode over to the sombra side to face the presiding officer who sat at a table behind a red banner below the royal box. From the opposite side of the ring, the other participants entered--the matadors and their assistants followed by the picadores on their horses, the attendants of the picadores in red uniforms, the men and horses who carry off the dead bulls, and finally the grounds keepers who clean up the bloody sand between fights. I thought the paseo was very Spanish because of its inclusiveness. All participants, be they matadores or grounds keepers, were recognized for their contributions.
A corrida consists of six fights, two by each matador. The fight began with music from one of the two bands in the ring. One, which consists of drums and bugles, provides the music which demarcates the parts of the fight while the other provides music between fights. First, the first bull entered the empty ring and was led into the proper position by men who attract his attention by stepping out from behind the barricade that lines the inside of the bullring. When he was in the proper position, the matador stepped out from behind the middle barricade and the bull charged. The fight had begun.
The bullfight has several parts, and the first part is a time for judging the strength and intelligence of the bull and for the matador to impress the crowd with fancy cape work using the large cape.
Then a trumpet sounds and the picadores ride in. There are two and they are mounted on large, well padded horses. They carry a lance of about 10 feet in length and about an inch and a half in diameter. The end has a guard about four inches from the tip which limits the depth to which it can be plunged into the bull's back. The task at hand is to bring the bull to the picador. When he charges the picador plants the lance in the bull's back. I think it is done to anger the bull, to weaken him, and to injure the muscles which support the head making it easier for the kill.
When the picadors have done their jobs, the next stage begins in which the matador or his assistants further enrage the bull by planting beribboned barbs in his back.
In the final segment, the matador faces the bull with the small red cape called the muleta and makes the kill. Obviously, this is the heart of the fight with daring passes, etc. At the end the bull is stilled, the matador lines up his sword, the bull charges, and is killed. The sword passes between the shoulder blades and into the heart.
When the fight is over, men bring out a team of horses to drag the dead bull away, and others come out and clean up the sand.
Things did not go as smoothly as described above. It was a particularly bad night for picadores. Even though they were young, the bulls were enormously powerful, and I have read that sometimes the young bullfighters are given especially dangerous bulls that the full-fledged matadors do not want to fight. The bulls were strong enough to get in front of the horses and lift them off the ground, and the horses were at a disadvantage when the bull approached from the side because the eye toward the bull was covered by a bandana. The picadores that night were fat. Perhaps the mass is helpful with planting the lance; however, they seemed to be top heavy in the saddle and fell out easily. Several were thrown from their horses. One landed on the shaft of his lance, shattering it.
The worst part of the evening occurred late in the corrida when a horse was gored by a bull. The picador had been thrown twice by the bull. Then the bull got the advantage and not only threw the rider a third time but knocked the horse down. With his neck and belly exposed, the horse was defenseless, and the bull apparently ripped him open with his horns.
The matador moved the action to the other side of the ring, and men rushed out to attend to the horse. First they removed his padding and saddle and tried to get him on his feet, but to no avail. Finally, the word was given to sacrifice the horse. He was covered with a tarp, and an attempt was made to kill him with a knife in the back of the head. But he would not die. The crowd was no longer watching the fight but was growing upset with the inability of the crew to put the horse out of his misery. A second attempt was made to kill him. When it also failed, people began throwing seat cushions into the ring. Sitting down next to the ring, I hoped they all had strong arms. A third attempt was made. It seemed to be successful; however, twenty minutes later when the fight was over and the horse was being dragged from the ring, it was still moving.
Not only was it a bad night for the horses and picadores, but also for matadors. All passed under the bull at one time or another. The better two were injured somewhat but completed their fights. It was amazing to watch one of the matadors, Camara, his body perpendicular to the direction of the bull rolling to get away from the horns. He succeeded in avoiding the horns but may have been stepped on as the bull went on after the muleta. It appeared to me that the bull was much less interested in the man than in the cape or muleta. When the matador was down, the bull tended to ignore him and thrashed after the cape with his horns for several seconds. The assistants were quick to get into the arena to distract the bull whenever a matador went down, just like rodeo clowns.
If the crowd was pleased with the work of the matador, they waved their handkerchiefs at the end of the fight. The president watched from his box. The tension grew. When the president agreed, he flipped his handkerchief over the edge of the banner, and the matador was awarded an ear of the bull and took a triumphant walk around the arena. People threw flowers, hats, purses, sweaters, all sorts of things to the matador. He kept the flowers and he or his assistants threw the other items back (including Gary’s hat). One matador was given a huge bread about three feet long, one and a half feet wide, and a few inches high with his name on it. Camara got an ear for each of his bulls. He was the last one to fight, and boys and some men went onto the sand and carried him out of the ring. He was injured but obviously enjoyed the accolades.
It was very interesting to sit so close to the ring. All of the action took place right in front of us. There is an addicting rhythm of tension and release in the fight, and It was interesting to watch the expressions of the matadors’ faces as they completed a difficult series of passes, stilled the bull, turn their backs, and walked away. You could see them visibly relax for a second. Above I said that the bullfight seems highly evolved. One aspect of that is the timing, at least that night. It moves. It never dragged. It was always time to move to the next part of the fight when the trumpets sounded.
In summary, I do not think it was a typical bullfight. I do not think it is usual for a horse to be killed or for all of the matadores to spend part of the evening on the ground, or for a bull to catch his horns so deeply in the sand that he turned a flip. But it was certainly the most exciting of the bullfights that I saw.
