This Ain't My First Rodeo

WEAK STOMACHS BEWARE…

You can’t travel to Spain without seeing a traditional Spanish bull fight. Torros, Toreros, red flags, the works. It all began with a grand entrance parade of horses, elaborate costumes, roses, and brave Spaniards.

The only thing I knew about bull fights is what I’ve seen on TV or in movies or the like. The torero (matador) waves his red flag, the bull runs towards it, the torero jukes and gets away. Repeat. The people toss roses into the arena.

Oh was I wrong. These events do not end without some blood shed. Lots of blood shed. It all begins with multiple toreros taunting the bull with their flags, which are more the size of king-sized blankets. They run around, get the bull all riled up until the horses come in (To me, these toreros serve a similar purpose to that of clowns at a rodeo. They seem to be putting on a show, but also help to distract the animal in the arena for the sake of the competitor). The horses have got some intense armor on and remain amazingly calm for any living beast. Oh and did I mention they are blindfolded? The horses stand on either side of the ring and if the bull gets too close, their riders give the bull a nice firm stab or two with a spear. At the sound of music, the horses leave and out come the toreros with the banderillas a.k.a. glorified daggers. One in each hand, the toreros run at the bull and stab it with the banderillas around the neck/top of the spine, 6 total per bull.

Just wait, there’s more…The next stage in the bull fight is possibly the most stressful for the spectator. Alone, the competing torero faces the angry bull. These guys either have some serious guts to do this or they are straight up crazy (I am thinking a little of both). They will actually kneel down on the ground as the bull charges then. One of the most challenging moves is what we would call in English “around the back.” The torero faces one way, taunting the bull with his red flag, then turns around- his back to the bull- and brings the flag around his back. Talk about having you at the edge of your seat. This all goes on for a few minutes until the torero decides the bull is ready to be finished. He takes his sword and charges him. A good torero kills the bull on contact by perfectly placing the sword down the spine of the bull. However, if the alignment isn’t just right, another torero must stab the bull’s head with a dagger until it dies. The dead bull is then hooked up to 2 horses that drag it out of the arena and what looks like a baseball grounds crew comes out to “tidy up” if you will.

This continues 5 more times.

I could only handle 3.

Thanks, Spain, but I think I'll stick to rodeos in TEXAS.